Finally, after over two weeks of day-to-day obligations and responsibilities of "real life," I have some time to write about my amazing weekend at Creation Entertainment's "Salute to Supernatural" convention in Parsippany, New Jersey. It was a fantastic time, and I wish I could time-travel back to it! But I'll just have to re-live with these words and pictures. I've decided to write about each day of the long weekend in short pieces, that I'll post during this week. I hope to get everything posted by Friday, when the convention in Vancouver begins - NJ Con will be "old news" by then!
Day 1 - Friday, August 3rd (Part 1)
Going "Gold"
Getting the chance to "go Gold" is a fangirl's dream come true! And it's all thanks to my friend and super-Supernatural fan, Kristen, who invited me to share the Gold ticket weekend experience with her. I'd only been to one day of last year's New Jersey convention, so I was very excited and a bit overwhelmed at the idea of three whole days of Supernatural! This was Kristen's third convention (she had previously spent a day at 2010's Chicago Con, and the whole weekend at last year's New Jersey con) so I was glad to have her as a sort of guide through the three jam-packed days of events - and she was a great roommate, too!
Parsippany is only about a 1-and-a-half hour drive from where we both live in the Hudson Valley, NY. So we started out early Friday morning and got to the Hilton hotel with plenty of time to check in to our spacious double room before the 11:00 am registration.
With our Gold tickets tucked into plastic envelopes and secured in lanyards around our necks and fluorescent red bands around our wrists, we were excited for the Friday events to begin. As we wandered through the growing crowd, we met up with some of Kristen's friends, including Rachel, who I met at last year's NJ convention. She's a huge fan and frequent con-goer, and has a large binder that she's dubbed her "Book of Fun," full of her autographed photo-ops of herself with many Supernatural cast members, past and present. I was inspired to start my own portfolio of photo-ops and autographed pictures, though I know it would take me a long time and many cons before it's even nearly as full as hers!
Before the actors' panel began, Kristen and I checked out the vendors' tables in the large open area just outside the main ballroom-theatre. Creation-licensed merchandise was spread out among many large banquet tables - an array of 8 x 10 glossy photos of Jared Padalecki (Sam), Jensen Ackles (Dean), and many of the supporting cast members from the show's (so far) seven seasons; T-shirts and hoodies, in different colors with many great screenprinted pictures and logos; posters; mugs and shooters; keychains; jewelry; and even a small die-cast Impala car collectible. I bought an Impala travel coffee mug for my boyfriend Ian. It was the least I could do to thanks him for putting up with my abandoning him for a weekend of fangirl fun!
There was also a table of cool Supernatural-inspired jewelry - necklaces, bracelets and earrings featuring charms of the Colt; the protection tattoo; vampire fangs; angel wings; a little bottle of salt and many other well-known icons and symbols of the show. I wish I'd gotten a business card from the vendor so I could give them credit. I hope they'll be there next year, too. I got a necklace with an Impala charm, and another Impala necklace for my friend Wanda (who went with me to last year's NJ Con, but couldn't be there this year) and Impala earrings for Kristen. I love the Impala!
So I was really glad to see a fan's Impala - the same one that was at last year's con - parked right outside of the hotel. I didn't get a chance to meet the owner, but I heard that it belongs to a guy in New Jersey. It's the same 1967 model as Dean's "Baby," and has been fully and beautifully restored, with Supernatural details like the KAZ Y25 license plate; the toy soldier in the ashtray; and Sam and Dean's initials in the area above the back seat. Several fans were taking pictures of it, so Kristen and I snapped some pictures of the car and of us posing with it. What an awesome, beautiful and badass muscle car - it's definitely one of my dream cars!
(to be continued...)
Linda, my first car was a 1969 Impala. My grandmother gave it to me in beautiful condition,and with very low mileage in 1980, when her vision got too poor to drive. I drove it until 1987, when the timing chain snapped and destroyed the engine. I loved that car!
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