North & South...

So Saturday night I went to a mini-blog meet...

When I realized that I was truly committed to bringing the kiddies to Florida to go to Disney World, I put out feelers to see if anyone in that area would be interested in getting together while I was in the area. It's not often that I venture more than an easy day's car ride from home, and figured that I might as well see if I could meet up with some of the folks in the central FLA area while I was flinging money at the Mouse anyways...

Well, wouldn't you know it, both Robb and Greg took me up on it. I knew they were in the general vicinity of where I was headed, and figured that we could meet for drinks and general socialization somewhere in the Disney metropolis. Along the way, The Big Guy from "Ask Uncle Jay" expressed interest in joining up with the group, commenter Phillip signed up (and brought his wife, that foolish brave soul); and McThag mentioned he'd be in the area as well. Robb, Greg, and I hashed out the restaurant in gchat last week, and Robb was drafted kindly volunteered to make the reservations.

Here's the group mugshot:

The UNusual Suspects

I had a phenomenal time despite the insane prices of Fulton's Crab House and the mediocre service (apparently when they know they've got a guaranteed 18% tip coming on an insanely overpriced meal they have little motivation to get the order right or deliver what you orders. Kinda like teacher's unions). This is a rather, ahem, spirited group, a motley collection of individualists, cranks, and curmudgeons the likes of which Central FLA hopes and prays will never again convene mid-state...

My kind of people, in other words.

It all started as I walked up to Fulton's after missing it the first time. Now, don't ask how I missed a giant, three-story steamboat-shaped restaurant, but I did... I recognized Greg first, because, well, I've seen his picture before and he was there with his wife Beth, and generally the females of the species have a greater aversion to going to meet random armed strangers in out-of-the-way venues. Go figure.

And then I saw this guy:

Mr. NoPants Himself

Robb freakin' Allen. Dude's shot with Caleb, Tam, and Todd effin' Jarrett. Designed the kickass banner for The Bredalucion. Right there, in living color. To meet... me?

Honored would be the understatement of the year.

He's as funny in person as he is in his blog, and that's saying a helluva lot. I naturally felt compelled to ratchet my own personal jackass joker up to 11, as usual... Jabs, barbs, and good natured ribbing were the order of the evening, along with a heaping helping of snark, sarcasm, and general bile piled on liberals, fools, and slow kitchen help... Let's leave it at this: at one point in the evening, Robb commented that he had to wait to make sure I wasn't talking before he felt safe taking a drink of anything, lest it exit his nostrils...

And the rest of the group were no slouches, either. Greg and Beth are charming, incredibly nice folks; Jay is larger-than-life and was pretty much exactly what I'd pictured. I'd never read McThag before, but he had us in stitches as he regaled us with stories of his misspent youth - like being detained for "impersonating an officer" because he drove a Ford Crown Vic and carried a Glock. And had a 6" spiked blue mohawk at the time. Plus he's just a handsome devil sporting that shaved head/goatee look that's so popular with all the bloggers these days...

Heh. That reminds me of one of the recurring jokes of the evening. Apparently this weekend was "Gay Days" at Disney - there were rainbow Mickey pins and red shirts everywhere in the greater Orlando area. Now, I've got nothing against homosexuals, but the whole "Hey, we want to be treated like everyone else, so here's a symbolic movement with the sole purpose of drawing as much attention to us as possible" scene escapes me). Throughout the night, someone would chime in at the end of an anecdote with "but only for this week" (or "just not this week") as the kicker...

Positive reviews of the meet (but not the venue; sounds like the March Blogmeet for AD) abound, so it appears a good time was had by all, or at least most. I know I had a great time, and my only regret is that I didn't have an entire day to spend where we could have hit the range for a bit, too... Maybe the next time I come to Disney?

Thanks again to everyone who was there, and a special thanks go to Robb for actually wearing pants...

That is all.