Events For 1984 And Beyond

     I was no longer working in the travel industry because in December, our agency hired a new manager, and he proved to be a jerk—to put it politely. Instead, I found a job at a daycare center. As I said in DOTTY’S DIMENSIONS: THE PREFACE, I only intended to keep this job until something better came along. However, nothing much better came along, and I started like the pace of this job. I was a teacher’s aide—or a glorified babysitter.

     Anyway, I went to several science fiction conventions (SF cons) that year: 1) a Creation Con in Philly. Like the other Creation Cons, this con had guests giving talks in one room, and a dealers’ room where the dealers sold comic books, books, and games as well as posters, toys, model kits, etc. Grace Lee Whitney was the guest at this con, and she talked about her time on Star Trek (ST) playing Yeoman Rand and in Star Trek: The Motion Picture (ST:TMP) playing Lt. Rand, transporter chief, as well as other TV shows and films that she acted in through the years. 2) At Shore Leave in Maryland, I had a dealer’s table where I sold several SF books, old costumes, ST models, and other SF stuff that was formerly stored in my parents’ attic. At this point, I felt that I had “been there and done that” as far as ST cons went. Therefore, by selling things in the dealers’ room, the con could come to me because almost everybody passed by or stopped at my table to buy or just chat. 3) A few weeks later, I went to my first “relaxie” SF con, Phrolic Con, nearby in Mt. Laurel, NJ. This kind of SF con has little or no formal programming, and fans either attended parties or listened in on the few panels that this con held. The con committee also showed a few videos, and I saw a small dealers’ room where the dealers sold mostly books. While I enjoyed attending this “relaxie” con locally, I wouldn’t go a long distance to this kind of con. 4) I also went to Philcon. In 1984, it was still in Center City, and I sat in on the panels, went to a few parties, saw the art show, bought a few items in the dealers’ room, etc. I never missed this SF con— except for 1983 when I had the flu that weekend.

     As for my regular travels, in addition to my day and weekend trips within New Jersey; and to New York City; Philadelphia; and Washington, DC; I took my main trip to London. On this third trip for me to England, I saw more sights in London: National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Tate Gallery, Selfridge’s Department Store, and in Greenwich the Observatory and the Maritime Museum. Then, outside of the Greater London area, I visited the following: in York—the York Minister and the Castle Museum, and in Stratford-Upon-Avon—Shakespeare’s Birthplace and in nearby Shottery—Anne Hathaway’s cottage. (For more details, you can read DOTTY’S DIMENSIONS: OVERSEAS.)

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1985:

     I moved that year from Lindenwold, NJ, to Haddonfield, NJ, and I started my con year by going to a ST con in Maryland that many of the same members from Shore Leave organized: 1) Clipper Con in February. Here too, I had a dealer’s table and sold more used SF books and other stuff that was in my parents’ attic—as well as stuff I found at yard sales. In the evenings, I would attend some of the programming, a few parties, and the masquerade on Saturday night. In late May, in Columbia, MD., I attended my first 2) Costume Con. This con offered panels having to do with costumes from SF, fantasy, and history—both historically accurate and historical interpretation. This con covered almost everything one needed to wear, from head to toe. There were also parties, as well as two masquerades: one for SF & fantasy costumes on one night and historical costumes on another night. They also held contests for doll costumes with two main categories: for costumes only on regular dolls and costumes on dolls that the contestant made from scratch. Meanwhile, the dealers’ room sold plenty of costumes, accessories, and materials as well as trims, jewelry, and many books about clothing. In those four days, I learned more about garments from history and the imagination than I ever knew before. 3) It was back to Shore Leave in July to sell similar merchandise that I sold at Clipper Con, as well as attend some of the nighttime events and parties. 4) Phrolic Con followed with its few panels, films, parties, and its small dealers’ room. The good part about a relaxie con was that I had a chance to get into conversations with other SF fans in a way I couldn’t at SF cons with more programming. 5) In the early fall, I traveled to Wilmington, Delaware, to a Creation Con where George Takei was the main guest. Like Grace Lee Whitney, the year before in Philly, George, too, talked about his time on ST on both the TV show and films, and he mentioned other events happening in his life. At lunchtime, it was crowded, and I sat at the counter. Then, shortly after I sat down, George Takei sat next to me and ordered lunch. He said hello to me and went about eating his lunch. I was impressed because George could have stayed in his room and ordered from room service. Instead, he went to this crowded coffee shop and sat at the only seat available at the counter. 6) The last SF con I went to for that year was Philcon, and again, it had the usual programming, con suite, art show, and dealers’ room, but instead of being in Center City, it was out at City Line Ave. in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. I remember this hotel as the Marriott, but when we were there, Dunfree Hotels took over—and it showed. It used to be a classy hotel under Marriott; but in 1985, under Dunfree, the place was drafty and a bit dirty, and the staff was rude. Thank goodness, Philcon never had another SF con at this hotel.

