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Trip to Chattanooga
Jan. 20th, 2006 10:46 pmWe're up in Chattanooga tonight and until lunchtime tomorrow morning. My brother purchased a family membership to the Tennessee Aquarium. Tonight they had a members open-house for the new ocean aquarium and JD's parents decided to make a full-fledged trip out of it. One hundred percent because he has an extreme love for trains, JD's dad made our hotel arrangements for the Chattanooga Choo-Choo Hotel (Holiday Inn). The train station was converted to a hotel and several dozen train cars were converted into hotel rooms (there are buildings here with your typical hotel rooms, too). It's pretty neat/kitchy place to stay.
What we didn't know until shortly after check in is that the hotel is hosting...Chattacon! When we pulled into the hotel parking lot, there seemed to be a lot of people in black. Actually, we saw 2 guys in black leather kilts before we even made it to our room/traincar! Our theories for the black continued until we headed to the hotel restaurant for dinner. We saw the signs and a large crowd now gathering to register in the lobby. The passing of two people dressed as Anakin-post-Dark Side-flip and a storm trooper confirmed that it could be a very interesting stay. Other than some girls (18 at the absolute oldest) that decided to hide on our car right outside our door when trying to put the kids down for sleep, the conventioneers are either well behaved or mostly roomed on the far side of the hotel from the train platforms.
I have friends that I love and respect that go to Sci-Fi cons...but still I have to pinch myself hard to keep from laughing out loud at the attire people where at these things - and I'm not just talking about the costumes but the black clothes, trench coats, leather, and fandom T-shirts. I also noticed a lot of rednecks mixed in with the stereotypical con-folks. It required a double take when I heard two guys in thick, trailerized Southern accents discuss portable gaming systems and the swordsmanship of a particular character. Oh, and I saw a poor child with a buzzcut mullet too. It's one thing for you to be poor, white trash adult and have a buzzcut mullet...but to give one to your own child. *shudder*
What we didn't know until shortly after check in is that the hotel is hosting...Chattacon! When we pulled into the hotel parking lot, there seemed to be a lot of people in black. Actually, we saw 2 guys in black leather kilts before we even made it to our room/traincar! Our theories for the black continued until we headed to the hotel restaurant for dinner. We saw the signs and a large crowd now gathering to register in the lobby. The passing of two people dressed as Anakin-post-Dark Side-flip and a storm trooper confirmed that it could be a very interesting stay. Other than some girls (18 at the absolute oldest) that decided to hide on our car right outside our door when trying to put the kids down for sleep, the conventioneers are either well behaved or mostly roomed on the far side of the hotel from the train platforms.
I have friends that I love and respect that go to Sci-Fi cons...but still I have to pinch myself hard to keep from laughing out loud at the attire people where at these things - and I'm not just talking about the costumes but the black clothes, trench coats, leather, and fandom T-shirts. I also noticed a lot of rednecks mixed in with the stereotypical con-folks. It required a double take when I heard two guys in thick, trailerized Southern accents discuss portable gaming systems and the swordsmanship of a particular character. Oh, and I saw a poor child with a buzzcut mullet too. It's one thing for you to be poor, white trash adult and have a buzzcut mullet...but to give one to your own child. *shudder*
