Hey guys!! Sorry for the delay in this update, I just haven't had the time with work to sit down and actually write anything! But, this is the promised G-Fest/Illinois vacation blog post!!!! For those who are not aware, I recently went to Illinois for the first time to fulfill a childhood dream of mine, which was to attend G-Fest, or Godzilla Fest!! I have been perhaps the most passioante Godzilla fan my entire life, but my family could never afford to take me. So, now me being an adult with adult money (and responsibilities, unfortuantely), myself and my boyfriend were finally able to go!!!! For a TL;DR, it was the most incredible experience of my life, despite me being sick with bronchitis throughout the experience (which I believed to be a nasty cold at the time, since my COVID tests all came back negative). Now for the more in-depth description!!!
Starting on Tuesday, July 11th and going to Monday, July 17th, me and my boyfriend had our Illinois vacation!!! We didn't want to pay for plane tickets, and we both enjoy roadtrips, so we decided to drive our way there from our home in Maryland, US (which is on the south east coast of the country), to Illinois (which is in the midwest of the country). This trip took us 12 hours each way, and was way more fun than I expected. Driving through the appalachian, we were treated with a eye-wateringly beautiful expanse of green hills and mountains that streched as far as the eye could see. Winding up and down the mountain range, through tunnels, and across foggy cliffs, I was brought back to the few times in my childhood that I've seen the mountains (whenever I went to Pennsylvania, the state just North of Maryland, which happened on one occassion in my life). These nostalgic mountains paved way to a very long stretch of nothing but farms and run-down gas stations for what felt like the majority of our trip. The Midest of the United States is flat. Very, very flat. Having been born and raised in a place that is incredibly hilly, and is largely just a massive swamp intermixed with the odd city and suburb. Despite the lack of scenery, the quality time with Isaac made the trip incredibly enjoyable, such that I crave the open roads, and long conversations that defined our trip. If you have a long roadtrip, being with your bestfriend makes it great.
Once in Illinois, the first stop on our itinerary was Isaac's hometown, which is one of many exceptionally tiny smalltowns that dot across the farmlands of Illinois. That was a remarkably informative experience for me, and melancholic for Isaac, as he saw how much his old home had both changed, and remained eerily the same. The most emotional moment was seeing his childhood home sold and owned by a new family, who had changed much of the details that had once defined his home.
The following day, we went to Chicago to cross several tourist-y destinations off our list, including Millenium park, which was beautiful, if crowded (the big bean was much smaller than I expected), Lake Michigan, which was amazing (growing up by the Atlantic ocean makes seeing that much fresh water surreal), and a few other must-see areas of the city. Basically, we took a train into the city, and then walked all around it for a day, before ending with eating at the restaurant Ed Debivics, which is one of those places where the waitstaff are mean to you, and it was some of the most fun I've had at a restaurant. Food was okay, nothing earth-shattering, but was decent, if overpriced. Granted, the primary experience is in being bullied by your waiter, and in that respect, it was perfect.
After our day in Chicago, it was finally time. G-Fest was starting, and I was, with no exaggeration, about to have my life changed forever. Stepping into the massive hotel that acted as the home of the festival, I was immediately taken aback by the sheer number of people that managed to fit unhindered within. Packed from wall to wall like sardines, I saw (and smelled, Jesus Christ the smell) more people in one place than I have anywhere else. The line for the dealers room, which was my first stop on the trip, stretched nearly to the entrance of the building all the way to the massive event space that the dealers room was held within. For some brief context, the dealers room is where dealers of Godzilla merchandise go to sell their wares, and where I spent all my money, and got several holy grail figures that I've wanted for as long as I can remember. After waiting for about 2 hours for the dealers room to open, me and several hundred others rushed in, clamoring to be the first to snag all the best deals on rare pieces of plastic that I am obsessed with. The very fist figure I bought and properly saw was the one figure I wanted the most of all, and was the single largest holy grail for my collection: the Bandai Movie Monster Series Titanosaurus figure. I overspent a little, but it was worth it as it, and the single other titano that was for sale at that first booth were the only for sale within the entire convention. I was able to talk the seller down a considerable degree, getting a reasonable deal for an unreasonably expensive toy. All the same, I carried on, buying up figures left and right that I had wanted for so much of my life. After a certain point, I was almost in a daze as I tried to emotionally grapple with acquiring so many figures that I've wanted for so long, hoping that they would end up on Mandarake, Ebay, buyee, or somewhere sometime for a price I could afford, yet now I held them in my hand, money spent and figures received. I woudln't truly grasp the reality of my situation until I was back home in Maryland, and the sellers would have no way of taking my toys back by some elaborate means of preventing me from being happy. And to those interested, I will include pictures in this post of my fully G-Fest haul, and once I'm done unpacking, I will eventually show my full collection of several hundred figures, mmost of which are packed safely in bubblewrap in boxes, waiting to be unpacked since I moved.
Following the dealers room, me and Isaac attended a talk about Japanese mythology, before grabbing lunch, and looking at the various exhibits throughout the convention. This didn't take long, but was all the same a lot of fun. The mythology talk was not great, told by two pasty white people who could barely pronounce the names they were referencing, and making tenious connections to Godzilla at best, but it was fun to learn about some interesting pieces of Japanese folklore. The exhibits themselves were a massive Godzilla statue that I took several pictures of, a room to get signatures from a few actors from the Godzilla movies (who I got to see in person!!!!!!!!), art rooms filled with fan creations, a model room filled with models, a room with sneak previous of prototype Godzilla figures currently in development that we were not supposed to take pictures of but several pictures ended up on the Godzilla Facebook groups I'm in, and there was a gaming room filled with gaming and rooms, which was fun!!!! There was also a quiet room that was specifically there for people with sensory issues like me, which was so cool and made me feel seen as an autistic person and I cried a little.
Afterwards, me, sick as a dog, and Isaac, also sick but hiding it, went back to our hotel, and slept.
The next day came more irresponsible purchases, along with meeting some of my childhood heroes, including Don Frye (don't look at his instagram, he's kind of a shitty person now but I don't care he was Captain Gordon in Godzilla final wars), and Yumiko Shaku!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yumiko Shaku was my idol as a kid, I wanted to BE her, I wanted to piolt Kyru, I wanted to fight Godzilla, I wanted to be a cool badass girl. So meeting her was truly amazing. I should say by meeting I mean, attend a talk with her in it and I saw her in person and waved to her but didn't say anything cause I was scared. Me and Isaac also met up with his oldest friend Gabe for dinner at Ed Debevics!!!!
The last day of G-fest consisted of more irresponsible buying, and a couple more events of little note, before me and Isaac took a trip up north to Wisconsin to attend the renfaire that Gabe works for. That was my first renfaire and it was also some of the most fun I've had my entire life. Isaac bought me a high quality dagger and a cheap Sting replica, I finally met Isaac's oldest friend, and I had a blast!!!!! Truly an unforgettable experience.
Then, we said our goodbyes to Illinois, and began the long trip home, which was largely a repeat of the previous 12 hour trip just backwards. Although I had the most fun I've ever had, few things felt better than finally coming home. I have never felt homesick until being that far away, and I am so glad to be home again.
And now, the pictures of the Godzilla toys I bought!!!!!!
That's pretty much it!!! There were other big highlights, like how I met Y-MSF, the guy who makes some of the best Godzilla toys mostly on his own, but I could go on forever if I wanted, so I'm gonna leave it at that. Thank you to all who read this, I love you all so much, and I hope you read again ♥
so wherever you are, and whenever you are, I hope you're happy, you are important ♥
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