Oh Elizabeth & others, ? about Cincy.....

[Little Debbie]

Oh Elizabeth, you recommended on the first day of the conference to check in and then get something to eat in order to be back in time for the first speaker. (WOW! In my head, that didn't sound like a run-on sentence!) What time can you check in? Any other helpful info you might have? DH and I are travelling from west of Indy and trying to figure out how early we need to leave. TIA!
Deb

[OhElizabeth]

Check the convention schedule, but I THINK check-in for the convention starts at 3:30. Last year they were highly efficient and organized, so you won't have any trouble there. As you say, my plan is to drive down, check into the place we're staying (since you won't be leaving the convention till late inthe evening and want to be situated first), check into the convention, eat an early supper, make Jessie Wise's lecture, which I think is 4:30 in the main hall, do some more lectures, do the vendor's hall, and head back to the bed & breakfast to crash.

Do you have your accomodations yet? I got a place less than 10 minutes away, so I'm excited. Last year I stayed 45 minutes away with friends, which was a great price and great fun, but too long a drive.

As far as the length of your trip, you could punch it into yahoo maps and see. You're maybe 3 1/2 hours from the border, right? And maybe 1 1/2 hours from the border to Cincy? (haven't looked at a map) If you get there early and check into your hotel and it's way before 3 pm even, that would be nice to give you a chance to nap and rest. Are you bringing kids? They have some great museums and things in Cincy. If it's just you and the dh coming, well leave early, check in, and then you'd have time to eat a nice dinner somewhere! They have all sorts of restaurants: barbecue/jazz places, real japanese restaurants with quiet, deferential waitresses (we never did get forks!), you name it. I guess you could say I take food seriously, lol. I always research my restaurant options before I travel. :) So there are your average chains (subway, ruby tuesday, etc.) and then more unusual places to be found, if you do some legwork online. Yup, if my dh were coming, I'd plan a romantic meal for that first night, before you get all tired and overspent with the convention. :)

It's going to be a great convention. Are you excited?

The other thing to check would be construction on the roads. The DMV for each state usually has a listing of what highways have construction, so you won't lose time there.

[cin]

I'm not goign to the convention, but if you all meet somwhere outside of the convention, let me know, I"m about 20 minutes away and would love to actually MEET some of you!

[Sandy in Indy]

One of the things I don't like about the Cincy convention is there's no time in the schedule to eat. They really should schedule a longer break around lunch and dinner so people can eat! Maybe it's just me....but I need food to run such a long day. We're packing a cooler to stick in the car and that's OK for lunch and snacks, but I need something HOT at some point in the evening.

I'm near downtown Indy and it takes me just at 2 hours to get to the convention. I'm planning, as OhElizabeth said, to get there in time to check into the hotel and dump stuff, grab a snack and be on site in time to hear Jessie Wise.

[Little Debbie]

Mapquest puts us at just under 3 hours of travel time. Thanks for the reminder about the roads...I hadn't thought about that. We're leaving the kids with my parents, so dinner out with DH and no interruptions! We probably won't have anything to say! LOL! Last year we went to the convention in Indy. It was our first one and I thought it was alright, since I had nothing else to compare. I'll admit I was envious of everyone that went to Cincy. I had no idea SWB was there or that there was even a convention. We're in the midst of our first year of homeschooling...muddling our way through, but enjoying the adventure. I tend to lurk more than I post...I'm still learning a lot myself. I definitely appreciate everyone who speaks up and reminds me there's not one right way to do this!
Deb

[OhElizabeth]

Cin, you're not going to the convention and you're only 20 minutes away?!?! Change your mind and come!!! Jessie Wise will be there, authors of lots of the curricula we use, reps, it should be amazing! I did the convention in Cincy last year, and I have to say if I had only driven (2+ hours each way) for ONE of SWB's talks, it would have been worth the whole trip. I'm sure JW's talk will be just as good.

Last year they gave us a room in one of the buildings to meet in, so hopefully they'll do something like that again this year. Sandy is organizing it.

[OhElizabeth]

Sandy, we should get together and go out to eat for dinner one of the nights! (or all of them, hehe) I'll have a girlfriend with me, and I'm sure we'll be hungry by the end, even if we eat early.