We arrived in Green Castle, Indiana Wednesday morning around 8am. We stayed with the parents of my coworker, Krista, who made us a lovely breakfast before we crashed for the rest of the morning. That afternoon we drove to DePauw university, and took in the sights around their little town.
Thursday, Krista, her two oldest boys, and I went to a lovely park in Indiana called Turkey Run. It has several trails. 
We chose one of the most rugged. You walk through a creek bed with rock formations all around you, and climb ladders to get back on the trails. It was awesome!Thursday night, Krista and Wade drove us around downtown Indianapolis. We saw the mall, an artist center, and the downtown city circle with a huge Civil War memorial. Krista's parents kindly lent us their Mustang which was super fun.
Friday Krista and I explored Indiana Univ campus and the town of Bloomington. It's a lot like Athens, down to the red bricked streets and ginkgo trees. We ate at a cute Greek restaurant called the Trojan Horse, and shopped. Friday night, Krista's sister and her husband joined us newly returned from Colorado. Monty & Vikki treated us to a slide show of Colorado when they had taken the kids there in the early 80s, and then we saw Krista's sister's pictures of all those places now. Family pictures should always be done on projector screens, I think.
Saturday morning, we took the Mustang to Chicago. Just Krista, Wade and I went. Saturday afternoon Krista and I presented the poster we had designed for the conference. We got several interesting questions from how we designed the poster to how we built the database & got our faculty to use it. Overall a great experience at my first big librarian conference.
Saturday evening we went to a vendor sponsored bash at the Chicago Art Institute. Lots of good food and pretty art. Then I went out and visited with my friend Diana, a former coworker from Tampa. She was staying in the gorgeous Palmer House hotel. It was lovely. We planned to meet again the next morning to see the Sears Tower.
Sunday morning I got up super early and hoofed it from my hotel to the Sears tower. Walking in Chicago is lovely. Diana and her former coworker from Charlotte, and I all went up the tower together. The only scary part was the elevator, which shook. I sat out on the newly opened ledges. It was awesome! And the Sears tower is called the Willis tower now, but we think that's silly.Sunday afternoon I went to the Museum of Science and Industry with Krista and Wade. Very kid friendly. Didn't see the Harry Potter exhibit though. Next time. Then Krista and Wade left to continue their travels to Colorado. I went back to the convention center, attended a few more sessions, then went out for dinner with Diana and LaJuan at a super awesome pizzeria. Best Pizza Ever. We sat around a coffee shop til dark comparing academic to public libraries. This is librarians on vacation: visiting other universities' libraries & talking about work. :D
Monday morning I checked out of my hotel and took the shuttle over to the convention center. I had them hold my bags for me while I grabbed breakfast and hurried to the author signing I knew the line would already be started for. I *helped* organize the line a bit and met a lot of librarians in the process. Will post pictures of me holding my sign for where to enter the line once someone sends me a copy. :D Neil Gaiman, the author, was super nice & I was thrilled to meet him. This is me chatting with him as he signs my book.After the book signing, I walked around the exhibit hall (dealer's room) for a bit, then attended another session before taking the shuttle to the airport. The Chicago O'Hare airport wasn't as insane as I was dreading but I also had plenty of time, and that likely helped. With only minor delays I flew home safely to Salisbury. Overall it was a great trip. I'm glad to be back to a less exciting life for a few weeks while I move down the street into my new abode.
No comments:
Post a Comment