     In addition to my usual trips to NJ, NYC, Philly, and DC, I invested in a package trip from TWA Airlines to Paris and Geneva. I spent about half the week in Paris and the other half in Geneva.
     On that first day in Paris, as I exited the Metro and rode the elevator up the Eiffel Tower, I had my first bird’s eye view of Paris. It was then I realized that Paris did live up to the guidebook hype. Later, I spent the rest of the day seeing the sights along the Left Bank and stopping at a few different cafes.
     It was raining on the second day, so I visited the Louvre for most of the day—until it closed. Then, I spent the early evening at the Musee d’Art Moderne.
     The weather was much nicer on the third day as I visited the Arc d’Triomphe, and later, I walked along the Champs Elysees. By this time, I noticed that despite what many people told me, I didn’t find the French to be rude and nasty or expect Americans and other non-French to know how to speak the language perfectly. I used what French that I remembered from college, and most of the time, the person I talked to usually answered me in English or the person next to him or her answered me in English. I very seldom had to complete a sentence in French. In fact, I even met a few very friendly people there who were willing to help me out with my French.
     Anyway, I saved the best for the last day there: I visited Notre Dame and Sainte Chappelle on Ile de la Cite, and later, the neighboring island of Saint Louis. This other island didn’t have any major attractions, but walking along the quaint streets of Saint Louis Island, I felt like I was in a small French town and not in the middle of a major cosmopolitan city.
     Soon it was time for me to take the TVG Train (at that time, the fastest train in the world) to Geneva. The hype about this was true too; the train was slick looking, and the ride was fast. In a few hours, I was in Geneva, Switzerland, and the next day, I visited the European Headquarters for the United Nations—the former HQ for the League of Nations. This Art Deco building looked impressive both inside and outside, and so did the rest of the area because this was the more modern section of Geneva with its shops—especially clock and watch shops, and a nearby alpine garden. Here, I saw plants that grew in the Alps, and I looked at the native black squirrels. That night, I indulged in having a cheese fondue.
     The next day it rained, and I stopped into the Geneva Art and History Museum, and later, the Clock and Watch Museum.
     Finally, on the third day, I walked into the Cathedral of Saint Pierre, and afterward, I strolled along the old section of Geneva with its narrow medieval streets, plaza, cafes, and shops. I also noticed a poster of the Reformation Monument because the city officials had the real monument under scaffolding for restoration. (Again, I have more details about the sights I saw in the above-mentioned publications about my favorite overseas attractions.)

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1986:

     I believe this was the year that the con committee played host to 1) Clipper Con in Baltimore near the Inner Harbor, instead of at Hunt Valley Inn about 20 miles away. Again, I had a dealer table there. The most memorable part of the con was when someone came in and told us that Hank Williams, Jr. was in the lobby. That summer, 2) Shore Leave, too, was in Baltimore, but closer to the downtown section, and similar to Clipper Con, I had a dealer table. A few weeks later, I was at 3) Phrolic Con in Mt. Laurel, NJ, and I noticed that they started adding a few more panels to their limited programming. Once again, I had a chance to converse with others in a way I don’t usually get to do at SF cons with more programming. 4) I forgot the name of the SF con that I went to in Lancaster County, PA, but in programming, it looked like a cross between Philcon and Phrolic Con. In other words, this con had more programming than Phrolic Con did, but less than Philcon. I saw some videos, and listened to a few panels. What I remembered most, however, was the main guest being Janet Asimov, wife of Isaac Asimov—and he came along to the con as well. (I noticed that Isaac didn’t flirt with the women at this con. Maybe it had to do with his wife being nearby.) I know that they both played host to a panel, and one of the questions had to do with their opinion of Nostradamus. Isaac said that Nostradamus was mainly a poet who had a good public relations agent in the form of the French king. When Nostradamus predicted that a king would die in a golden cage, shortly afterward, the King of France died in a tournament when a lance went through his gold helmet. 5) Later that year, Philcon was at the Adams Mark Hotel on City Line Ave., on the Philly side, across the street from that Dunfree (or “Dumpfree”) Hotel. The Adams Mark hotel proved to be much better as far as the comfort and cleanliness of the rooms, and the staff was much nicer. (Philcon had their cons here through 2000. Nowadays, it’s a Target store.) This hotel used to be the Holiday Inn, and it was at this same hotel where I went to my first SF con, that ST con in 1977. As usual, Philcon had a good selection of programming in different tracks: science, costuming, literary SF, fantasy, horror, art, writing, etc. Overall, I had a good time there.

