So … where was I?  Oh, yes.  Saturday morning comes, and we’re up pretty early.  The parade starts at 10 a.m., so I’ve got to get up and get into my outfit.

We walk toward Woodruff Park to meet everyone, and all along the way are people pointing and smiling, “Oh, look!  A Ghostbuster!”  Pretty cool walking around town like that, people asking how I got the proton pack, taking pictures …

We get to the parade lineup, and there had to be close to 3,000 people all around.  I found my group, which wound up being about 47 ‘Busters in all.  The parade started, and I’d have to say we were easily the crowd favorites.  We had an Ectomobile that was converted from a Dodge Magnum, and we all walked around it yelling things like “Ghostbusters! Ghostbusters!” and “He-Man! He-Man!”  If you didn’t catch that reference, go back and watch GB 2.  Shame on you for not knowing it.

Anyhow, the crowd also got into us by yelling the standard, “Who ya gonna call?”  We responded in kind.  I felt really bad for some of my fellow GBs.  I saw a couple of proton packs, guns and traps hit the ground.  Pieces were flying everywhere.  Some gun hoses came out from the packs, and some of the yellow leg tubes came out.  Lots of damage just from walking a half-mile, but thankfully I escaped without a scratch.

The parade ended around 10:45, which gave me exactly 45 minutes to run back to our hotel, change into normal clothes, stop sweating and get back to our last photo-op for the convention.  It was with none other than Patrick Stewart!  I would’ve worn my costume, but why on earth would a Ghostbuster be posing with Captain Picard?  Yeah, that’s what I thought, too.

We manage to get back to the photo-op with about 10 minutes to spare.  Poor Amy is exhausted from chasing me during the parade, then running back-and-forth between hotels, but she was a trooper.  Needless to say, I was excited to meet Mr. Stewart.  They had about 150 people lined up (they limited the number of spots), and we were close to the back.  Plenty of time for me to cool down and lose the redness in my face.

He walks in, and everyone cheers.  He waves to the crowd, then sits down.  We’ve been instructed not to touch, hug, shake hands, etc. with him because of H1N1 flu fears.  No problem, but I was hoping they wouldn’t move so quickly.  They did, so we didn’t have a chance to say but a couple of words to him as they hurried us through.  It’s our turn, so we walk up to him, and I say, “Mr. Stewart, it’s an honor.”  He smiles and says, “How are you?”  I said we were good, then the photographer quickly said, “Smile!”  We turned, smiled and had to rush right out.  I tell him again, “It’s an honor to meet you.  Thank you for taking time with us.”  He nods and says, “It’s my pleasure to meet you.  Thank you.”  And that’s it.  That’s my one minute with Patrick Stewart.

We walk back up to the autograph room where we see Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner off to the side.  You had to buy tickets to even look at those two because someone made sure you couldn’t see them well.  I’ve met them a couple of times before, so it was no big deal to miss out on them.

I finally got over to meet Charles Fleischer.  He was as nice as he could be, and I told him of my infatuation with “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” since he was Roger’s voice.  I told him Amy could vouch for that since I have just about every WFRR statue and snowglobe they’ve made.  He told me they’re working on a sequel, and I told him I’d love to hear him back in that role.  I’ve heard different stories about a sequel for the last 20 years, so I’ll believe it when I see it, despite the news from the rabbit’s mouth.

We left Charles, and the line had finally died down for Malcolm McDowell.  You’ll remember him from “A Clockwork Orange,” “Star Trek: Generations” and a whole bunch of others.  He’s a legend, so it was awesome to meet him, too.

We walked around wondering who was left to talk with, and Amy wanted to meet Dirk Benedict.  Since he no-showed for the photo-op the night before, we waited around his table.  She went over and talked to Dwight Schultz a little more, telling him how nice it was for “A-Team” to be family-friendly, and how I got her into it since she’s never been big on ’80s shows.  Dirk finally came out, and Amy got to talk to him and had a photo made with him.  The man is a professional flirt, which is why Face always got the women on the show.    But he was incredibly nice, too.

After Dirk, we decided to head back and rest.  Amy doesn’t get to nap during the day too often, so she wanted to grab a couple of hours’ sleep.  On the way back to our hotel, we stopped by the GBFans table to see what time everyone was meeting to go to The Varsity.  We had about five hours to kill, so I uploaded photos while Amy slept for 2.5 hours.  I don’t see how she did because Collective Soul was performing outside of our hotel, and the windows were shaking all the way up to our room on the 47th floor.

I got back into costume, minus my pack, and we headed back down to the meeting spot.  Everyone either walked or caught a cab over to The Varsity, so it was kind of late getting started.  After a while, the dinner started, and we all sat around and talked.  Some awards and door prizes were given out, and we all decided to walk back to the convention site … at 10 p.m. … in downtown Atlanta.  Thank God there were about 20 of us in the group because I definitely wouldn’t have done that alone.

We all made it back safely, and Amy and I called it a night.  That was the last I saw of the group and of Dragon*Con.  We slept in Sunday morning before going to the Braves game.  After that, it was time to go home.

So, all-in-all, it was an incredible experience!  A pricey one, but incredible nonetheless.  I don’t know if I’ll make it back next year.  It all depends on finances, but it’s worth it.  I’d like to stay for more than three days next time.  Amy probably won’t be going back with me.  I’m into this stuff, but she’s not.  Plus, all the walking really wore her out.

Those are all of my thoughts on Dragon*Con.  Try to go next year if you can.  If I’m there, look for us in the GB group.  Hopefully I’ll have a lighter pack.

Be sure to check out all my photos from Dragon*Con here.