Out and About in Spokane

[kevin_standlee]

I did not set an alarm last night when I went to bed. I woke up at 10 AM. Fortunately it wasn't much later than that, but I'm pretty sure I needed that sleep. Unfortunately, by the time we were up and ready to go, the hotel coffee shop had closed for the morning. We hadn't looked that closely at the convention restaurant guide, and didn't know of any places to get breakfast at 11 AM. (Later that day, we realized there was a Perkins Family Restaurant on the far side of the convention center that would have served.) We ended up getting a coffee/tea and a croissant each at a place next to Hill's Restaurant.

I met up with Bruce Farr and Linda Deneroff at Noon and the three of us went over to the US Bank branch and redid the signature cards for the bank account for WIP (the corporate entity of the WSFS Mark Protection Committee). This wasn't particularly complicated, but it took roughly an hour before we could release Bruce and Linda, both of whom were leaving today.

Lisa and I stayed over today in order to not have to fret about moving out and to rest a little. We went out to the minivan to confirm that I'd put away our extension cord and happened upon scott_sanford. The extension cord was where it belongs, so we took him to lunch at The Onion, where apparently many people at Sasquan ate during the convention. I enjoyed their macaroni and cheese with bacon.

After lunch, we walked around downtown Spokane, including checking out Boo Radley's weird things. I wish I'd been in here before. They have lots of funny socks, and if I'd known that, I would have replaced my socks from there instead of with boring socks from Nordstrom's.

Lisa and I treated Scott to a ride (our second) on the Spokane Skyride across the Spokane Falls, and then we spent a nice time walking through Riverfront Park.



The river and the park is really quite lovely.



It's hard to believe that this island used to be an industrial zone with the Great Northern Railroad running through and over it. The clock tower in the center of this photo was part of the Great Northern Railroad depot that was on the island before it was redeveloped for the Spokane World's Fair.



There's a splendid totem pole in the park.



Scott helpfully shot this photo of me, Lisa, and travelswithkuma at the foot of the totem pole.

Returning to the Doubletree, we bade farewell to Scott and went back to the room to rest for a while. Later, we went to Rocky Rococo's Pizza (which doesn't acknowledge its debt to the Firesign Theatre). Our eyes were bigger than our stomachs, and we carried the leftover pizza back to the hotel.



On our way back to the hotel from dinner, we saw that some of the signs on the INB Performing Arts Center still had Worldcon programmed into them. However, I read when I got back to the hotel that the last truck of convention stuff had left for Seattle, and thus Worldcon is completely moved out.

Sasquan is over, save for the clean-up, which will be significant and will last for a long time. But it was an excellent and well-run convention by most accounts. The roughly 5000 people who came to Spokane mostly appear to have had a good time, and the city of Spokane and the people around us made us all feel very welcome.

Tomorrow morning, Lisa and I head home, with the first stage being the relatively easy drive to Moscow and Lewiston. We told one of the people we met that we'll be taking three nights to drive the 800 miles home, and they were puzzled by that, even when we explained the logistics of the rental trailer and the video game pickup. Lisa and I have learned that whenever possible, we should plan for our trips to have shorter legs than Google Maps tell you should be able to drive.

Lisa adds that we also think we can drive at least 10% more per day outbound than coming back on a long trip, based on past experience.

Comments

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

Congratulations on a con well-run by all reports, both to you and the committee (and also to the Hugo hosts). Yes, you're right: the worst part of leaving a con on the last day, no matter how late you actually depart, is having to spend the morning getting your stuff packed up and out of the room before check-out time. Far better, if you can afford the time and money, to spend an extra day. Too bad I rarely can.

[nolly.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry you missed picking up the restaurant guide; we had lots of them left, and it's one of the best I've seen. There are quite a few local / non-chain places for a late breakfast here, from the Satellite Diner to Boots to Atticus and more.

Auntie's also has a selection of fun socks. I tried to check out Boo Radley's yesterday, but the ramp up to the entry was too steep.

[joycemocha.livejournal.com]

It was a lovely and well-run con. Wishing I hadn't needed to run off but it was better in the long run that I do so. It's too bad you didn't get a chance to talk further with Frog (Peter) Jones. He's a Spokane native and has some cool stories about family heritage. BTW, we saw some cool railroad stuff off toward Dayton and Walla Walla (our detour, which according to the barn owner was well-advised). Things are under control here but we're nervous about the upcoming weather change as it could bring stiff winds that could fan flames.

[timill]

a place next to Hill's Restaurant Madeleine's, I think. We had breakfast there one day.

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

That's the place. Could see nothing breakfast-like other than pastries.

[melchar.livejournal.com]

Good photos, you 3 look cute - and I'm certain you needed the rest. Drive well and I hope we see you soon. *hugs* to you all!

[brithistorian.livejournal.com]

Thanks for sharing these pictures - I've never been to a Worldcon or to Spokane, so this was a really nice treat.