We were up early to take advantage of the hotel’s breakfast. While I knew there would be hot food on the buffet, I was thinking it was just going to be biscuits and gravy, but there were eggs and sausage too. There was also fruit, bagels, juice, cereal, and danishes. I made sure to eat a full breakfast since I knew we were going to be doing a lot of walking.
We made it to the St. Louis Science Center shortly after they opened and walked around for a couple hours. There were some great displays, including an energy contraption that stretched along the whole ceiling of the entrance lobby. Colored balls followed the loops from one side to the other.
As cool as this was, my favorite was the animatronic dinosaurs.
There were a lot of kids there and a lot of cool things geared towards kids, but we still had fun walking through the museum and looking at things. We wandered over the planetarium to look around as well, but we didn’t do any of the shows. It was a good visit though, and gave us another chance to use our ASTC membership that we got through the Flint Hills Discovery Center.
Our second stop of the day was at the Anheuser-Busch Tour Center for a tour of the St. Louis brewery.
The tour was a lot of fun. It was a seven block walking tour, all down hill, though we did have to navigate down three flights of stairs. This gave me a little anxiety since my knees do better with going up stairs than they do down, but I managed with hardly any problems. We got to see the areas where they brew, age, and package the beer. We also got to see some of the Budweiser clydesdales.
At the end of the tour, we took trolleys back up the hill to the hospitality room where we were given two free samples. I tried the Black Crown beer and the Straw-ber-ita flavored drink (is that even considered a beer?). Both were good, though the fruity drink was more pleasing to my taste buds. The drinks made me a little giggly, so we hung out for awhile, just to make sure I could drive safely.
We came back to the hotel and made a pit stop at the Hardee’s down the street for a late lunch. Their credit card system wasn’t working, but instead of turning us away, they gave us a free meal. It was tasty too. Our last couple Hardee’s experiences weren’t great, so it was nice to finally have a good charbroil flavored burger.
Though we talked about doing something else this afternoon and evening, we ended up just relaxing in the hotel room and ordering in. We have a lot of walking planned for the next couple of days and wanted to pace ourselves so as not to burn out all in the first day. It was good to just chill.
Tomorrow is zoo day! I hope the weather doesn’t freeze us out from visiting the animals.
This marked the first year we attended Gen Con on Sunday. We’re usually so tired by Day 3 that we just go home after hotel checkout. This year, though, we came back to buy the games we’d decided on from the day before. We also talked to the convention manager at AEG, and we might be helping out with a con in KC in November. I’m kind of excited about that.
We got on the road a little after 11 and had a nice drive. As we neared St. Louis, we decided to drive right through the city so Terry could see the arch. It was so close that we threw caution to the wind and decided just to go visit it. I love impromptu trip stops! The arch was cool…definitely bigger in person. The only one of us who’d visited there was Erica, so it was a cool treat.
It was a little bit of a walk, but it was a nice stretch. I hadn’t realized there was a museum underneath the arch either.
I debated going to the top in the tram, but decided against it due to time constraints. That, and the fact that the trams are tiny, and I wasn’t sure if I was mentally prepared for the claustrophobia or the height. However, I think Jon and I are going to go up when we visit St. Louis in November. That’s the plan, though I think we’re both a little apprehensive about that.
The rest of the drive was uneventful other than a few stops and some good conversation. Our trip mates were fabulous to road trip with and the drive didn’t feel too long at all. We crashed shortly after getting home, happy with our experiences and just a little sad that they were over.
I always call the Wednesday of Gen Con week Day 0, because there are still things going on, but the convention doesn’t technically start until Thursday. Day 0 is the day we use to pick up our badges, have our annual lunch at The Ram, and get our rest in before the walk-a-thon that the next few days brings. At least that’s how it’s been in the past. This year was a bit different in that we didn’t use it as our day of rest. Instead, we kicked the walk-a-thon off early and then hoped that it didn’t haunt us the rest of the weekend.
The night before we decided that if we got up earlier we’d try to find a couple of local geocaches. I was awake an hour before the alarm, and I woke Jon up too (poor guy). We grabbed breakfast, an event which showcased my first time ever using a waffle iron at a continental breakfast. It was kind of cool and tasted okay. Unfortunately, it fell short of protein, but it was also early and my stomach wasn’t up for a big meal.
Over the next hour, we found five geocaches. They were all park and grabs, but it was fun finding them! We were able to give our trackable a new home, and we found the tiniest cache yet on our adventures.
So tiny…only a small slip of paper fit in there.
Writing on the tiny paper in there was a challenge, but I did it!
