Highlights from BronyCon 2019: Not So Fast! (Part 2)

Previous Highlight: Not So Fast! (Part 1)

Highlights from BronyCon 2019: Not So Fast! (Part 2)

In which dinner plans are busted, a chance meeting does not occur, and son_of_heaven176 and company are given their first taste of LineCon.

Wednesday, July 31, 2019: The Day Before the Final BronyCon

When I entered the lobby of the Sheraton, I was about to head to the front desk, but then Dark Wind caught my attention. At first, I didn’t recognize him—he had a different haircut and a different pair of glasses from when I saw him last—but eventually I figured out that it was indeed Dark Wind. He had been sitting in one of the couches in the lobby, but I did not see him at all. I tend to have tunnel vision when it comes to getting to my destinations—especially if I was just in an uncomfortable position (such as schlepping awkward luggage in the hot sun); I want to just get the agony over with. So my eyes were fixed on the front desk, and poor Dark Wind wasn’t even a blip on the metaphorical radar screen.

Anyway, Dark Wind got my attention, and after the usual pleasantries, we headed up to the hotel room where he, thefluff, ajback404 and I were staying. Once there, I did some unpacking, and the four of us made our introductions.

From there, Dark Wind and I considered where to go for dinner. For months, I had intended to have Dark Wind try some Haitian food. (And in all reality, if you haven’t tried Haitian food, you should! Take a look at this YouTube video if you don’t believe me.) I have an aunt who lives in Maryland, but she didn't know of any places in Baltimore. In fact, she said that she knew of only two Haitian restaurants in the entire DelMarVa area! Thanks to her, I had had my eye on a restaurant in Silver Spring, Maryland, which is a half hour away by car. However, when we looked up how much taking an Uber there would cost…

Can you say “Not so fast”?

The price was WAY too rich for my blood.

But a Google search for Haitian restaurants did bring up a place close by. Thefluff suggested that I call the place to see whether it was open before I committed to walking there. That turned out to be fortunate for me, because when I called the number … there was no answer. And when I looked at the intersection on Google Maps, it seemed like if there was ever a restaurant there, it must have shut down.

So, looks like Haitian was not in the cards. Padon, zanmi mwen. Fòk ou ret’ tann pi lontan.

With that a no-can-do, I suggested the nearby Bubba Gump Shrimp. I had gone there last year with NR and Pinkie Guy, so I knew that it wouldn’t be a bad idea. And all four of us decided to go there for dinner. So off we went: down the elevator, across the skybridge, towards the convention center … and a view of the line already forming to get BronyCon badges. The line started from somewhere inside the Convention Center, snaked out the Charles Street entrance, and went northwards on Charles Street; it was already reaching the southwest corner of Pratt Street and Charles Street.

After gawking at the line for a while, we cut through the Convention Center and out into the street to head for Bubba Gump Shrimp, which is at the Inner Harbor, not too far from the Convention Center.

While we were at Bubba Gump’s, “rillegas08” from the Brony D&D Discord server stated that he saw Eliyora in the line. That caught Dark Wind’s attention; he had a Prance deck that he wanted to give to her ever since he heard that she didn’t have a deck of her own. Rillegas tried to convince Dark Wind that it wouldn’t be too hard to get her; the line was long and wasn’t moving that fast.

I had my doubts. However, Dark Wind wanted to try anyway. So after he finished his food, he dashed off.

Not so fast there, Dark Wind!

By the time he got to the Convention Center, however, Eliyora’s part of the line had not only already made its way inside; it was about to enter Hall A. In other words, he was out of luck. There was no way that he would get away with trying to jump the line just to get at Eliyora. So he headed to the back of the long line.

Returning to me and the other roommates, we finished our food and paid the bills. When we got to the Convention Center, the outdoor portion of the line wasn’t that long.

But note that I said “the outdoor portion of the line.”

The end of the line was about a quarter of a block down Pratt Street from the Pratt Street/Charles Street intersection. The line headed east on Pratt Street, then went towards the Charles Street entrance. From there, it headed straight to Hall A … and the indoor part of the line was a serpentine queue that spanned about three-quarters of the hall. Purple curtains separated our side of the hall from the rest, where the badge tables were.

Fortunately for me, I had Candy Crush to keep me occupied. And funnily enough, we had not left that long after Dark Wind; he and I passed by each other time and again.

After what seemed like an eternity and a half, I finally got to the end of the line … only to have to go onto another line on the other side of the curtain!

They actually split people up into two lines at the other side of the curtain. I took this picture of the left-hand line from the right-hand line.

However, this line was MUCH faster, and I finally managed to get my badge.

I had sprung for a Bronze Sponsor Badge when I bought the badge back in December 2018. I had no idea how valuable that badge would end up becoming. But that’s a story for another day.

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