Otakon 2011 saw a brand new aspect of our convention experience: now that Louis and I own a car, we decided we would drive down to Baltimore ourselves.  With gas prices being what they were, I wasn't 100% sure that the trip would cost less than Amtrak, but at the very least we wouldn't be at the mercy of anyone else's timetable, and best of all, there would be no limit on luggage.

The Marriott in the Inner Harbor had been sold out, so Louis and I found ourselves back at the Radisson, where we had stayed in 2005, and just like that year, we were lucky enough to be upgraded to the 17 th floor, which had those wonderful sleep number beds, a complimentary breakfast hour, and even cocktails at night!  If I could be assured of breakfast alone, I guarantee you I would book the Radisson every year!  We were very grateful for the level of service we received.

Once we were in our room, we unpacked as usual and got into our costumes: Hana-chan from Fruits Basket for me, to match the rest of Outer Power, Inner Beauty, and Luigi for Lou, mostly because he's always meant to cosplay Luigi, but finally did to match our friend Mario Rob.  As soon as we were dressed and ready, we left the hotel and started our yearly walk to the Baltimore Convention Center.

Luckily we found Mario Rob and his friends right away, so Luigi had a Mario to pose with as we started our trek through the halls, and believe me, everybody wanted a picture of the Super Mario Brothers.  After years of suffering through waiting for me to get my picture taken every five feet, I'm glad that Louis is on the receiving end of it now.  He was a very good sport about waiting for me, and he's an even better sport at posing for pictures no matter how many times he's asked.

As per the usual lately, quite as many "pop culture" costumes dotted the halls as traditional anime and manga.  Well made costumes are impressive no matter what series they're from, but people especially seem to enjoy that "shock of recognition" that they feel when they see a character from a fandom they particularly enjoy, whether it's Japanese in origin, or American, or other.  Really, being at a convention makes you feel as if you're surrounded by friends, and recognizing a costume often makes it feel like you're sharing an "in" joke that only you and your friends get.

After completing the circuit of the main convention halls once-and getting to see Oshidori, and it is an absolute crime I haven't seen her in New York City in far too long considering she lives across the street from my in-laws, and she is the only person I know who looks better in an oversized castoff T-shirt than most people look in designer labels--it was already time for Louis and I to go our separate ways for a little while.

I was called to the OPIB hotel rooms to help them get ready (I had bits of costume for almost everybody in our group), and Louis had to get ready for his weekly radio show, That's What He Said which airs every Friday night at 6:30 PM.  I was sorry I wouldn't be able to help Lou with the show, since it was the first time he would be doing it live from the floor of a convention, but Mario Rob promised to help him out any way he could so I knew I was leaving him in good hands.

OPIB was lucky enough to score two adjoining rooms in the Marriott (I have to ask Reinii how she did that!), so I headed on over and up to their floor.

I can't express how amazing it is to walk into a room and immediately be surrounded by so many people you have missed for so long-Avi started showing off her compression vest, Lady Terentia was fixing Chris's Ferio wig, I teased Andy about being in bed again as he had been last year, I helped Reinii with her hair, I pounced on Hime-chan since I hadn't seen her since her wedding in March, and I caught up with Dave.  We probably took way too long getting ready because we spent so much time catching up, but really, is there a better way to spend time?

Once everyone was suited up, Dave grabbed his camera and we started looking for a place to conduct our photoshoot.  Dave was technically not attending Otakon 2011 and had not registered, so we were limited to areas outside of the convention center proper.  We made our way over to the Hilton that adjoins the center, and I was probably overly impressed, as it was my first time in there!

I had always known it was the hotel that all of Otakon's guest and higher staff stayed at, due to its proximity, but somehow I had gotten it into my head that it was off limits.  But there were so many wonderful alcoves and hallways and nooks that were public space!  We found a relatively out of the way corner with some beautiful windows and seating, and started our photoshoot.

We had a ball!  It was Andy's first time cosplaying with us, and I'm not sure he is as familiar with Fruits Basket as some of the rest of us were, but since Kyo's pretty much the straight man anyway, most of his reactions to our antics were entirely appropriate, and Dave was on the ball with catching them. 

Avi had entirely too much fun crossplaying, and Lady Terentia was able to be her own sweet self and look completely natural.  I think Chris and I had the hardest times portraying our characters, as Kazuma is a pretty obscure character in Furuba, and I'm just entirely too ridiculous to be Hana-chan, but we had fun playing off of each other, and I think everybody involved got some shots they can be proud of.

While we were shooting, Louis had wrapped up his radio show, gathered his boys, and came to join us, so in between shots I got to hang out with Artiga, and Nick, and Jailbait, and more of their friends.  Louis and I made dinner plans while Dave finished the shoot, and then we all said goodbye, making plans to meet up the next day, and then Louis and I were off to our annual Friday Night at Otakon Dinner Date!

It took us a fair bit of time to weave our way through the halls, even this late at night there were so many wonderful cosplayers in the halls that we kept stopping to take pictures and hand out business cards.  Every year I am impressed with the level of technical expertise that people display in their costumes, it seems like it continues to increase.  I am but a student at the feet of many masters!

Cover to Luigi's Mansion

As I believe I've mentioned before, our traditional watering hole, The Wharf Rat, is now called the Pratt Street Ale House.  I hesitate to say that it is under new management, because honestly I can't tell what's changed besides the name.  The menu is still reasonably priced, the food is still delicious (including the crab dip, which is still my favorite appetizer), and even the décor doesn't seem to have changed much.  The place was packed, even though it was pretty late for dinner, so we ended up in the upstairs room, which we had never been in before, and at a bar table with two stools instead of chairs.  However, even with the crowd we got our food fairly quickly.

We had just started with our food when all of a sudden there was a bouncing movement and there stood Lauren!  She was with Master Photographer Pat Gavin and a group of their friends only a few tables over, and invited us to join them.  Ordinarily we would have jumped at the chance, but since Louis and I plan this solo dinner every year, we begged off and pleaded tradition, promising them we'd get together at another time. 

However, not long after that our waitress came to our table with two Natty Bohs, courtesy of Lauren and Pat!  I've been dying for Louis to try Baltimore's most famous beer for years now, and I can think of no one better to drink them with.  The only possible way I can think of to repay Pat and Lauren is to treat them to McSorley's the next time they're in New York City, so here's hoping we have a bar hop after the comic con in October.

By this point, it was fairly late, and I was fairly tired, but more importantly than that, we had scheduled our Sailor Moon photoshoot for 9 AM the next morning, so it was high time for Louis and I to head back to our hotel room and make sure we got a good night's rest.  We plugged in the laptop-another luxury item we brought along because we could-popped in an MST3K episode, and promptly fell asleep.

Mario and Luigi VS Marth and Link

Part of OPIB

Andy and Reinii

Part of OPIB and our very tired photographer.

This shot came out blurry, but you can see that the TRON cosplayer's suit lit up!

EVERYONE wanted a picture with the TRON cosplayer.

Louis's first taste of National Bohemian beer.