Seems a lot of people post their AC experiences here, thought it would feel good to recap.

Drove from home on Thursday and got into a fender-bender on the 270 northbound, just outside DC. Had to make phone calls to insurance companies while at the con, but the end story: we both changed lanes at the same time and did a perfect Dukes of Hazard style side-bump. We have minor dents and scuffs, and we both claimed contributory liability. Nicest fender bender you could possibly have.

I'm stoked that AC is now "only" driving distance away from me. It's a pleasant run between cities.

Drove in late Thursday night, unpacked at the Doubletree, and took the walk to the Westin to get a feel for the walk between hotels and the con itself. Ran into  rabbitinthemoon and  jadaira in-suit,  blazger, and FrostElf. Also found the cool crew around  Springdale, as well as the brit in the Furball fursuit and crew, thanks for the beer! Also met an insomniac  onai. Later ran into  Thumpie_Bunny_Eve in-suit, amazing.

Slept a little too well through Friday, and on top of that the insurance companies started to call, so I had to make those phone calls, didn't get to the hotel until after 5, barely in time to register. Went in-suit. I realized that on the long walk between the DoubleTree and the Westin that I was stopping traffic :) Made it to the femme photo shoot, as well as the dance, other than that I just browsed and talked to people. Thanks  popabear for one fun shot with me and the girls. Some mundanes came to observe the shoot, and I still in-suit went into ambassador mode. Their reaction was amazement at the detail in the work, and their questions were of open interest, very nice.

Saturday I had an early start. Went in-suit. I made a panel on "Making your fursuit live", as well as one on character development by a person who has worked on-staff for Sesame Street for decades. Picked up my badge from  xianjaguar in-suit, thank you so much, this is my first "real" furry badge, and it's great! Made it in time for the parade with a good rest at headless just before. I started late and lagged way behind everyone because of this, and overheated a bit since I was rushing to keep up. Everyone's reactions in the audience was fantastic, and, having seen myself on Youtube already, I like how I look even walking. For future parades, I'll probably start early and wander from side to side interacting with the audience, letting everyone pass. A Dorsai helped me to the picture after helping me get something to drink, and I de-headed and rested well right after the picture.

The rest of Saturday I browsed leisurely, had a barbecue with  rabbitinthemoon and crew, made the masquerade, Kage's story hour, and the dance. De-suited completely and kept Garnac on fans for an hour before the dance. One thing about not having that room at the faraway Doubletree, there's really no point in going back for anything, I was forced to deal with the suit at the con space. Got back in suit for the dance, then I went for a few drinks at Tonic Grill, some mundane women hit on me :) Hung with  vitani and crew a bit.

Later outside I ran into Zatuichi who remembered me well from Second Life and was highly eager to meet me. Someone pulled up in a car as we were talking, and as the driver was trying to park, a woman disposed of a lit cigarette out the window unconsciously in my direction. I had my head in my lap, and said, "I'm rather flamable miss", but got NO response at all from any of the two men and two women in the car. Then the guy passenger drank some beer from a 24 ounce glass. Nice. They were trying to find a space to parallel park, and I kept staring right at them as they drove back and forth. Then they seemed to realize what was going on around them, and drove off, but this just as a police car drove onto the street. I flagged the cop down and pointed them gesturing "drink", the cop drove up to me and I gave a brief description, he took off after them. Yay.

Sunday was another late start per the drink and need for sleep. Suited after checking out of the hotel, and ate a goodbye dinner with  rabbitinthemoon and  Rydell382, and suited a bit in the hotel. Almost killed myself by suiting in that humid weather and walking from the parking garage. Later, my ticket was demagnetized, already worn out I walked all over the huge greyhound buss station just trying to find someone to deal with the ticket per the misdirection of a greyhound clerk, the machines buttons didn't work and wouldn't let me pay the $12 "lost ticket" fee, and I couldn't communicate well with any guards nor the guy behind the "help" button speaker at the machine. Took me a full hour to get out of the garage and I was heat exhausted. On the drive home I had two large McD's shakes to recover from this, and I'm still craving protein more than 24 hours later.

One regret I have is not having enough vacation days to spend more time. Seems I spent too many days, as well as too much money, on two or three days at other cons when I could have had a better time at AC if I spent Wednesday through Monday there. I'll budget myself much more wisely next time.

Thanks for the great time everyone!