Rich Hailey

This is part 3 of an increasingly ineptly named trilogy of posts. Follow the links for Part 1 and Part 2a and Part 2b

And now our voyage is almost complete! We’ve arrived at Sunday, the last day of the con. This summation of the con has not been very summary, but then again one should never rush consummation in any setting.

So, after staying up late with the Mad Scientists and then even later packing, we had an early wake up to go eat breakfast with the Huns/Dinerzens and anybody who managed to wake up on time. We made our way off the resort grounds and drove a short way to the City Cafe Diner, where we met up with people we knew, people we vaguely recognized, and people we didn’t know at all. As we walked in, Cedar and Sanford graciously allowed us to sit at their table and we proceeded to demolish a large breakfast. I had jalepenos in my omelet, which was new to me.

The staff of the Diner was slightly overwhelmed by the sudden influx of patrons, but they rallied gamely. I ordered my usual OJ and water, and Lissa ordered her coffee.

We got two coffees.

Oh well, it was pretty chaotic in there; I wasn’t worried too much about it. We listened to the conversations going on at the big table, and chatted with the newlyweds and the two junior family members at the table with us and enjoyed a nice breakfast.

Well, part of a nice breakfast. Service took a while as the kitchen caught up, which wasn’t a problem. In fact, the servers brought out too much toast for the first table, so they just sent it to our tableso we could eat while we were waiting. But the manager seemed to be one of those people who cannot handle a change in his routine. Even before we were all served at our table, he was loudly asking if anybody was waiting on a table, hinting that our rather large party should finish up and move on. I cheerfully ignored him, much as I ignored the other screaming baby in the room one booth over. As a father of many, I’ve become adept at ignoring tantrums.

After breakfast, it was one last chance for Lissa to hang with Cedar and Sarah, and I went into the Huckster room one last time (Yeah. Uh huh.) for Weber and McDevitt autographs. While I was in there, Lissa came rushing in pointing and gesturing that I had to come back out into the foyer.

John C. Wright had come in and was sitting with Cedar, Sarah and Kate Paulk. I had been carrying my copy of his book around waiting to see him again, and here was my chance! We talked briefly and he signed my book for me.

But the wild thing was that while we were talking, somebody ran and got Mike Williamson to come out and join the group. So many members of the Evil Legion of Evil present in one tiny space caused the fabric of reality itself to warp. Evil laughter swept the building at random moments while puppies cringed and babies soiled themselves, as did SJW’s thousands of miles away preparing for Sasquan. TNH was heard to mutter in her lair “All is not well in the realm. I feel…unsettled.  Ehhh, Maybe it’s just gas.”

After the epic display of evil, I was worried that the rest of the con would be anti-climactic.

Nope.

The world-building panel was too full, so I joined Lissa at the Hoyt vs Williamson Family Feud game. Once again, her choice turned out to be stellar as the audience was roaring with laughter at the antics of both families. The poll questions were interesting enough, but the selection of poll participants must have been truly out of bounds as the answers were…unique.

The Hoyt family dominated the game, winning handily. The Williamson team has demanded a rematch, so next year’s game could get bloody.

After Family Feud, surprise, surprise, I headed into the Dealer room to get a last minute item. I’d talked to Martin Powell at a panel the night before, and I’d noticed he had some items for sale, one of which really intrigued me. It was a graphic novel adaptation of

“Jungle Tales of Tarzan,” and it looked pretty cool. It was clearly a labor of love for him and the artists he worked with, and I had to have it since I’m a big Edgar Rice Burroughs fan myself. I have several Tarzan books from Grossett and Dunlop published as far back as 1914. They aren’t in super shape, which is why I could afford them, but it’s pretty cool to read a book that was published over 100 years ago. So when I saw the graphic novel, and how closely it followed the stories, I had to get it. Martin autographed it for me and it sits in a place of honor in my ‘To Be Read’ pile.

Next up for us was the “Serving Mythical Creatures’ panel, with Cedar, Robert Hoyt, Cathe Smith, and Chris Smith. If you ever wanted to know how to cook and serve up your favorite monsters, from were wolves (It’s okay while they are transformed; bad manners when they aren’t) to mermaids (Make a nice ceviche) to dragons, this was your panel. In a way, it formed a nice counterpoint to the Social Justice panel earlier.

Next up was Celebrity Jeopardy with Mike Williamson, Tedd ‘Speaker to Lab Animals’ Roberts, and Melissa Gay. It was a game which demonstrated without a doubt that depth of knowledge is not the same as breadth of knowledge. The game was hilarious, and the lead swapped back and forth several times, but it ended in a three way tie for last place.

Or first place if you prefer. All three contestants whiffed the Final Jeopardy answer.

And that really wraps it up. We went to the closing ceremonies, met with our daughter and grand-daughter for lunch, and then drove home. As I look over the posts and my memories, there’s so much I’ve left out. I’ve barely covered the things we did, and haven’t even mentioned all the things we didn’t get to do.

So, one more post. the CONclusion to this series if you will. It will be up tomorrow.