Sunday, November 20, 2011

IndyCon11

Y'all knew there'd be a recap, right?  Can't have an adventure with Tweeps and not memorialize it appropriately.


IndyCon11 was largely the brainchild of @mwarner95.  Back at Smart Girl Summit, we were discussing just how many Tweeps live relatively close to one another here in Flyover Country, and what a fun idea it would be to plan a Tweet Up sometime this fall.  Schedules were a little difficult to coordinate, but we finally settled upon this past weekend, with Indy as the locale.  Kudos to Mark for doing the lion's share of the planning and serving as an excellent host.


I drove up Friday afternoon, and managed to make great time...until I got about 20 miles outside of Indy. Construction had the highway down to just one lane, and traffic was at a virtual standstill.  But, eventually, I made it through and on into Indy to the Marriott where I was staying.  Big thumbs up on the Marriott, by the way -- very nice hotel.  


Mark met me there and after I got settled in, we headed out to Acapulco Joe's for a Mexican feast. While there, we were unexpectedly treated to a stirring rendition of "God Bless America," blasting out over the loudspeaker.  I can't swear it was Ethel Merman singing, but it was certainly of her era.  And lasted for a good 5 minutes.  We kept clapping thinking it was over, only to have another verse come blasting out at us.  It was sweet.  In an odd sort of way.


After dinner, Mark took me on a walking tour of downtown Indy.  Very pretty city.  There were a handful of Occupiers camped out on the State House steps, but we didn't stop to chat.  I learned there's a Peregrine Falcon nest placed by the DNR at the top of the Key Bank Building.  And a Falcon Cam to boot.  What most fascinated me, though, was that apparently, there's someone out there wishing there were Falcon Porn.  People are strange. 


Back at the hotel, we treated ourselves to a beer or three, while tweeting of the evening's misadventures.  Props to the bartender, DJ (I think).  He took good care of us.  Knowing that the following evening would likely be an even wilder adventure, we kept Friday's fun in the semi-tame zone.  


We started our Saturday out right with breakfast at Cafe Patachou - they make a great omelet!!  Next up were odds and ends of errands to run, including a stop off at Dollar Tree to pick up some goodies to include in the "Box of Fun" I'd put together -- silly welcome/greeting gifts to the other IndyCon attendees.  Oh, and glow-stick necklaces!  Lunch was TJ's Burgers -- a good burger, even without the bun.  (Mark was terribly distressed to learn of my penchant for eating bunless burgers. That, combined with my earlier confession that I don't actually like apple pie earned me the "Un-American" label for the rest of the day.)


Later, in a battle of Evil vs. Lesser Evil, we watched Michigan trounce Nebraska.  Sorry, Mark!  And pretty soon, we were greeted by @lheal's tweet announcing that he had arrived.  Only...he hadn't.  At least not at the Marriott where we were actually meeting.  (In Loren's defense, there are, like, 18 Marriotts in downtown Indy.)  Thankfully, we eventually found him, or he us, and IndyCon was officially underway.  Not long after, @glenasbury joined us, followed quickly by @ListKeeper. 


It became obvious, we'd need more space, so we commandeered the corner of the bar, and rearranged the furniture to suit our needs.  Soon, @AprilDGregory showed, as did my new friend @JoshGillespie.   @FingersMalloy @MelanieAnn79 and @IrishDuke2 rounded out our happy contingent.  Special thanks to @GaltsGirl for buying me a drink via Fingers.  'Twas yummy!  We'll toast to that in person at CPAC! 


Soon, we vacated the Marriott and headed over to Loughmiller's Pub & Eatery.  I should probably have availed myself of the eatery part of it.  Instead, after losing an ill-advised bet to Fingers regarding the hometown of Col. Sherman T. Potter (yes, indeed, it was Hannibal), I ushered us into Shot City.  Busy place last night.  


Sadly, some of our crew had to make an early night of it, so we bade a fond farewell to Glen, List and Loren.  Then proceeded to hike 18 miles (also known in Warner speak as "just around the corner").  I kicked off my shoes in protest on the way. Thankfully, Indy keeps its sidewalks relatively clean.  I'm not certain I can adequately describe the chaos that was Ike & Jonesy's. Outside, it is adorned with a larger than life Marilyn Monroe who, inexplicably, has a man's face. Inside, it was crowded, cheesy and loud as hell, with dance music hearkening back to my college days.  There may or may not have been some dancing involved before we moved on.  


We briefly stopped at the Omni, and also, outside the Canterbury.  I'd tell you why I felt compelled to snap a picture of the placard (which you can't read), but you just kind of had to be there.  We finished out the evening at O'Reilly's Irish Bar & Restaurant.  I'm not at liberty to divulge too many of the details, but there were Skittles and mouthy young punks and balloons involved.  Mostly, though, there was fun.  


So much so that today was a bit on the rough side for several in our contingent.  But, then, that was to be expected.  Before leaving town, Fingers, Duke, Melanie and I enjoyed a fine lunch at Claddagh Irish Pub.  Good food there, as well.  (Much better than Hooters.)  Very much enjoyed the conversation with that crew -- my sides still hurt from all the laughing.  


...And, for some reason, this thing lopped off my last paragraph, which read something like this:  "Hated to call an end to it, but it had to be done. The drive back was gray and drizzly, and far less fun than the drive up.  Still, the dreary couldn't take away from the fun that was IndyCon11.  My thanks again to all those who helped make it so! :) 




2 comments:

  1. What was INDYCON11? Can't find anything on it in Google

    ReplyDelete
  2. Just an excuse to get together with friends. The second paragraph pretty well explains it. :)

    ReplyDelete