Hallo from Historicon

I am here in Lancaster PA, and I am fortunate enough to have a good internet connection at my motel. I will not do "live blogging" from Historicon (although the idea may be cool for the future...), but I just want to share some highlights about the day.
I came in yesterday night, and it was late - the flight landed in Baltimore at midnight, it took forever to check in at the car rental terminal, and I got to the hotel by 2am. This morning I made it to the registration by 10am (as my friend Massimo quips, I am barely functional without my daily 12 hours of sleep... Starbucks coffee helped) and I immediately went for a stroll at the flea market. It was a good idea, because for an average of $6 I was immediately able to secure four Osprey titles: on the SYW Austrian cavalry and infantry, on SYW Prussian cavalry and on the Indian Mutiny. A few other temptations, to which I was able, broadly speaking, to resist.
One of the pleasures of attending the convention is reconnecting with old friends and my regular Historicon crowd. Fred, out of California, was right there at flea market, and we had a nice chat right away. I ran into few other familiar faces - Mark, with whom I did some good gaming back in my Virginia days: Jeff, whose dad Bob will come in tomorrow. Needless to say, it was very, very nice.
It was time to move to Dealer's Hall. I will try to take a picture of it tomorrow, because it is hard to deliver the sense of awe I always feel in stepping in what is the largest shopping venue for miniature wargaming in the planet. At booth #1 I found "On Military Matters", where I picked up GaPa, the rules for WSS I had previously ordered from them. I also added a very good guide to the WSS, "Armies and Uniforms of Marlborough Wars" by CS Grant.
As I was wandering through the aisles, I tried to stay focused on my original plan, without giving in to the impulse to shop outside my current project. believe me, it is easier to say then to discipline myself... but I was a good boy, so I didn't go astray. At least: not too much. I swear, I know what I am going to do with that Mosque. And I did indeed plan on buying the windwill - the Hovels' one was there on display... and now it is here... and so are a few samples of Marlburian infantry from Irregular.
Some more chats - "Gonsalvo" and "Pacerni" were busy running a "Piquet - band of Brothers" game who was well attended; Ken was with them. Another stroll through the gaming area, and I realized it was 5pm. Time for a nap back at the hotel.
I was back at the Host by 7pm, right on time to join the whole Piquet gang on a demo of the new "Piquet/FOB WWII" game. While WWII is not currently on the top of my gaming interests, the good company was the real reason - and indeed a good fun was had by all, as a Russian armored forced broke through a powerful German defensive line. I took command of a battalion of motorized Russian infantry, and despite suffering some bleeding by Fred's Panthers I was able to successfully support our enveloping maneuvre.
The day ended with a beer near the pool with Eric, and Pat & Chris. And of course, with some blogging to fix these moments in my memory.

Tomorrow... is another day. I would not mind some more shopping - WSS from Edition Brokaw is something I really want to look into. And I still need a bridge. And a few other items I must check out for future reference. Also, I want to take a few picture - unfortunately, I will not be able to post anything until I will get back home on Sunday. As for the gaming - I still need to check out the convention program. I am signing off, and doing it right now!