Welcome to the first of three planned adventures this summer.
For my own memory this first adventure is taking place over the June 5 to June 7 weekend here in Corpus Christi, Texas.
I started the day with a short walk down to Norma Urban Park, which hosts Laundry’s, Harrison’s and Joe’s. This seems to be a man created peninsula to help protect the boats in the marina. It is also a good place to get a view of the sunrise with buildings or boats in the foreground.
This also gave me a chance to test out the gimbal I bought to use with my phone at the comic con. Ok it’s more of just a selfie stick, but gimbal sounds more professional. 😁
It’s going to be a few more hours, the doors open at 11:30, and after a shower to fully wake up; I needed breakfast.
Sure I could have eaten at the hotel, but that’s boring and I’m here with my truck so let’s drive…
I decided on a place called Hester’s. It’s a coffee shop with pastries and hot food. It’s only open for breakfast and lunch; hence it sounded great to me.
Ok, I’m inserting a short side story… as I was getting ready to leave I noticed the person in the gallery above taking pictures. The owner of the restaurant came out from the back excited that the photographer was still there. Why?, fresh baked sourdough bread is why… So I’m going to guess these pictures will be on social media soon. Thanks for joining me on this side trip. I enjoy finding life happening. Ok, back to breakfast…
I decided on the “Louis” Armstrong, which is your basic, 2 eggs, toast, potatoes and bacon. It is going to be a good day when the cook gets the eggs over easy right.
I really need to get an egg mold this size. The ones I have are for 1 egg, which means I use 2 every time I cook myself breakfast. Enough with my rambling about other things… (FYI, if you are new… I ramble a lot, you’ve been warned.)
I’m finishing my 2nd cup of coffee and waiting for the rain to stop, and my brain is wondering so I’ll take you with me… (see…)
The weather is fascinating… It was sunny and partly cloudy when I entered the restaurant but as I was eating the forecasted rain decided to move in a few hours early. One day maybe the weather apps will work as well as they did for Doc Brown in Back to the Future Part II.
Ok, back on topic… Well, sort of, its still over 2 hours until doors open and I don’t sit still especially after coffee, but the rain is going to limit outdoor activity, so back to the hotel to finish charging my cell phone and edit this post on my laptop.
Well, the rain clouds have moved off and the sun is out again so it is working out to be an extra nice June 5th here in south Texas. I’m getting ready to head off to the main event of the day. No cosplay for me today, but I did bring my Halloween Jedi costume that I’m thinking of wearing tomorrow. Today’s it’s just my frost dragon Hawaiian shirt from Geek Tropical. I’ve got some other shirts on order and hope they arrive in time for my next June adventure… Where you say? You will have to check back or sign up for email notification to find out. 😇
Now on to the CON!!!!!
For anyone interested here is the guest line up for the 2026 Comic Con and Anime
Some pictures from the vendors and the DJ pumping tunes into the exhibit hall and making announcements.
Check out this booth that seems to focus on creating Pokemon dioramas.
So after walking the exhibit hall a few times, I needed a break so it was time to take advantage of the VIP lounge.
This is such a great idea for events like this. A nice place to sit and get out of the crowd, well Friday there wasn’t that big of a crowd but tomorrow I expect more people.
I skipped a meal last year at the Maid Cafe, so I had to try it this year.
What an exciting experience. You get a dinner and a show. Maybe.?.
Well, that was an experience. To be honest, I was expecting a bit more. The cupcake was one of those bitesize ones you can buy from Walmart. The soda pictured above was very good and was an import from Japan. It was a glass bottle with a glass bead sealing the top. You had to use the plastic topper to pop the seal to drink. So the unique drink counts as an up. The players were all very enthusiastic and if I had known more about these Japanese maid cafes and was a fan of Kawaii this would have been an awesome experience. Would I do this again, sure but with a friend or group. But if you are into this topic, this troupe is out of Houston and is available for hire for a gig. They are good at what they do, it’s just not my thing.
So they don’t allow candid pictures of the meet and greet area, but I was able to sneak the one above of Scott Innes booth. I guess since he has lots of Scooby Doo merch to sell; his booth is extreme.
While walking around the exhibit hall, The Sea Breeze Singers, cornered me and forced me to sing a song with them. Just kidding they asked me to sing with them. I should have recorded it. Anyways they were walking the exhibit hall trying to drum up an audience for their 2 PM. Sadly it’s their only show of the weekend and I had dinner plans. See above.
I’m heading off to my first panel of the day and to be honest I don’t have a clue what to expect. Especially after the Maid Cafe.
The title is “The Butlers Did It”
This was a very cozy event with Steven Butler and his daughter Lily Butler. Both are graphic artists that draw for comic books. They are both freelance and work on Archie Comics and Sonic. Oh, if you happen to have a Spiderman themed wallet, Steven drew that. It was supposed to be a cover for an anniversary issue but Marvel decided to put on a wallet and other merchandise. Steven also showed some sketches of an upcoming Archie Comics crossover with a popular movie about time travel, but I need to Terminate this sentence so no one gets in trouble for revealing a secret.
Both father and daughter shared how they got into the trade and some important lessons they’ve learned about deadlines and getting your foot in the door. Basically to make it in the industry you need to be able to produce quality quickly and manage your time between various projects.
They both were very friendly and down to earth. They even host a live podcast on YouTube every Tuesday evening at 8 PM EST called, “Comic Book Chaos“. During this 30 minutes the draw on whatever random topic is selected. This would be a great opportunity to observe the drawing process in action. I’m planning on checking out a few episodes tonight before bed.
It’s now time for the first panel I wanted to hear. Let’s go check in on Eddie Mcclintock and talk all thing Warehouse 13.
A fun fact about Eddie, he is now a native of Corpus Christi. His wife is originally from Texas and they recently sold their home in California and moved here to Texas. So maybe he will be present at more Texas Cons.
We learned that Eddie is a fan of the horror genre, especially the Living Dead and Arm of Darkness. It’s amazing to hear from a star how much they sometimes fan over their heroes, such as Bruce Campbell, whom he met via a mutual friend and spent the lunch talking about the Living Dead movies.
From further discussion about his career related to Warehouse 13, it seems this show was another victim of an TV executive decisions to maximize profit over public entertainment. It sounds very similar to what happened to the original Quantum Leap.
After hearing the discussion, I’m amazed to learn of all the times Eddie was on the screen, from his first roll in a Coor’s beer commercial to his appearance on a day time soup opera to his bigger hits such as Warehouse 13.
Well, day 1 is drawing to an end and I’m now in search of dinner. I’m going to check out Harrison’s Landing again. It had cold beer and good fish n chips last year.
Well, another unexpected event… Seems Harrison’s is going through some remodeling so their menu is limited. The beer is still cold. 😁
And with desert eaten, it’s time to put this blog to bed. Until tomorrow. Live long and my the force be with you…
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