Day Tripping

Remember my post a couple weeks ago about whether or not I wanted to go to the Beatles Fest? Well, I did. I had to do a couple of errands first, so I missed the meet-up for forum members beforehand. I did talk to a couple of people I know from the forum later, and they said only about half-a-dozen people showed up. Oh well.

The fest officially begins at noon on Saturdays and Sundays, and normally there's a long line of people waiting to go into the dealers' room at that time. So I checked out a couple of exhibits first. One of them was a large collection of Beatles records from around the world; there was also an artist with some nice black-and-white art. The other exhibit had more artwork, some of it from the Beatles themselves and some from other artists. I'd seen that one before; it's been at the fest for several years. Then I went downstairs to the dealers' room. There were people selling everything Beatle-related that you can imagine--books, records, photos, clothing, collectibles--you name it, it was there. I browsed for a while, but many of the items were things I'd seen before. There were some new Beatles books out that I was tempted to get, but in the end I decided to just add them to my Amazon wish list and hope Eugene gets the hint. I bought two T-shirts, but that was it. Normally I walk away with much more.

I watched some videos for a while, even though I had them on VHS at home. Then I went upstairs for an overpriced lunch. While I ate, a group played Beatles music in the lobby, so I sat down to listen to them for a couple of hours. Then I looked around at some more photographic exhibits. These weren't anything new, but I have to admit I do enjoy looking at the photographs--the Beatles make good eye candy. I bought some of the black-and-white artwork I'd admired earlier: a series of the Beatles at various stages in their lives. Then, since Eugene and I had dinner plans with his family, I headed home. The fest will continue tomorrow, but I won't have time to go then. It's too bad, as one of my friends can only go there tomorrow, so I won't get to see her. Still, I did just about everything I wanted to do except make a contribution to the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, something I do every year for John's sake. Perhaps I can still do it online.