DragonCon 2009 - Wednesday/Thursday
Well, the plan to post each day at DragonCon didn't work out. Should have seen that coming. Anyway, now we're back home, somewhat recovered sleep-wise - so now I can sit down and see if I can remember what happened at DragonCon :)
Wednesday -
Arrived in Atlanta, caught the Marta to the Marriott. Checked in - the lobby was empty. Stark contrast to the next day! Our room was on the 35th floor - loved the comfy king bed. Unpacked, and fell asleep on the bed. Not feeling like venturing out for dinner, we ordered room service, then relaxed watching Project Runway, then went to bed for the night.
Thursday -
Matt had snuck out early (I'm such a deep sleeper, I didn't wake when he got up), and woke me up with a card and candy :) Such a sweet heart. He knew I wanted to try some of the American lollies etc - so we had Twizzlers, Reeses', and Turtles, and Diet Dr Pepper. Dr Pepper is very rare in NZ (I've only found it in 2 stores in Auckland), but we've never found the diet version here. We ended up buying a bottle each at least once a day.
I jumped in the shower while Matt headed down to get in an early morning gym session. When he got back, our room service breakfast arrived - pancakes and french toast. So yummy :) The staff member who delivered it had included a few extras for us too. Then we headed down to the lobby - a few people checking in, but didn't recognise any one. We found the right direction outside, and walked along down to the Georgia Aquarium. We wanted to do at least one tourist activity in Atlanta, so we had all morning/afternoon to spend exploring before badge pickup at 4pm.
We paid the extra for the Titanic exhibition (I've always had an interest in Titanic, long before the movie, and still have quite a collection of books and such). The exhibition was really neat - so touching reading all the stories, seeing actual clothing, letters - even a bottle that still contained champagne. Very haunting. They didn't allow photography, I would say that's because of the condition of the items, but also out of respect.
The actual aquarium was simply amazing! We had such a wonderful time - all the amazing creatures. I loved the otters, stingrays, whale sharks, and so much more. It's probably easier to show our photos :)
One of the highlights for me, was the tank with the stingrays/sharks you were allowed to touch. They were so cute! They kept swimming up along the edge, flapping against the sides. It seemed like they enjoyed it :) And stingrays are a lot smoother than I thought. We grabbed a light lunch at the cafe', and finished exploring all the different areas. Then I went back to the stingrays again :) At the giftshop, I bought a cuddly toy stingray that was the same size/species :)
After we had spent a few hours there, we eventually made our way back to the hotel. Wow! The lobby was packed! So many bell carts heaped up high, I started to get a feeling of what was to come. And a little frustrated that we could only bring one suitcase each... Oh to live close to DragonCon!
It was just after 2pm, so we called past the hotel gym to meet up with the 300DC guys/girls. I'm always really nervous meeting people, so glad I had Matt there to do most of the talking... After quickly introducing ourselves, we headed back to our room so Matt could change into gym gear (I was going to as well, but felt too shy to sweat in front of people I'd just met..). Back down to the gym, and I took some photos of the guys together - Wildcat snapped a pic of me too.
By then, it was time to head over to the Sheraton to pick up our badges. Yikes! We got there a little after 4pm, probably closer to 4.30pm. All in all, I guess it wasn't too bad, about 1.5 - 2 hours in all. Just glad to get our badges and outside to the fresh air... Back to our room, and repeated the night before - room service dinner (quite yum, tried different dessert), then fell asleep on the bed watching Project Runway - except this time I fell asleep on the bed, fully dressed...
Wednesday -
Arrived in Atlanta, caught the Marta to the Marriott. Checked in - the lobby was empty. Stark contrast to the next day! Our room was on the 35th floor - loved the comfy king bed. Unpacked, and fell asleep on the bed. Not feeling like venturing out for dinner, we ordered room service, then relaxed watching Project Runway, then went to bed for the night.
Thursday -
Matt had snuck out early (I'm such a deep sleeper, I didn't wake when he got up), and woke me up with a card and candy :) Such a sweet heart. He knew I wanted to try some of the American lollies etc - so we had Twizzlers, Reeses', and Turtles, and Diet Dr Pepper. Dr Pepper is very rare in NZ (I've only found it in 2 stores in Auckland), but we've never found the diet version here. We ended up buying a bottle each at least once a day.
I jumped in the shower while Matt headed down to get in an early morning gym session. When he got back, our room service breakfast arrived - pancakes and french toast. So yummy :) The staff member who delivered it had included a few extras for us too. Then we headed down to the lobby - a few people checking in, but didn't recognise any one. We found the right direction outside, and walked along down to the Georgia Aquarium. We wanted to do at least one tourist activity in Atlanta, so we had all morning/afternoon to spend exploring before badge pickup at 4pm.
We paid the extra for the Titanic exhibition (I've always had an interest in Titanic, long before the movie, and still have quite a collection of books and such). The exhibition was really neat - so touching reading all the stories, seeing actual clothing, letters - even a bottle that still contained champagne. Very haunting. They didn't allow photography, I would say that's because of the condition of the items, but also out of respect.
The actual aquarium was simply amazing! We had such a wonderful time - all the amazing creatures. I loved the otters, stingrays, whale sharks, and so much more. It's probably easier to show our photos :)
One of the highlights for me, was the tank with the stingrays/sharks you were allowed to touch. They were so cute! They kept swimming up along the edge, flapping against the sides. It seemed like they enjoyed it :) And stingrays are a lot smoother than I thought. We grabbed a light lunch at the cafe', and finished exploring all the different areas. Then I went back to the stingrays again :) At the giftshop, I bought a cuddly toy stingray that was the same size/species :)
After we had spent a few hours there, we eventually made our way back to the hotel. Wow! The lobby was packed! So many bell carts heaped up high, I started to get a feeling of what was to come. And a little frustrated that we could only bring one suitcase each... Oh to live close to DragonCon!
It was just after 2pm, so we called past the hotel gym to meet up with the 300DC guys/girls. I'm always really nervous meeting people, so glad I had Matt there to do most of the talking... After quickly introducing ourselves, we headed back to our room so Matt could change into gym gear (I was going to as well, but felt too shy to sweat in front of people I'd just met..). Back down to the gym, and I took some photos of the guys together - Wildcat snapped a pic of me too.
By then, it was time to head over to the Sheraton to pick up our badges. Yikes! We got there a little after 4pm, probably closer to 4.30pm. All in all, I guess it wasn't too bad, about 1.5 - 2 hours in all. Just glad to get our badges and outside to the fresh air... Back to our room, and repeated the night before - room service dinner (quite yum, tried different dessert), then fell asleep on the bed watching Project Runway - except this time I fell asleep on the bed, fully dressed...