mortonfox | Entries tagged with tysons corner

So this past weekend, I was back at the Sheraton in Tysons Corner for Fur The More 2018. One thing I like about this con is they try new things. This time, it was a passport stamp sheet that you can get stamped at various locations and events. Fill in enough of the squares on the page and you get a prize. I got the first reward, which was a pin, but not the second. I think it's a good idea since it gets everyone to explore more of the con, even check out some events that one may not have thought of checking out. What I didn't like as much were some passport items that required spending money because it smells like pay-to-play, but there are enough free items to get the first reward at least. Also, they should've made the passport page non-glossy so the stamp ink won't smudge. Maybe next time.

I didn't fursuit as much at this con. I was in the fursuit parade and the fursuit games, and I did a bit more fursuiting on Saturday evening but that was about it. There wasn't much else to do in fursuit at the con. Instead, I found a lot more panels and events of interest. I watched the Japanese tea ceremony. I learnt how to keep a bullet journal, how to make an interactive story with Ren'Py, and how to play Sushi Go. I colored a premade badge. I went to the astronomy party. It was cloudy that night but we used the big telescopes to see the moon and 3 stars. I also went to both loot brawls, panels on contracts and LLCs (presented by lawyers in the fandom), and the furry cringe stories panel. So there was a lot to watch and learn anyway.

Of course no trip this close to Washington DC is complete without a trip into DC. I went twice, on Thursday and Friday. On Thursday, I stopped at several stations along the Silver and Red Metro rail lines to capture munzees, ending at the Eastern Market for dinner and two geocaches. Friday's foray was more touristy. I took the Metro to McPherson Square and walked to Lafayette Square and the White House, or as close as they'd let me get.

Or more like a Munzee trip with a side of furry con. I'd actually planned to use this trip to get the emerald garden in Anacostia Park in southeast DC, since I'd never captured a virtual emerald garden before, and then get the vast collection of virtuals in and around the National Mall. That's what I did Thursday afternoon. Instead of I-95, I took the Baltimore-Washington Parkway to Anacostia Park. After getting the emerald garden, I took a little walk on the bike path by the Anacostia River for a bunch more munzees. My original plan was to park at Anacostia Metro and take the Metrorail in to the National Mall, but after seeing the somewhat sketchy area, I decided it would be better to park at the hotel and take the Metrorail from there. So that's what I did. It was my first time using the Metrorail and I thought it was fairly modern and impressive. The silver line follows Rt 267 and I-66, and it's a lot faster than traffic on those highways in the late afternoon. Since I wasn't driving, I was able to capture all the virtual munzees along those highways too, at least on the stretch before the train goes underground. I got out at the Smithsonian Metro Station and started walking towards the US Capitol, capturing munzees and even finding a few geocaches along the way. I hit a new one-day record fairly easily with over 6,000 captures and 111K points. Then I took a Lyft to the South Capitol Hill area to find my friend's puzzle geocache, "Roll Call". Had dinner there too because it was a restaurant row area, before returning to the hotel, also via Metrorail.

I did the same thing Friday afternoon, except this time, I walked towards the Washington Monument. Not as many munzees this time - 3,300 captures and 90K points, but I only wanted to get 2nd place on the leaderboard to get the 2nd place badge. (Thursday's munzee run got me the 1st place badge, so I didn't need to do that any more. Yes, it's a weird badge optimization. :) )

Okay, enough about munzee. What about the con? It's my 5th year attending FtM. This time I brought the raccoon and coyote fursuits. I intended to alternate between the two but I wore the raccoon more than the coyote because the latter needed some repair work. There were fewer events/activities of interest this year because they canceled the fursuit parade (replaced by fursuit menagerie + photoshoot) and fursuit games (probably had to make way for floor wars). On the plus side though, the 18+ (i.e. mature/adult) panels on Saturday night were pretty good this year. The lighter schedule allowed more time to hang out, socialize, and get anything I needed done. Just like last year, the convention hotel was the Sheraton in Tysons Corner, within walking distance of a number of restaurants, a Walmart, and the Spring Hill Metro Station, so I was able to leave the car in the hotel garage the whole weekend.

( The caches... )

This weekend, I was at the Sheraton in Tysons Corner, VA, for Fur The 'More. This time, I shared a room with Laser Wolf from the DC area. He's a good roommate and great for conversation throughout the weekend. Also, I do prefer splitting a room 50/50, rather than three or four ways, because then we have more space and one bed per person. The running gag this weekend is I would stumble into the room in fursuit at 2 o'clock, and Laser would be in bed. This happened not just at 2am but also 2pm! :) This year, our room was on the first level, which due to the layout of the hotel, is actually half a level below the lobby level. That was quite convenient for fursuiting though because I didn't need to take the elevator to get to either the lobby or the panel rooms from my room. Just a short walk and a couple of steps up/down, and I was there!

Even in its fourth year, I find Fur The 'More to be overall an enjoyable con. I like that they try new things every year to keep it interesting. The program schedule wasn't overly packed, which is nice because I like to take breaks from attending panels and events for general fursuiting mayhem and shenanigans. However, of the scheduled programming, I did enjoy the screening of Office Space, the fursuit parade, the fursuit games (Furlympics), the fandom rant panel, the assertiveness/self-confidence panel, and the charity (Frisky's Wildlife Sanctuary) presentation. I also played about a half-dozen rounds of One-Night Ultimate Werewolf in the gaming room because it was that good! Also, handing out woven silk ties to fursuiters as fursuit tags was a wonderful idea and fit perfectly with this year's Cubicle Jungle / Office Space theme. Of course, then we found out that most folks hadn't tied a tie in years but I helped a few fellow fursuiters with their ties once I remembered how I used to tie a tie.

The only issue with the hotel was inadequate parking. Both the hotel perimeter and garage filled up on Friday and Saturday, and some people had to park along the street and side lane. Fortunately, I didn't need to drive out the whole weekend. The nice thing about the location is there are a couple of restaurants and a Walmart next door to the hotel. That's great for when you can't spend too much time on lunch or dinner because you have to get back to a con event. However, I did walk farther out (about 1/4 mile) on Sunday to try some new restaurants about two blocks down Leesburg Pike. Gotta write more Yelp reviews, you know! :)

( The caches... )

So this weekend, I attended Fur the 'More 2015. (I think I've had the apostrophe in the wrong place before but I checked the website this time!) It is strange that a convention whose name is a play on Baltimore was held in Tysons Corner, Virginia, this year, but I was assured that it was due to circumstances beyond their control and they're still looking to return to Baltimore eventually. However, I thought the new location was excellent! The Sheraton is right next to two building complexes with lots of restaurants and a Walmart. Because of the variety of food choices, both fast casual and sit-down, within walking distance, I didn't need to drive out anywhere the entire weekend. (although I heard that one group went out for tacos 20 miles away, which, for that much driving, had better be some pretty amazing tacos!) The hotel itself isn't so amazing though. Air conditioning was a tad weak for the lobby area, the layout was weird, and the elevator button panel on my floor was loose and ready to fall off if I looked at it wrong. This time, I shared a room with Panzer the cat and JBadger. (who joined us on Friday)

( Wall of text! )

Overall, I thought Fur The 'More 2015 was an enjoyable convention and I plan to be there again next year. There were some issues here and there, but I don't expect perfection and I'm sure the con and the hotel will eventually fix those. What I like about this con is their willingness to add new ideas to the mix every year. This will ensure that it doesn't stagnate.

( The caches... )

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Morton Fox's journal

Using the nuclear option every day!

Fur The More 2018

Fur The More 2017

Fur The 'More 2016

Fur The 'More 2015

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May 2020

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