“I should have done this a long time ago.” At a mere 15 hours of Dragon*Con 2012 being finished these were the words that were circling inside my mind. Words composing a sentence that applied to many things in my life, but I ‘m digressing away from the matter that concerns us.

The decision to return next year was taken about 1 week after the end of Dragon*Con 2012. I immediately began to take steps to fulfill that goal. I started to save money for the trip, I bought my membership ahead for Dragon*Con 2013, also my plane ticket and my hotel reservation. As I was better informed this time and with last Dragon*Con’s experience I booked successfully my room at the Hyatt Regency, one of the five major hotels where the convention takes place. When you stay at the Hyatt you don’t have to worry about how late you stay up at the convention , instead of being worried that I was going to lose the bus to return to my hotel, all that I had to do was to get to into the elevator to go to my room.

Finally the day arrived, Thursday August 29, 2013. The plane ride was pleasant until mid- flight when a prolonged turbulence began. It almost made my recently consumed lunch to remain undigested. Despite the bad weather the plane arrived without delay at the Atlanta Airport. I picked up my luggage and took a taxi which left me in front of my hotel (Hyatt Regency). Once installed in my room I went to the Sheraton to complete the pre-registration for the convention. The rows were significantly longer compared with the previous year but once I got to the registration table the process was very quick and I got my 4-day badge for the event. Then I went to the table dedicated to Dragon*Con Parade to complete my pre -registration in that activity. Once I was finished with the Sheraton I could breathe more easily and went to buy me some food.

Back at my hotel I ran into my first celebrity, the cosplayer known as Riddle and her husband. Riddle turned out to be a very kind and friendly girl and after chatting with her a few minutes I continued my route to my room. Along the way there were people already wearing their cosplays, the convention hasn’t officially started but half of the people already here were up to an early start. Finally I was back in my room and proceeded to prepare to meet with a friend whom I haven’t seen since last year.

Another of the many memorable moments that I had in this convention was that I got to see again my friend Jessica Paulding whom I had the good fortune to meet the last day of Dragon*Con 2012. Thanks to Facebook I was able keep in touch with her through the following months. Jessica got me admitted at a private party hosted by a cosplay group dedicated to the Battlestar Galactica television series called “The Fleet“to which Jessica belongs.

Once we greeted each other in front of the Hyatt (where the group that was going to the party was meeting) Jessica began to introduce me to the other members. I was pleasantly surprised to find that there were several Puerto Ricans in the membership of “The Fleet” ‘. When the time was right we walked to the place where the group would be having their party. It was a rather pleasant experience to share with everyone that night.

I decided to retire early around 10:00 PM. I had been awake since 4:00 AM and I really needed to rest in order to recharge my batteries for the first official day of Dragon*Con 2013. However it should be mentioned that I took a short walk through the lobbies of both the Hyatt and the Marriott and took even more pictures of cosplayer who started the day before.

To access the photo album for this day click on the link below.