Amsterdam Convention Friday
Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008
Since we were in Europe, it was assumed that most of the convention-goers would probably prefer to get out and see the local sites rather than stay around the hotel. But since I was in Europe for a full fifteen days, and was at this point just about to complete my first week, I was looking forward to some standard convention fun without all the hustle and bustle. Friday, July 11, 2008, was the day that felt most like a good old regular Sons of the Desert convention. Read the rest of this entry »
Bob and I didn’t have to get up too ungodly early on the morning of Tuesday, July 29, 2008. We were staying at the Red Roof Inn in Canton, Ohio and they didn’t serve a continental breakfast, so we were up and on our way by about quarter of nine. Mom would have been disappointed that we chose such a place with no mornin’ eats. The First Ladies Museum didn’t open until 10am, so we had time to make a couple of pit stops on the way. The second one was McDonalds. 
For the first full day of the Sons of the Desert convention, Thursday, July 10, we basically spent the entire day in Amsterdam again. Not that touring the city wasn’t enjoyable, but it certainly didn’t feel much like a real convention, given that we were away from the hotel for almost the entire day. That morning I had another one of those huge, filling, and delicious European breakfast buffets in the hotel restaurant and then quickly caught one of four buses transporting the convention delegates to Amsterdam. 
Over a decade before I had ever even heard the expression ‘The Happiest Place on Earth’ when I first visited Disneyland in 1988, I had determined that the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World was in fact the happiest place on Earth. Words cannot adequately express the nostalgic chunk of memory firmly rooted in my brain when it comes to my second visit to Disney World in the early Summer of 1977. At the age of five, my mind was made up: this was my kind of place. 
If I were Edwin Starr, I might answer that with “absolutely nothin'” – but since Bob and I spent the better part of Monday, July 28, 2008 in this town, it must have been good for somethin’. The day started off with a nice breakfast in our Comfort Inn motel. They had a nice array and some of those great do-it-yourself waffles that I am seeing more and more of lately. The dining area was surprisingly crowded and some guy was hogging the internet access, but I was able to get on for a few minutes before we headed out.