I know this is a little late, since a lot of you are already at BLFC, but I got to go to FWA last weekend. And as always, I had quite the weekend.

You're probably thinking where the drama comes in. It wasn't that I was riding down with  jhusky,  dannyopolous and Mizu, aka  aht1991, who were a blast to be able to ride down there with. It all started when the rental company turned me down after I had ALREADY paid for the car I was supposed to rent because they decided to do a credit check on my for paying with a debit card. Whatever, I suppose...as much as I didn't want to, I ended up taking my car along with. And it's probably a good thing because on our way down through Indiana, we ended up hitting a deer. The damn thing started off as if it was heading in the other direction, but then turned and ran right into the front end of my car at the last second, causing about $3,800 worth of body damaga. At least we were still able to make it to the con.

And boy, what a con it was! My room was on the 61st floor at the Westin and sharing it with Spuds,  raptorred and  hoomiku was a nice experience. Got a bunch of stuff; though it was just a t-shirt, a couple of badges and a sketchbook commission, I felt as if I made out like a bandit. And though I didn't get to go in the pool at all, it was nice to be able to go out and enjoy what downtown Atlanta has to offer...specifically the restaurants around the hotel. The highlight of my weekend in that regard was being able to take  hoomiku and  pianoskunk out to Fire of Brazil and not have to worry about the tab. And Oh. My. God. I tell people that it is worth it just for all the meat that they offer you, and it is all so good! I think I'll see about giving the Brazilian steakhouse down by MFF a shot this year; just need to put aside money for that.

Antero didn't get out as much as I wanted him to, though I did have him out for the parade...complete with an actual replica bronze medal from this year's Olympics. I was half-expecting to get a lot of flak for having it after Finland demolished us, and being all excited and bouncy and jumpy (look at any parade vids you might see on Youtube), but only one person in a Carolina Hurricanes jersey gave me shit over it. I made sure to find him, give him a hug and told him that he made my day after that because it meant he knew and loves hockey enough to care. If only I could find him and watch him as well...

But the highlight of my weekend had to be going to the Georgia Aquarium on Sunday. Was a little more pricey than I first thought it would be, but it was well worth it to walk through one of the biggest aquariums in the entire world. Being able to see whale sharks and manta rays in an aquarium was awesome, not to mention some of the other highlights of the outings...such as the beluga whales, sea otters, the big tropical reef tank, and the albino alligators. The dolphin show was spectacular, if not a little tacky, but it would've been nice if it wasn't a completely separate thing. Though if I do decide to hit the aquarium next year, I might set aside a little more and see about getting a date with the otters or dolphins...at $60 and $65 respectively, it might actually be worth it. I should have some pictures up soon.

And now, the awesome furs that I got to hang out and work with to make my weekend a memorable one:
: - And of course, everybody in the FWA chat on Skype who hyped up the con for me; there's just too damn many of you to list! If I missed you, you're still awesome anyway!

I really hope to make it back next year, though the new date kinda makes it tricky as it is up against Motor City Fur Con, and I wanna do BLFC as well. Here's to hoping that no matter what I choose, it is just as awesome either way!