By. Samurai Millo's
It’s
Dragon *Con’s time once more. An occasion when I tell my faithful
readers all about my adventures known as the Dragon*Con Chronicles: a
day by day account of one of the best conventions in the continental U.S. But
first, for all those new to Dragon *Con, here’s a bit of history.
Dragon*Con is a U.S. based multi-genre convention. It was founded in
1987 and takes place once a year in Atlanta, Georgia, usually on Labor Day
weekend. Due to the event’s growth over the years, the convention takes place
in five hotels: the Hilton, the Hyatt Regency, the Marriott Marquis, Sheraton
Hotel and the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel. In 2013 the dealer tables and
exhibition booths were moved to The Atlanta Convention Center at AmericasMart
adding yet another building to the event.
If you are a geek and you are an
enthusiast of everything from comic books to cosplays, then Dragon*Con is
the place for you. You will fit into a number of activities that will peak your
interest. There is no doubt you will enjoy the 4 day convention. Let’s suppose
you are going to Dragon*Con because you love comic books. You love them
so much that you not only read them, but you also collect them, analyze their
stories, and keep them in mind conditions. Wouldn’t it be nice to go to a convention
that offered a series of comic book related events spread through its duration?
Dragon*Con is that kind of convention.
Dragon *Con uses a system known as Fan Tracks which is used to refer to a whole set of activities with
a theme in common. One of its well-known Fan Tracks is for comic books and it’s
known as Comics and Pop Art Fan Track. Dragon*Con has about 42 Fan Tracks that
cover the currently relevant fields of geek interest. That means hundreds of
hours of different kinds of activities, all of them running simultaneously.
The same day I arrived home from Dragon*Con
2013, I bought my 4 day pass for this years. Unable to get a room at the Hyatt
this year, I settled for the Omni Hotel. I also bought my plane ticket before
2013 ended. My plane ride to Atlanta was fast and without incident. Using the
airline’s iPhone app to do my check-in during the day sped up everything. Once
I had all my bags, I used the Airport Shuttle Service and saved myself about
$70 in Taxi fare. The check-in at the Omni was quick too; I checked-in online
the day before.
After getting cozy in my room, I went to the
Sheraton to finish my pre-registration and get my 4 day badge. It was the
fastest registration for a convention that I had ever done. The guy who gave me
my badge warned me that if I lost it I had to pay full price ($150) for a
replacement. I left the Sheraton hotel especially hungry seeing as I hadn’t
eaten anything since 4:00 A.M., so I headed to The Mall at the Peachtree Center
to grab a bite.
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At the Mall, I bumped into Meg Galacticat (whom
I met last year) and her husband Christopher. Afterwards, I had my first taste
of Chicken Swarma at Aviva by Kameel, a Mediterranean food restaurant. I was
attended by Kameel himself. Let me just say he’s awesome.
With a pleased belly, I went on to take photos
of some cosplayers and later headed to the CVS Pharmacy at the Mall to stock up
on snacks for the weekend. Then I headed back to my hotel room for a shower,
some rest, and quick change of clothes before heading to the Hyatt.
When I arrived, I ran into old and new friends;
Janet Osburn and her husband Nate, the Hatcher sisters (Hailey & Anna), and
JD Stretch and Jessica Paulding; they were all in “The Colonial Fleet” a Battlestar
Galatica fan club. Around 7:30 P.M. we all headed to Max Lager’s Wood-Fired
Grill & Brewery for dinner. The food was as great as the people with whom I
shared it.
Around 9:00 P.M. I bid farewell to Max Lager’s
and went back to the Hyatt and later to the Marriott where I crashed a Cosplay
Playboy Bunny Party. I had loads of fun. It was great how everyone, even before
Dragon *Con had officially started, was in the mood to cosplay; the main
hotels were filled with people cosplaying left and right.
