For supper, I joined Kathy Wentworth, Susan Kruppa and Mark Shepherd. We walked to a nearby Mexican restaurant, but it had closed a 3PM. We went on to the Water Street Oyster bar, arriving at the same time as some other fans. So we joined them for dinner; Karen ?, Julie Mandala, Kathy Turski and Shawn Sulma (a Canadian fan who was part of Esther Frisner’s zoo trip in Chicago).
 

I had a half dozen oysters. They were small, but they brought me eight, and they were only $1.50/each. My entree was oysters and shrimp rolled in bacon.

There were three more parties Saturday night. The con suite continued to be a source of good conversation, as was the bar. There was also some high quality filking. Joe Haldeman reprised some of his pirate story telling (with strong innuendo) from the night before.

I drank less that night, margarita’s at the Stealth Press party, and blackberry wine and a taste of the Pink Fluffy Bunny with Fangs (don’t ask) at the Consortium party.

One of the nice things about this weekend as been getting to know Chad Childers, a Detroit area fan and a computer wizard for Ford Motor Company. I had previously exchanged email with him (both professional and fan) and we were on two panels at WorldCon. He is bright with a great sense of humor. He does all of the web work for Stilagi Air Corp.

I finished the night at 2:30.
 

Sunday I was up reasonably early and rented a bicycle again. This time I headed around the bay toward the ocean into a strong wind. Other than the wind, it was a gorgeous morning for riding.

I rode as far as Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, on a small island near the military base (perhaps 10 miles), than turned back since I didn't have a watch and was unsure of the time. With the wind, the ride back was much faster. Along  he way I saw someone starting out doing what I assume is called parasurfing, with a ski board and large kite. I assume that someone would drive to the other side of the bay, since I saw no way that he would be able to return on his own.

When I got back to my room, I nearly panicked when I saw the clock (12:26). The banquet was scheduled for 12:30PM and in addition to bathing and changing, I needed to pack and check out. But the time had changed the night before and I got my extra hour when I needed it.

After checking out, I left my bags with Zane & Jo at The Edge Books, and went on to the banquet. I sat with  Laura Domitz (who did pre-reg for the convention), a couple from the east coast, who put on last year's WFC, a couple of agents, a couple of aspiring authors, Connie Willis, and Shelia Williams of Asimov's. Shelia bought a couple of bottles of wine for the table.

The meal was Mexican buffet. Not bad, but it took a long time for everyone to get through the line. When we were going through the line, a lady from New York looked at the chips and chilie con queso. She wanted to know if the cheese was supposed to go on the chips. (talk about culture shock!)

After the awards, I put the finishing touches on an announcement of the awards for the SFWA News Site and George Marindale let me use their room to upload the file to the net. I scooped the other online news services.

The rest of the afternoon was spent chatting and saying goodbye to folks while I waited for my shuttle to the airport.

The flight to Houston was filled with people from the convention, though the only face I knew was Stephen Donnaldson. The plane was a jet this time, but it was my first commercial flight on a plane that had only 3 seats across (one on side of the aisle and two on the other). I had a good conversation with San Francisco small press publisher and bookseller.

At Houston, very slow service at a restaurant kept me until 11 minutes before my flight was scheduled to leave. I was one of the last ones to board and they made me check one of my carry on bags.

That bag arrived the following afternoon.