After the fifth one, we decided to head to the convention center. One-way streets in downtown Indy make me nervous, but we finally found parking. The walk from the parking garage to the convention center seemed much shorter this year, probably due to the distinct lack of rest stops I had to take. We hung out and met up with Terry and Erica (our trip mates who gave me permission to use their names in the blog…the mystery is solved). We got in line a little before 11 for will call with the hope that it might open early. It did, but only by about 10 minutes. The line was fast though. I think we only waited for about 15 minutes from the time the line opened to the time we got our badges.
From there, we walked to The Ram for our annual lunch. We were seated right away, and service was super fast. As we were sitting down, Jon said, “Hey, turn around and look at the booth behind you.” I figured he was showing me a cool decoration or someone in costume. Turns out, Wil Wheaton was sitting in one of the booths behind us. I managed to keep the fan-girling to a minimum. The guy was eating lunch and I don’t want to be one of those people who hound and bother cool, well-known people in the wrong setting. So I just basked in the excitement of being near a celebrity and did nothing more than send a casual Tweet about it.
The food was delicious. Sticking with my goals of keeping it healthy this week, I got a side salad and a cup of fruit to go with my burger.
The vinaigrette on that salad was so good. I didn’t feel like I was forcing myself to eat the healthy stuff either. I was actually craving a salad and I always love fruit, so this wasn’t a hardship at all.
Jon and I got some down time while Terry and Erica were in the VIG orientation, so we people-watched and found a good 3G spot to check the internet on our phone. Once they were done, we headed toward their hotel room. The original plan at that point was to head to the Indianapolis Museum of Art. After talking about it though, we decided it would be a pain to pay parking and then pay again to come back to the area for some evening stuff. We talked about taking a cab, but by the time we got there, we would have only had a couple hours to walk through the museum.
Instead, we opted to stay in the area and walk to the Indiana State Museum which was close to their hotel. We dropped some stuff at their room and headed over. Jon and I got to make use of our Flint Hills Discovery Center membership perks. We talked about doing the Star Wars exhibit but decided against the 20 dollar per person cost. Instead, we walked around the regular exhibits and took a ton of pictures. I will note that it was about this time that I started losing steam. However, this was about 3 in the afternoon. That was a long period of sustained steam.
Erica got a game in her VIG swag bag, so we decided to go back to their hotel and play. We ended up sitting in the lounge area of the JW Marriott for a few hours. We met another con-goer who we invited to play. Since the game was only for four players, I sat out and just enjoyed the ambience of the area. The staff was super friendly, I got to people-watch and check the internet again, and later I had some really tasty coffee while sitting in a chair that was more like a comfy throne.
Jon and I eventually headed out to find some food and hit a MtG party at one of the local bars. We were going to check out some food trucks but ended up getting Steak and Shake. It was cheap, we didn’t have to wait long, and I love their food. Not so healthy this time…I had the fries and enjoyed every minute of them. Still managed to avoid soda, though I was craving a coke. I might have had one too, but I didn’t feel like dealing with the side effects.
We didn’t stay at the bar party long. We were both tired and bars aren’t really my thing. I did have a little bit of social anxiety, but I think it was due to the claustrophobia. There were a lot of people, and at one point, I didn’t have a way out. However, we both got hand drawn tokens from Eric Klug.
From there, it was back to the parking garage and back to the hotel room.
So much walking, but so much fun, and that was all before the convention even started…a successful kick-off.
Allergies and all, I survived my day in Topeka yesterday. I messed up and threw myself even more of a challenge when I got starry eyed over some medicine deals at Walgreens and completely forgot to look for something non-drowsy. Luckily, I remained functional and didn’t fall asleep at the wheel.
We hit a local joint called Juice Stop for a smoothie breakfast and a stuffed pretzel (because I never get the opportunity to indulge in those) and I tried a shot of wheatgrass. It was grassy. I showed my ignorance by originally asking for it in my smoothie, but the staff was nice and set me straight on the fact that most people do shots and it would make a fruit smoothie taste like the ground. I’m glad they gave me the info.
Sadly, this was the only adventure I was able to catch a pic for on this trip because I forgot to charge my phone overnight (this really isn’t my best weekend, mentally). Not really a big deal, though, since Topeka is a short drive and we’re already planning on going back to the Topeka Zoo, which was our second stop. I’ve heard mixed reviews about this zoo, and they all have merit. It was nice seeing some of the animals we don’t have in MHK, but everything felt a little dirty. Then again, it was raining and hot and muggy, so that might have contributed to it. All the animals were out, lazing around and doing as little as possible. We got the once over from a gorilla named Tiffani, and even though the zoo said we might be lucky enough to see it via a “sign” on their window, we missed out on seeing the mating of the tigers.
The third stop was to buy clothes for Jon. Nothing especially exciting happened there.
