Thursday: Dragon*Con Eve
In the next several posts I will share the highlights of our trip to Atlanta, day-by-day.
Our flight arrived around 3 pm. We grabbed a late lunch at the airport and rode the MARTA to downtown Atlanta. We were staying at the Westin, a couple of blocks from the three main hotels, thanks to a great deal posted by xiandesi. If you are at all considering going to Dragon*Con in the future, make sure you keep an eye on her journal! The con rates at the host hotels are still rather pricey, and we wound up paying less than half of what we would have paid to stay at the Hilton, as we originally planned. There was actually some programming at the Westin for the first time this year, but it was definitely quieter than the main hotels, and closer than the Holiday Inn we had stayed at before.
My sister-in-law Christine had arrived Thursday morning, so she very generously took on the task of waiting in line to pick up badges for all three of us. There are rumblings that the con will finally overhaul its archaic pre-registration system for next year, but I'll believe it when I see it. Until they do, paying on-site, even though it's more expensive, seems to be the much better option.
We touched base with Christine and made plans to meet her at the Hilton, then catch a cab together to the Star Party, an event the Atlanta Skeptics were putting together for the second year in a row. The cab ride turned into something out of The Amazing Race, but we did eventually reach our destination. Many of our skeptic friends were there, and we very much enjoyed the food, drinks, entertainment by George Hrab, and lecture by Pamela Gay. Sitting in the planetarium while tired and tipsy was probably not the best idea, in retrospect, but we were there until the party shut down, after which Irena very kindly gave us a ride back to the Hilton. After chatting a bit with D.J. Grothe, who was just getting back from the party himself, we collected our registration materials from Christine and headed back to the Westin, finally turning in around 2 am.
Our flight arrived around 3 pm. We grabbed a late lunch at the airport and rode the MARTA to downtown Atlanta. We were staying at the Westin, a couple of blocks from the three main hotels, thanks to a great deal posted by xiandesi. If you are at all considering going to Dragon*Con in the future, make sure you keep an eye on her journal! The con rates at the host hotels are still rather pricey, and we wound up paying less than half of what we would have paid to stay at the Hilton, as we originally planned. There was actually some programming at the Westin for the first time this year, but it was definitely quieter than the main hotels, and closer than the Holiday Inn we had stayed at before.
My sister-in-law Christine had arrived Thursday morning, so she very generously took on the task of waiting in line to pick up badges for all three of us. There are rumblings that the con will finally overhaul its archaic pre-registration system for next year, but I'll believe it when I see it. Until they do, paying on-site, even though it's more expensive, seems to be the much better option.
We touched base with Christine and made plans to meet her at the Hilton, then catch a cab together to the Star Party, an event the Atlanta Skeptics were putting together for the second year in a row. The cab ride turned into something out of The Amazing Race, but we did eventually reach our destination. Many of our skeptic friends were there, and we very much enjoyed the food, drinks, entertainment by George Hrab, and lecture by Pamela Gay. Sitting in the planetarium while tired and tipsy was probably not the best idea, in retrospect, but we were there until the party shut down, after which Irena very kindly gave us a ride back to the Hilton. After chatting a bit with D.J. Grothe, who was just getting back from the party himself, we collected our registration materials from Christine and headed back to the Westin, finally turning in around 2 am.