Happy October! I've finally gotten my act together to plan my trip in just over a month for the final con to be held by Creation in NJ. I'm ambivalent as I'm not enamored of Creation but they were a great reason for me to travel and see a bunch of fandom friends AND a bunch of folks from college. Anyhow, here's what I have planned:

- Nov. 6 (Thursday): Fly to Baltimore after work. Very late night arrival.
- Nov. 6: Need to find a hotel. I'm leaning towards the hotel jalabert and I stayed in Columbia, MD last year since I know the area but it's smarter to find a place that is on the road to Cherry Hill, NJ.
- Nov. 7: Drive to Cherry Hill, NJ. (I'm doing it this way because flying to BWI was half the price of Philly when I was pricing tickets *and* Hertz promised me a Prius at that airport at a reasonable rental price. No Prius guarantee in Philly.)
- Nov. 7-9: Con in Cherry Hill, NJ. selmak and janiekins, I finally chose to take my chances and stay at the very poorly reviewed con hotel. I'd like to say I did this with a sense of camaraderie and misery loves company but the truth is I need to scale back vacation spending. This is the least excited I've ever been about a con line-up. No major SG-1 actors at all and no female guests, either. At least this will help me save money on con photos.
- Nov. 10: Check out of crappy con hotel.
- Nov. 10-15: Undecided. I would *like* to visit yams69 and family since I'm already there but as I don't yet know their schedules because I never got back to them with my itinerary, I don't know if/when they're available to play. We spoke about hitting some of the Revolutionary War historic sites when I was last there and those still appeal strongly. Else, I'm tempted to return to explore the Smithsonian since it's free, stuffed full of amazing things, and I've spent far too little time there. And there's a Ghanaian restaurant in D.C. that sounded cool but ran out of time for last year. jalabert, I'm trying to figure out how to visit NY, meet the new kitty, see you, and visit my beloved Met. Given that I have an extra family member living with me and the expenses of the hurricane and the economic downturn, I'm having trouble. I don't think I can afford a week at the Crowne, eating out a lot, traveling, and the incidentals. Would you be willing to spend some time in D.C.? My plan is to have a rental car again so I could pick you up/drop you off if needed. :)
- Nov. 16 (Sunday): Fly back to Houston.

Has anyone received tickets yet for the Con in NJ? I haven't yet but I've dug out my statements and printed copies to have in hand when Creation inevitably bungles the tickets.

So, here's the final itinerary I've come up with. Not a whole lot of changes. I need to get to NYC earlier than planned so that I can catch dinner with la_directora before she takes off to work on a film. I've added in a side trip to the Smithsonian this coming Sunday, though I know it'll make me weep for all of the stuff I *won't* have a chance to see.

( Itinerary )

yams69, mcroft, and immlass -- PLEASE look over this schedule and make certain it still works for you. If not, don't be shy about telling me. I can happily adjust so that I spend more time at the Smithsonian or I can go to Manhattan a day earlier and catch more time with la_directora, maybe a full day at the Cloisters or some time at the Frick? There's always more to do than I have time so you won't hurt my feelings. :)

Oct. 26 - Nov. 5: TEN DAYS!!! Woot!

( I've bought my tickets and made my hotel reservations. )

My plane tickets cost me $5 since I cashed in a wad of frequent flyer miles. Quite the savings over the nearly $400 it was going to cost otherwise. :)

It's time to begin nailing down the details of my trip to the great states of New York and New Jersey. I'm tentatively looking at Oct. 26-Nov. 5/6. That gives me a weekend up there where I don't have any plans!

- yams69** are you still reading my LJ? I got the baby announcement (WOO! I didn't even know M was pregnant!). How does that affect your time? Will y'all be available to visit? I know this means you'll have less flexibility in schedule so I want to know your life schedule early so I can make plans to see you, M, M, M, and A. Whoa - you have Triple Ms. Very cool. :) I could plan to rent a car/room in the area if that would make visiting easier.
( More blathering to friends )

So, I've got a very full mental schedule but now I need to check with youse guys. Does that time period look good?

**See what deleting your LJ did?? They must have purged it and now you're listed without even a head. *sniffle*