Our fourth stop was unplanned and mostly a means to kill time until the movie theater opened, but it was well worth the side trip. We checked out the Kansas Museum of History which included an exhibit on retro and antique furniture, a huge train that triggered my claustrophobia when I tried to walk through it, and all kinds of neat historical stuff. I’d actually like to go back and get pictures from there sometime.
We had lunch at Hooters, another new food experience for me. The food was delicious. I had one of the best grilled chicken sandwiches I’ve ever had. I realize people make Hooters jokes and all, and I guess I thought it would be a little more risque than it was. But it wasn’t uncomfortable and the service was good.
Our last Topeka stop was to the West Ridge 8 second run theater. It has been years since I’ve been to a “cheap seat” theater. Jon and I opted for different movies. He went with the newest Fast and the Furious flick and I went to see The Purge. In my last post, I complained about people talking , but for two dollars, a lot can be overlooked. I was lucky in that there wasn’t a lot of talking in my theater, and what there was seemed fairly appropriate, including the moment when the theater was silent and after a pivotal scene in the movie, another movie goer said “Moron” out loud in reference to one of the characters. It was funny because I’m pretty sure everyone else was thinking the same thing. There was also a scene at the end of the movie where everyone busted out laughing. Humor aside…especially because it wasn’t supposed to be a funny movie…I enjoyed it. I didn’t so much enjoy the theater seats which leaned back way too far, but again, for two bucks, I dealt with it. And we’ll probably go back.
We drove home in more rain, made a Baskin Robbins stop, and came back to the house where we watched “Knocked Up” and part of “Sharknado,” which I’m sure will get its own post. Overall, it was a fun and active day and even though we did a lot of walking, my soreness and stiffness is at a minimum.
Our original plan when visiting the Flint Hills Discovery Center was to check out the place where they’d be holding a lecture later that week. The problem with public lectures is often seating and comfort, so we wanted to check beforehand to make sure this was going to work for us.
Flint Hills Discovery Center
After arriving there, we decided to go ahead and by a day pass to explore the museum. We started by seeing their film, which includes features such as blowing air and smoke to “immerse” the audience in the narration of the film. Then we explored the areas and looked at the exhibits about the Flint Hills and Kansas in general.
It was a fun place to visit, and it would be fun to take my nephews or niece there if they were to come this way for a visit. It gave me a new perspective on Kansas, and the exhibits were interesting. There are certain areas that are free to the public, including the lobby, which has a kiosk that lets visitors plan an itinerary of other places to see in Kansas, and a third floor terrace which overlooks part of Manhattan and gives a distant view of the Hills.
At the time I originally wrote this blog, there were a few things I was kind of bummed about. One was the fact that the art gallery portion wasn’t open, but in order to visit it again, we’d have to pay the admission fee or purchase a membership. Because it didn’t strike us as the kind of place we’d visit multiple times, both options seemed a little iffy. I was also a little disappointed when they said they used “youth chairs” for their lectures. I can’t imagine anyone being comfortable in what I perceived as kid chairs, even smaller people than J and I.
However, in a weird twist of events, my point of view has changed a bit. Part of that was the fact that we did attend a lecture there and it turned out to be really comfortable. Kudos to the DC for having really good, sturdy chairs for their visitors.
The other part was that as part of one of his classes, J. ended up getting a membership, and we found out that the FHDC is part of a large network of museums, so this membership will allow us to visit other museums all over the country. And the privileges mean that I can attend other museums with him at no charge because it gives family benefits too.
However, after thinking about it, I’ve decided to go ahead and get a membership as well. It works out to less than a couple dollars a month, and it will allow us to see all the exhibits (the family benefits only kick in at museums that are over 90 miles a way from where we live). Plus, the charitable part of me wants to be able to say I contributed to something cool, and we can incorporate the Discovery Center as another place to take walks.
I’ll be signing up for a membership in a couple days, when the FHDC has its Discovery Day to celebrate being open a year. Admission is free, so even though signing up for the membership won’t really allow us to take advantage of that, we’re going to see some of the cool things they’re doing (plus we’ve planned for this to be our museum day in Manhattan. I’m currently nursing a bum foot, but praying it’ll be better in the next day or so, so I can go exploring).
Also, the terrace is amazingly calm. I plan to utilize this space for “down time” in the future.
To continue with our trend of culture and fun, we visited the Forth Worth Museum of Science and History on field trip Friday. We didn’t realize it was going to be field trip day until we got there and the parking lot was filled with school buses and lines of elementary kids waiting to get in.
Normally, I would have driven the other way, but I really wanted to see the museum, so we found a parking space and braved the super loud museum and the groups of children. As someone who doesn’t consider myself a “kid person,” I actually thought it was cool how excited they all were about the exhibits.
