Shore Leave Update—Sort Of

---

Just a reminder: It’s okay to leave comments!

---

UPDATE October 12, 2023:

 

The Monster Mania Convention, which also uses the Delta Hotel Hunt Valley, has made arrangements to use the Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor as its site for their 2024 convention. While the main halls are large enough for Shore Leave, I'm not sure it would have enough smaller "break-out" room for all of the panels that Shore Leave has. The hotel rooms are also more expensive. Again, if I find out anything, I'll pass it on!

 There is a slight update to the Shore Leave / Farpoint hotel situation. No, they haven't found a suitable location. They are having a joint farewell party at the hotel on October 28, 2023. This is from the Shore Leave Facebook page:

Event by Shore Leave, Farpoint Convention and Don L Ramsey

Delta Hotels Baltimore Hunt Valley

Public  · Anyone on or off Facebook 

Join the gang from Shore Leave and Farpoint for a final sendoff at the Delta by Marriott Hunt Valley Inn!

Here is the current schedule...and I believe there will be cake!
All activities will be in the Tack room...though I think most of us will also be found in the bar.

10:00 - The Bob and Howie Show - Authors Robert Greenberger and Howard Weinstein greet us one last time from 245 Shawan Road.

11:00 - Founders Remember (Cathy Dougherty, Regina DeSimone, Melissa James, Marilyn Mann, Denise Masters, Martha Sayre, Chris Schildt, Weston Scrimger, Renee Wilson; Moderator: Steve Wilson) Members of the committees of Shore Leave and Farpoint who were there in the beginning recall our 43 years at the Hunt Valley Inn.

2:00 - Weird and Wonderful Memories - (Moderators: Diane Baron and Susan Olesen, with special guest T.A. Chafin) Escalator roulette, Klingon raids, and how did that Studebaker get here? Our panelists and audience members recall their favorite bits of wackiness in the halls of HVI.

4:00 - Trivia Contest (Diane Baron)

8:00 - Marc Okrand - The creator of the Klingon language has a very long history with Baltimore, his convention home. Marc will talk about being a guest across five decades in Hunt Valley

Here's a map so you can see where the Tack Room is located (yellow circle on lobby level):

As you can see, it is not one of the larger rooms in the building. I suppose that's why most folks will be at the bar. Well, it's as good an excuse as any.

I'm not sure I'll make it there, but I'll try. After all, they say they'll have cake. Perhaps I can get the scoop on what's going on. If so, I'll pass it on to you.

You can read more about the hotel situation HERE.

---

© 2023 K. R. Smith All rights reserved

No Room At The Inn

---

Just a reminder: It’s okay to leave comments!

---

As of this post, there is no news on possible new sites for the Shore Leave sci-fi convention. Or the Farpoint convention. I do wish the folks responsible for both con websites would remove the dates and location as they are no longer valid and are misleading at best. I know the Shore Leave staff has never been all that quick with their website updates, but still...

Even the hotel website doesn't say they are closing. You can try and book a room past the end of October and all you get is a message saying no rooms are available. That must be some sort of marketing strategy to keep the place full until the very end, I suppose.

If I find out anything for either convention, I'll post it here.

In other news, I am now on Bluesky social. It hasn't wowed me so far. Nothing bad, but not exciting, either. It's new, so I'll hang around and see what happens.

I'm working on what may be the last episode of my serial story, The Dark Scent of Rain, that I'll post on Medium. I don't think Medium readers are looking for that sort of content. You can read more on that HERE.

And, yes, I need to finish my Shore Leave posts on Medium, though it may not matter. Nobody read the first two.

In keeping with the holiday season (Halloween), I went to see a play last night in the Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab at the Olney Theatre Center called Brothers Paranormal. Here's a synopsis:

It’s 2007 somewhere in the American Midwest, and Thai-American brothers Max and Visarut haven’t had a single case for their paranormal investigation business since they opened. Finally, a customer arrives, Delia, a Black woman who has relocated to the area after losing her home in Hurricane Katrina. She’s seen a female, perhaps Asian, maybe Thai-speaking ghost haunting her house for reasons unknown. Max, who doesn’t believe in ghosts, is most excited to sign her up for a deluxe investigation package. But when the brothers visit Delia and her husband Felix, strange things begin to happen. Prepare to be thrilled, chilled, and moved! 

It's a good play (maybe a few plot holes that won't affect your enjoyment) with good acting, but it's rated PG-13, so you won't be as traumatized as when seeing The Exorcist for the first time. You can view the playbill HERE. Also, for a play on a small stage, the visual effects were done well.

 

That's all for the moment. I'll be back soon...

 

---

© 2023 K. R. Smith All rights reserved