Paracon and Mechacon 2013

Good morning! It's been a busy month with the Artwalk and lots of conventions. My friends and I went to Pensacola for Paracon. Sadly, this was the first year for them to open up the convention to anime/gaming when usually the convention is supernatural in general. With that said, there wasn't alot to do. They had a few panels, but they put them in parts of the room behind curtains and underneath air vents. Not the best thing when you are trying to hear the speaker.

Good thing was the fact that they had a lot of interest in the convention. When we came back from lunch there was a line out the door and around the parking lot full of cosplayers waiting in the rain. Hopefully the organizers will take that into account and plan for a larger crowd next year and a better venue.

Last Friday Kristina and I went to New Orleans for Mechacon. The panel schedule on Fridays doesn't start until later in the afternoon so Kristina and I decided to wander the city instead.

Despite the clouds, we lucked out with a breezy day without rain.

On our way to LA, we were greeted with a sign of a rainbow and the moon. Definitely a sign of a good day in NO.

Kristina had never been to Marie Laveau's so we walked down Bourbon Street to see the shop. I was hoping to get my tarot read, but the readings didn't begin until 12 and we got there a lot earlier.............well, more excuse for us to wander around the city.

Taking a detour on St. Ann Street to get to Chartres Street lead us into a park and a gorgeous cathedral.

Luckily the cathedral is open for tours so we stopped in for a look. I didn't take any photos of the inside, but the ceilings, walls, etc. were decorated into paintings of saints, etc. It was quite beautiful.

Afterwards we stopped by Quarter Stitch.....a lovely shop full of needlepoint canvases, skeins of gorgeous yarn, and cross stitch designs pertaining to NO.

I asked the ladies who owned the shop if I could take some pics of their wares and they said I could........lovely crafting goodies!

On our way back to the convention, we ran across this little gem of a museum on Chartres Street. I noticed it the last time I was in NO, but didn't have time for it. Since we had time to kill, we decided to tour the museum.

I love their window displays for the museum. The first photo is something you would have seen in a 19th century pharmacy shop window. They are called shop globes and were usually filled with colored liquid which was a universal sign that the shop sold medicine. Apparently, the idea of shop globes goes back to medieval times.

The museum is the former pharmacy of Louis J Dufilho, one of the first pharmacists in the US to be officially licensed to sell medicines. It houses three stories, but the third story has been in disrepair since Katrina so you can only view two stories of the museum. In the back of the house is a beautiful courtyard with a fountain and banana trees....which actually had bananas ripening on the trees.

There are so many objects to see and exclaim over.....not to mention all the informative text labels throughout the museum. Upstairs has a large exhibition of spectacles/eye glasses and another on alcohol in medicine in the 19th century.  It also has a room refurbished as a bedchamber during childbirth.

I think my favorite displays were downstairs on the first floor. They have a selection of 'voodoo' potions. Apparently patrons could buy potions at their local pharmacy instead of going through the scandal of seeing a voodoo priestess. The potions were numbered so when a patron wanted a certain potion he/she would ask for a number to get the right potion. A great way  to not embarrass oneself while in the shop when other patrons were present. Interestingly that is where the song lyric 'Love Potion #9' comes from, the numbering system used by pharmacists.

Overall, this museum is a little gem in NO. It is perfect for spending an hour or two......regardless if you are a medical student, history buff, or just a curious seeker.

After that, we wandered through some other shops or looked at the window displays down Chartres Street before heading back to the Riverwalk for lunch before heading to register for the convention.

The convention was fun despite the lack of panels. We met up with our friend Bonnie who was staying the weekend for the convention.

 Mei from My Neighbor Totoro

 Lolita in blue.....

Lolita in maroon....

I ended up buying a few things at the convention......

Coconut pocky, lots of new cell charms and lanyard from Tasty Peach and Sorbet Jungle. The little octopus pouch is from Sorbet Jungle. I love the size of it......it even has an inner pocket! I love pouches this size because I use them to hold my cross stitch threads/needles or crochet needles when working on projects.

Making one more pass through the dealers' room before we left for Mobile, I read across a table from Antarctic Press selling comics. I saw a line of comics that were new to me......Gearhearts Revue......a great line of steampunk comics. I ended up buying the ones they had ;)

I hope next year we get to go to Mechacon again, but on a weekend with more panels.

Until next time ^____^