There were some cool things to see and a lot of hands on things we probably would have done if not for all the kids. We avoided the Titanic exhibit due to cost, but we did stop in the Cattle Raisers’ Museum (a museum inside of the Science and History museum…very inceptionesque).
Our next stop was the National Cowgirl Museum. I was bummed that we couldn’t take pictures except for in the lobby. It was still a great experience. The special exhibit was Maverick quilts. Upstairs we took goofy digital photos and watched a short video on cowgirls.
Our final stop was the Amon Carter American Art Museum. At this point, we were pretty exhausted. Remember me saying I wasn’t great at walking? Well I pushed it. We parked in a parking garage that was halfway between the Amon and the science, and that added so many steps. So by the time we got to this last one, I was hurting.
So as much as I hate to admit it, we kind of copped out of the Amon. But we did get through most of it and got some good pictures.
We decided it was okay to miss part of the permanent collection, and we did get to see the special exhibit there, a series of enlarged photos. Next time we’re there, we’ll make Amon Carter our first stop.
By the time we were done, Grandma L and Cousin S had already scoped out a lunch spot for us, and we met them at a place called Fireside Pies, a trendy looking place that makes gourmet pizzas.
Delicious.
We ended the day by relaxing at the house with some TV, reading and knitting for awhile before the cousins came back over with chicken dinner. We ate and chatted for a few hours before finally calling it a night.
It’s easy for J. Felbs and I to get lazy during vacation, especially when we’re visiting a city we’re not familiar with and when we have a comfy place to stay and watch TV. This time around, however, we decided to get out of our comfort zone this time and visit some museums in Fort Worth. We didn’t plan this ahead of time. It was kind of a spur of the moment decision at breakfast, but one that proved to be a good one.
The museum was beautiful and we enjoyed walking through all the galleries. There was so much to look at and we kept finding rooms and hallways, like a cool, art-filled maze.
Like with anything that involves pictures, even though I liked looking at all the art, I only took pictures of the things that really resonated with me, which meant that in many cases it was the art I found to be a bit creepy.
The feel of the Kimbell was different from the feel of the Modern. It felt smaller and warmer in décor, though not necessarily warmer in atmosphere. Don’t get me wrong, everyone was super friendly (one of my favorite parts of visiting Texas), but there was definitely a more serious feel to the gallery.
We decided to leave the other museums until the next day to beat rush hour and what seemed like ominous weather. We headed back to Grandma L’s and relaxed for awhile before meeting up with more family for dinner at a restaurant called Frescos.
Besides the awesome feeling of hanging with my husband and actually getting out and doing something, I was proud of the amount of walking and standing I did. I definitely felt like I was able to get past the mobility issues and really enjoy seeing things outside of the norm. Day 2 proved to be just as successful as Day 1, if not more so.
We’ve been trying to get to Texas for several months, but the timing wasn’t right. We finally made it happen with an extended weekend vacation south while J. Felbs was on Spring Break. We left after work on a Tuesday, heading to Wichita to stay the night and break the long drive up a bit.
On the way, we listened to The More You Nerd which was like reconnecting with old friends. It’s one of our favorite podcasts, but due to technical issues with computers, internets, and iPods, I hadn’t been able to upload in a long time. Wichita brought a trip to Braum’s and a couple games of MtG, where I learned the importance of taking my brother-in-law out in a match as soon as possible.
Besides the weather being nice, we got a little adventurous on the road trip the next day. First, we stopped at a small BBQ joint called Stevenson BBQ. The hearse in the parking lot was a little unsettling, as were the scary bathrooms. But the smell of BBQ was wonderful and the food ended up being delicious.
Pretty sure this used to be a Braum’sOrder up at the front counterBrisket sandwich and fries
We decided to go off the beaten path and have an adventure, so we drove into Paul’s Valley, Oklahoma and visited The Toy & Action Figure Museum. It was so cool. There were, of course, action figures of all kinds, including some horror figures from some of my favorite movie franchises. There was a neat playroom where people (mostly kids, but there were some adult costumes too) could dress up and act like a superhero for awhile. There was a Bat Cave that had everything Batman and a corner that featured Oklahoma cartoon artists. It was fun to geek out on all the displays.
One of my faves! It was kept behind a glass case. This was probably good.
This was only part of the many TMNT memorabilia
Our side trip, road work, and rush hour traffic put our arrival time a little later, but not too late. We got in, visited with Grandma L, then ate dinner at The Porch, a local homestyle restaurant in Burleson.
We ended the night watching Duck Dynasty (which cracked me up) and Bates Motel (which intrigued me and made me sad I don’t have cable). All in all, a successful first day of vacation.
The Romance Factor 