Another city suggestion - Indianapolis. I was talking to a friend who recently moved there and she said it's high on meeting planners' lists. Centrally located (Midwest!), good air access, lots of things to do within walking distance downtown ... and not expensive. I'm not pushing it - just wanted to put another option out there.

ND's probably more of a catalyst.

I was part of BOTH the Kitchen of Porn and the GropeMobile. I also think I may be the only common denominator between the two.

Coincidence? I think not.

Last entry in the 2004 DC F2F report. (sniff)

The Prom and Sunday: Finally being able to put voice and mannerism, physicality, to face and name was so wonderful. And although punctuation is quite nice, and very gratifying when one is in need, physical hugs are still better. I got a great one from DX, and more from Deb, Vortex, Aimee, the list is long. I hugged anybody who hugged me first. A memorable one, since it was so long delayed, was Hec's, which included a backrub during Jon B.'s performance. Lovely. But the evening came to an end eventually, at least for me. Anne and I made our goodbyes and set out for the parking garage. We were accompanied to the stairs by the bartender, who hesitated, then spoke, with a wide smile. "Hey. Thank you." Heh.

At 2AM, the front desk comped parking, and we set off for the wilds of Catonsville, Anne's quiet house, and the welcoming face of Jeeves. We both slept later than usual Sunday morning. Deb was leaving with Jess around 1PM, and had asked us both to lunch before she left, so we headed back into DC after breakfast. There was a subdued crowd in the hospitality suite, watching Lovesick Ass. We found seats and watched, ourselves. I noticed Deb in the back of the room, and in the break between Lovesick Ass and Muffin Buffalo, I meandered over to say hello. She was complaining of a headache and stiff neck, so I put the massage training DH has given me (he worked pro one summer in college) to good use, eventually managing to loosen a walnut-sized knot in her neck muscles. Payback in part for triggering her allergies on Friday.

We lunched at the Senators' Grill downstairs in the hotel. Not bad. Not exceptional, but not bad, and the company couldn't be improved upon: Deb, Vortex, Anne, Ginger, and me. I don't remember Kristin being there, I think she was sleeping the sleep of having spent the wee hours touring DC monuments in the clutches of the Gropemobile. All too soon it was time for Deb and Jess to leave to catch their train to NYC. Anne had brought her spinning wheel, and she set it up in the hospitality suite and began to spin while we watched Once More With Feeling. I think many of us had hoped and planned on a singalong, but the truth was, few of us could summon the energy to sing. After OMWF had ended, NoiseDesign mentioned he had the Angel finale—did anyone want to watch it?

Duh. It was great watching it (again) with people (ND, JohnSweden, among others) who hadn't seen it. The HSQ may have been subdued, but it was satisfactory, nonetheless. We left the hospitality suite for the last time, and Kate P and Askye collected their luggage to stash in Anne's car, as they were staying with her on Sunday night. Askye's bag was locked in storage at the front desk, and the bellman who apparently had the only key was elusive. He was eventually tracked down, her bag was quickly extricated, and she needed a quick stop at the hotel ATM before we could leave. Unfortunately, the nasssty machine was balky. She kept her cool, though, and was eventually victorious, emerging with cash.

A large party of us accompanied Matt to the Tabard Inn, where he had booked a post-F2F stay, and where he talked our way into dinner seating on the patio. It's a lovely place, and again, the company was unmatched. Our server was a bit inattentive, but Mistress Vortex's polite intervention quickly brought her attention to her duties. Our table had appetisers and dessert, and everything was quite good. The comraderie had a tinge of sadness, as this would be the last time many of us would see each other for a very long time.

Good lick in Vegas with you buck sixty-three.

You're wishing your husband good lick in the one state where illegality hasn't driven the price of prostitution into the stratosphere?

cont.

By 10PM I couldn't prolong parting any longer. bicyclops, Cab and Ginger would be in Anne's driveway to pick me up by 7:45 in the morning, and I still had to pack. We said our goodbyes, and Askye, Kate and I piled into Anne's car and headed back to the house. Knowing my lack of focus most mornings, I packed all I could that night—well, in the wee hours of Monday morning, actually. And still I woke ten minutes before my 6AM alarm. Jeeves and I played bedmice for a while, and then he followed his morning ritual of checking out the neighborhood from both bedroom windows, while I stripped the bed, dressed, and finished packing, very quietly as Kate was still sleeping in the other bed. I took a last long look around the room with its angled ceiling, its dormer, the attached sitting room and bath, with the tree-filled skylight and sun-painted ceiling, and went downstairs to wait.

Coffee was already made--bless coffeemaker timers!—and I sat down to catch up on email and b.org as much as I could. Kate wandered downstairs, yawning, an hour before my estimated departure time, and two hours before hers. I suggested she say goodbye now and go back to bed. To give her credit, she hesitated, but the logic was inescapable, as was the need for more sleep. Anne woke, and we talked a little, but right on time, the bicyclopses and Ginger were in the driveway, my things were being loaded in the trunk, and I was hugging Anne and Askye goodbye, and climbing into the back seat with Ginger. We stopped for gas, and then Cab navigated a multilane stream of morning commute with a bravery I find sadly lacking in myself. The worst of it past, we stopped at IHOP for breakfast, and then hit the road.

Conversation followed its own course and made the hours pass quickly. We made excellent time, and had reached my driveway by midafternoon. We unloaded my stuff, gave them a chance to stretch a bit, and then they were off for the second, almost equally long, leg of their trip. I schmoozed my own kitty, who found Jeeves' scent on my things intriguing. I did a little desultory unpacking, and took a nap. Waking up in my own bed was momentarily disorienting. I have yet to completely unpack. I think somewhere the thought exists that as long as I don't, the experience isn't completely over.Someone has already asked can we do this again this weekend? And there are plans afoot for a couple of other mini-F2F's soon. The beat goes on.

Thank you for sharing your write-up, Beverly. Your F2F sounds like you had a delightful time. Your warmth and kindness comes across so well in your writing. I was very glad to meet you, such a pleasure.

So--CAN we do it again this weekend?

G- um, h- no. JohnS, meeting you was fun, too. Are there pics of you in your tiara? If not there should be. And have you worn your Indian cotton suit at home?

I think I've seen a pic or two of me in my tiara (which I received from EpicTangent back in the Fall exchange). I should have had some pictures taken of me in my outfit with tiara before I melted into a puddle. Silly of a creature adapted for cold to try to dance energetically in a tropical swamp, but there you have it. I both survived and had fun.

I haven't worn my outfit yet here. It has been low-60s cool, since I got back, but there will be opportunities.

Ahem. Want to see more pictures. Need them like a methadone fix for Buffista withdrawal.