     Besides my regular trips to NYC, Philly, DC, and NJ, I took my main trip, but I didn’t go overseas. Instead, I explored a state where some of my early ancestors in the USA lived: Virginia. My earliest ancestor was James Davis. On the records, it said that he was a member of the gentry class, as well as the Church of England (the Episcopal Church in this country), and from Kent County, England, when he arrived in 1655. While I didn’t go to the exact place where he had his farm from the mid-1600s to after the American Revolution, in Fairfax County, VA, I did visit plenty of other places in VA. Those places included Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown as well as Richmond, Washington’s Birth Place at Westmorland, Fredericksburg, Charlottesville, Norfolk, and Mount Vernon. It wasn’t all history because I also took time to see Bush Gardens near Williamsburg, King’s Dominion near Richmond, and Virginia Beach. I’ve usually found that most of the people I’ve met in VA were very polite, and in some cases, very friendly. This seemed to me to be what I imagined “Southern hospitality” was like.

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1987:

     I spent the early months of 1987 picking up one illness after another: head cold, fever, the flu, etc. Therefore, I didn’t go to any SF cons until May. On Memorial Day Weekend, I attended another 1) Costume Con, but this con was in New Brunswick, NJ. It was quite similar to the Costume Con in Maryland from 1985 with its panels about costumes and clothing from head to toe, a masquerade of SF and fantasy costumes on one night, and another masquerade of historical costumes on another night. Again, I learned more about clothing than I ever had for most of my life. I remember a talk about how underpants weren’t invented until about 1830. Before then, men used their shirttails, and women wore plenty of petticoats. The next three cons I attended were 2) Shore Leave, 3) Phrolic Con, and 4) Philcon. Again, I was a dealer at Shore Leave—and the con moved back to Hunt Valley Inn. Later, I relaxed and partied at Phrolic Con, and I watched a lot of the programming at Philcon where I think Hal Clement was one of the guests.

     I did my usual trips to NJ, Philly, NYC, and DC, but for my main trip, I visited another state or colony where some of my early ancestors lived in: Maryland. In the early 1700s, one of my ancestors, George Land, a Quaker and a carpenter, arrived from Lancaster County, England. Again, I may not have visited the exact place where he lived in Cecil County, MD, but I did see a few places in that county, as well as some of the sights in Baltimore, Annapolis, and MD’s Eastern Shore—especially Ocean City. The people I encountered here were friendly and helpful, and I ate plenty of fried chicken and seafood—especially crabs.

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1988:

     Since my last media SF con, ST: The Next Generation (ST:TNG) aired on Fox TV, and at 1) Clipper Con, back at Hunt Valley Inn, the con committee invited some of the cast members as guests. This started to increase the con-membership price and the rent for the dealers’ tables. As a result, some of the con attendees had less money to spend on merchandise. For me, this was the first year since I started having a dealer’s table that I didn’t profit; I just about broke even. The same thing happened at 2) Shore Leave that year. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed seeing many of the SF fans stop by my table even if they didn’t buy as much as they usually did. Of course, I attended 3) Phrolic Con, but I was only there for Saturday night and Sunday that year because I was helping my parents to move on Friday and Saturday. 4) Then, I finished my SF con year at Philcon. By this time, I knew that I enjoyed the programming at regular SF cons much better as compared to media SF cons.

