I'm back home safely from Midwest Furfest 2018 and there's one word that describes the whole experience: hectic! There was so much to do in only a short few days. Thankfully, I had an awesome con.

I've been extremely busy lately, so I had precisely zero time to prep for MFF. That includes dieting in anticipation of all the delicious Chicago food...hurk! My work schedule also made timing especially tight. I showed up, oh, about five minutes before the macro meet on Friday. I threw on my suit, raced through the front door of the hotel, and ran into a wall of macro enthusiasts! I had the pleasure to meet so many new people. One was  Nightraver, who is not only personally a blast to hang out with, but also a very capable photographer. He snapped some impressive macro shots of Tegon I'll share on Twitter over the coming days.  Sofia.exe gave me a neat shiny - a shrinking sticker! Then there was  Drachetto, who, judging from his reaction, checked an item off his bucket list in getting stomped by me! He was wearing what I think is a new tiger fursuit. I also shook hands (paws?) with a trio of artists whose art impresses me on a daily basis:  kclt,  sythefox, and  kerneldecoy.

After a solid two hours suiting, I buzzed over to our hotel to unpack. This year we (meaning myself,  geldazane, and  JesseR.) stayed at the Embassy Suites and it was a mixed bag. The lobby is swanky, they have a full breakfast spread, and the attached bar/restaurant is quiet and has good food. Incidentally, we also had a full suite, so for once I had a full bed to myself and didn't have to sleep on the floor. However, the walk to the Hyatt is a bit of a trek if you want to avoid puddles... not quite as bad as the Aloft, though! The biggest negative were the elevators. They had unacceptably poor performance. I don't know why they were so janky, but Bronze and I often had to wait way too long to get up to the sixth floor. Plus one of the elevators had trouble stopping on our floor, and at least two of them had burnt out lights on the floor buttons.

That night Bronze and I had dinner with  blueanthroraptor, and it's always a trip observing and discussing the similarities and differences in our cultures. We wrapped up Friday playing Jackbox with  iancorvid's group, including  Buffzard, who had plenty of hugs and Oreos to spare!

Saturday morning I took a trip into Chicago to go shopping and visit a few landmarks. I was able to see the Bean almost by myself (because it was freezing and rainy). Then I picked up a cool new jacket on the Magnificent Mile (you can see it here), and finally perused the Christkindlmarket for German candies and hot chocolate.

When I got back it was time for the menagerie - that's the big fursuiting free-for-all. I didn't have time to get into really any of the group shots, and the one I did get into (Predators) I was stuck in the back. But I think the real fun for this event lies in milling around and finding cool suits to get pictures with. That included  Comus and  Eredran (my Artslave brothers),  Shade-raptor, and  Axikor's Temba. I also met a handful of fellow macro afficinados who have been watching for years, like  Veem0n, who was introduced by  Corvidius.

I had the pin trading panel after that and now I'm going to have to reorder my Tegon pins... I'm happy to have handed out so many to friends!

That night Bronze and I ate dinner at the Hyatt's restaurant. Pro tip: do not eat a heavy, greasy burger right after suiting for hours! Your body won't allow it. Even so, we were able to enjoy a few more rounds of Jackbox.

Sunday I made my last run through the Dealers' Den with sythefox,  neopuc, Nightraver, Bronze, and Buffzard. If you wanna see my con haul, check it out here. Unusually I wasn't able to even go into the Art Show until it was too late. So nothing this year! One last thing: I had to laugh at MFF labeling the dildo room the "Dealers Den Annex" this year... it sounds so classy!

Before I knew it, it was time to leave. On the way out the door i grabbed a pizza from Giordano's. Believe it or not, this was the first time I was in the mood to try it, and wow, it's actually really good! I will no longer make Chicago pizza jokes as an east coaster.

Check out my Twitter (@TegonDragon) for suit pics. See y'all at AC 2019!