Too busy to write much....but must say the weekend in Birmingham was wonderful. We shouldn't have spent the money but damn we had a great time. The boys were pretty much angels the whole weekend (although of course that went to hell once we got home)!
The drive was long but pleasant enough. Owen, Leo and I did a lot of this:
We got there, plopped into our rooms and found out there was no wireless in the rooms so I frantically tried to figure out to turn my phone into a hotspot. I did that and then we hurtled downstairs to eat a pretty bad dinner in the hotel 'sports bar.' I didn't care because then we tossed our children back into the room, made them latch the door behind us and trundled off to Moonlight on the Mountain to see the great Malcolm Holcombe. Being from Illinois I find mountainy roads unnerving so did wonder where the hell we were going a few times but we finally found it and it a LOVELY place. We got there during the opening act, paid our $12 a piece, pulled our drinks out of our bag (I like BYOB) and tried to absorb it all. During the break Malcolm Holcombe came walking by and gave Ernie the nod. How does Ernie always get the nod? Sigh. I never get the fucking nod....Ernie...he always gets the fucking nod. He nodded back and told Malcolm we were looking forward to it and he just patted Ernie's shoulder as he walked by.
Malcolm Holcome? Amazing.
Utterly amazing....
Owen called twice during the show, first for some reason I can't remember, second to tell me that they'd gotten a message about data overusage....I whispered "don't worry about it" which I'm sure I will regret. The next morning Ernie and I went out exploring in downtown and took some pictures. The boys were too excited to contemplate anything other than Lego. They got in line about 50 minutes early. We got back to the hotel to find the line really long so we called the boys and told them we'd be in there as soon as the line went down. We had our traditional BrickFair morning Bloody Mary and then went to get in line to find that the place was AT CAPACITY and they weren't letting anybody in. A moment of panic but we called the boys, reported in and got in about 15 minutes later.
Overwhelming....the sheer volume of Lego and Lego geeks.....almost overwhelming but quite wonderful. Once we found the boys they reported that there was a Lego LST!!! Aren't the connections in life amazing???
We finally tumbled out exhaustedly mid-afternoon, walking by the line that stretched through the Convention Center, across the bridge to the hotel and through the hotel atrium. We all collapsed, the boys admired their Lego, Ernie watched tv and I obsessively searched for just the right restaurant to go to before deciding damn...we were too tired to go out. The boys went and got delivery menus from the front desk and we all hung out and ate pizza.
Sunday morning we had breakfast in the 'fancy' restaurant downstairs. The boys were beside themselves with excitement to get back in line once more. I believe they were first in line that day. We told them thanks, but no thanks, we'd retire to our room and they were quite pleased to be on their own.
I took a nap in this delightful bed:
During the afternoon we took off for Sloss Furnaces which was incredible. You know how I like things before they are restored....and have a soft spot for industrial sites? This place was made for me. Leo thought it creepy and unsafe. Owen liked it, Ernie and I loved it. More pictures to follow but here's one or two....
Then we went to see the Vulcan...sort of a Birmingham icon....he was made for the St. Louis World's Fair and then installed back in Birmingham afterwards. He kind of made me giggly.
Then we walked around to the front of him and found somebody photographing Miss Birmingham Teen and somehow all was right with the world. It felt very.....Birmingham I guess....
The boys were exhausted at that point so we took them back to the hotel and drifted around for a bit. We went and found the Penzey's so I could stock up on some spices. I now have Juniper berries....what should I do with them?
We stopped at a little bar in Five Points....
Then we went back to the hotel, picked up our revived children and went out for barbecue....
After that we went back to the hotel and Ernie, Owen and I watched Downton Abbey while Leo Lego'd.
A delightful weekend with my guys. They have plans to be an exhibitor next year.....
