EXPO WEEKEND

Two weeks ago Amy and her younglings (who are not really that young) came to visit and we went to the Huntsville Comic and Pop Culture Expo!

It's literally been years since Amy and her family came to Huntsville to visit, so we were very glad to see them.  Since we were going to be spending the weekend at the Expo, we got hotel rooms at the Embassy Suites, which is attached to the civic center by a walkway, and also is close enough to downtown to walk wherever we needed to go!  No Car Weekend!  Woo-Hoo!

Everyone got here on Friday night, and we took the opportunity to walk around Big Spring park and talk and chase the ducks around for a while. Pretty much everything was closed by the time we got back, so we retired to regroup the next day for the Expo.

Actually, on our way back to our rooms via the slowest elevators in the history of elevators, I recognized one of the special guests that would be at the Expo. Ming Chen, who is kind of a renaissance man and one of the guys on the show Comic Book Men, a reality show based in a comic book shop in Red Bank, NJ. If you're one of my constant readers, you'll remember that Steve and I visited there when we visited New Jersey. Ming has always been my favorite on that show, but I genuinely didn't expect to see him right in my hotel!  I said hello, but was immediately distracted with a dog that came out of one of the elevators (of course) so Steve struck up a conversation with him and had a quick chat. Ming seemed to be a very nice dude, so I'm glad he got to visit with him a bit.

Saturday was the full day we planned to spend at the Expo. Can you believe that I didn't wear a costume?  Steve wore a costume, Amy wore one, Kate wore one, but Sean and I just wore our nerdy shirts (Hogwarts Alumni REPRESENT!) I would love to cosplay at a con someday, and to be fair Amy did offer me one of her costumes to wear, but I didn't have the right shoes or have hair and makeup planned. Aside from that, I haven't found a character that I think I look enough like to cosplay as. Granted, I know that isn't really important, but I'd at least like to find someone I kind of favor to dress as! Come on, Hollywood! You need more chubby brunettes with big, brown cow eyes in your sci-fi stuff!  Help a sister out.

Anthony met us in the lobby, and we headed into the vendor hall!  TBH, that's my favorite part of going to cons. There are so many local artists who can make amazing stuff. I was determined to find something special as a souvenir, and I did, but someone bought it out from under me!  I'm so mad!  I hesitated! You never hesitate in the vendors hall!  UGH!  We walked around and enjoyed people watching and browsing.  Look, even if you aren't into Sci-Fi or pop culture, and you'd rather chew your own face off than participate at a convention, you should still go sometime. The people watching is so freaking fun, and the costumes on display are very impressive! Although this particular Expo isn't huge, there were still a lot more people there than last year, and the level of participation was impressive.  The guests lined the hall, and there were lots of fun people there.  Besides Ming Chen, I actually rode in the elevator with one of the best comic cover artists in the business, Arthur Suydam, several of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers were there (and I think the Pink Ranger had the hots for Steve!), voice actors, professional wrestlers that I loved when I was a kid (I met Jake "The Snake" Roberts, and Hacksaw Jim Duggan was there as well) and Gil Gerard (the OG Buck Rogers) was there too, but I didn't get a chance to meet him. Lou Farrigno was also there and that guy is HUGE. I mean, you'd imagine that he'd be big and muscly, but you'd have to see him in person to really appreciate it.  It was a lot of fun!  

We skipped out in the afternoon to get lunch and coffee (I finally tasted Korean barbecue and it was great!) and we went back to our rooms to rest for a bit, because we were going to a hockey game that night.  The game was a lot of fun, and I think it was the first hockey game that Kate and Sean had ever been to. As far as I know, they enjoyed it, which was great!  Stupid me, though, had to leave and go back to the room because my allergies were making me very stopped up and dizzy and it was hard to watch the puck go back and forth without wanting to puke. Of course after I left, the Havoc made an amazing shot and won the game and I missed it! BOO! STUPID ALLERGIES!!!  Afterwards, we all got together in the hotel restaurant and had dinner before going to bed.  It had been a long, but very enjoyable day.

Sunday we got up to do it all over again. :)  It was a little less crowded, but no less fun.  We walked around and saw and met people. Amy wore an amazing costume of Idris, the female form of the TARDIS, which I covet. :)  We didn't spend all day there, though. By that afternoon, everyone was tired and Expoed out, I think, and Amy and the kids had a long drive back home.  So we wondered around outside for a bit and then said our goodbyes.  It was a great weekend!