This is a 9 hour drive (counting stops). I decided to do it in two hops with a rest in a cheaper-sleeper about half way.

But, traffic was light and I prefer driving at night, when there's just me and the professionals on the road. So I tooled into the hotel about midnight, got my reservation extended and collapsed.

It turned out that there was a dance store just a mile from the hotel, and I had lots of empty time on Friday morning, so I went in to try on shoes and see if there was a dance shoe that wasn't made for guys with AA feet.

They had a shoe that's actually comfortable, so a pair came home with me.

DemiCon did a bunch of things I've not seen at other SciFi cons that brought back the whimsy in attending.

For kids (of any age) there was an on-going "Easter-Egg" hunt to find rubber ducks that were hidden around the hotel, for ostensible grownups, a cardio-run up and down the stairs and across the floors you could do whenever you wanted and get a badge ribon, a writing contest, costume contests for both staged costumes and hall costumes (ones you can comfortably wear in public), along with the usual panels, filk sings, concerts, movies, games, etc.

One of the folks in a hall costume portrayed a green goblin, he'd accost anyone, but especially kids to enlist them into a quest to slay the dragon, but first they needed to find packets of pixie dust, a stuffed toy, the soul of a performer, and such in order to dis-enchant the magic swords. He'd pay them two gold pieces if they brought him what he needed.

The kids loved this scavenger hunt, and in the end, got two "gold" chocolate coins, and a little plastic sword.