     Throughout the year, I visited NJ, DC, Philly, and NYC. That year, I took a helicopter flight over NYC for about 15 minutes. My main trip for the year, however, was to Orlando, Florida. Here, I spent two days each at the Magic Kingdom park in Walt Disney World and at EPCOT. I last visited this area in 1973 with my parents. It was the first time I ever flew in a jet, a 727 Eastern Airlines flight. (Nevertheless, it was not the first time I ever flew. I first flew in a prop plane in 1970, from Philadelphia to Newark.) That year, I saw the Magic Kingdom park at Disney World, Kennedy Space Center, Bush Gardens in Tampa, rode a glass-bottom boat in Silver Springs, and stayed at a local motel near Disney World that had great seafood. For 1988, I stayed at a trailer at the Disney World campground. This wasn’t as rugged as it sounded because this trailer had a TV, full kitchen, and air conditioning. We spent the first day buying deli sandwiches and soft drinks for supper, and items for breakfast to eat at the trailer. We ate lunch at the restaurants in the parks for each day. Because we were staying at the Disney World complex, we didn’t even have to rent a car. (I have had articles about the places I’ve visited published in different magazines, newspapers, and fan publications, and that’s one of the reasons I didn’t get into too many details here. As for details about my local trips, I suggest you read DOTTY’S DIMENSIONS: CLOSER TO HOME, as well as my old newsletters: DOTTY’s DIMENSIONS and DOTTY’S DIMENSIONS CONTINUES, in addition to my photo blog which shouldn't be confused with My Blog.)

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1989:

     Our money became a bit tight for 1989, and when our landlord started gouging quite a bit more rent for the year, we moved in September back to Lindenwold—but to a different apartment complex. 1) At Clipper Con, the last Clipper Con ever, we didn’t break even with the cost of our table—let alone make a profit. One of the things I remembered was on Saturday night after the masquerade, a DJ in the ballroom playing mostly disco music, and there was a cash bar. Most of us were not into disco music, so we drank and goofed around. This turned into “the Ice cube battle of 1989.” This “battle” was going on when I left at midnight to go back to my room. The next day, a friend of mine told me that the “battle” went to her room, but a few minutes later, security knocked on the door and those not sleeping in that room had to go to their own rooms. 2) By the time I went to Shore Leave, I decided to sell off my merchandise. Whatever stuff I didn’t sell at the end of the con, the con committee could have. Not only did I not break even on the cost of my table, someone tried to shoplift from us. This person tried to engage us (my husband and me) into a conversation, but I noticed this person picking up a few books from our table and putting them into his bag. When he started to walk away, I told him that he forgot to pay for those books. He denied taking any books. Therefore, I reported it to con security. A few minutes later, both the con and hotel security showed up at our table and as luck had it, this person showed up in the room again. Then I pointed him out. He denied stealing again, and offered to pay us for those books that he was supposed to steal. This time, someone from the con security said to him, “If you didn’t steal anything, then why are you offering your accusers money?” With that, the person from hotel security ordered that person to leave the hotel property. The next two cons I attended were 3) Phrolic Con, and 4) Philcon. At this Philcon, I thought that I would save money by staying at the neighboring Holiday Inn. (Don’t confuse this hotel with the former Holiday Inn that became the Adams Mark Hotel. This Holiday Inn was next door to the Adams Mark Hotel.) However, it wasn’t a bargain; the staff was rude, and they tried to get us into a hotel several blocks away because they booked a Catholic conference at this hotel. We stood our ground because we booked our room long before those conference people booked that hotel, and everything seem OK with the hotel when we phoned a week before to re-confirm our room. (Why didn’t they tell us about the conference then?) We had to wait until about 4PM, but we did get our room, and because I complained that I couldn’t get my room for the 3PM check in, I got a discount for that night. We never stayed there again! Philcon itself was fun, and I saw different events there and listened to many panels.

     After taking my usual trips to NJ, NYC, Philly, and DC, I visited different places in Delaware. I don’t have any ancestors that I know of from DE, but it is a neighboring state, and I saw some interesting sights: Wilmington, New Castle, and Dover as well as Winterthur, Hagley Museum, Lewis, Rehoboth Beach, and a few other places.