A Nerd's Vacation: WWWC3 in Tucson, AZ

I mentioned in my post about steampunk that my husband and I were going to the Wild Wild West Steampunk Convention in Tucson, AZ. We decided to fly over a couple days early to enjoy a full day of experiencing Tucson before we concealed ourselves in a shell of sun, dust, and steampunk for the weekend.

I know this is coming over a month after the event, so some details have already been forgotten. However, it's important to me that I have a record of events in as much detail as possible. I have a terrible cognitive memory and frankly will forget more than half of the trip if I don't write it down.


Wednesday we flew into the Tucson airport, rented a car, and had a few hours until we could check in at the hotel. To pass the time, we got lunch and hung out at really, really big mall. They had a game store that we hunted down, only to be disappointed. It was a buy/sell video game shop and stuck in a back corner, the inventory was lacking and it wasn't the board games we were looking for. However, in the adventure we came across a different sort of shop that featured a plethora of collectable action figures, comics, and a host of other things. It was overwhelming how much cool stuff they had! By the time we were done walking around, we were ready to check in at the hotel.

The Hampton Inn next to the airport was lovely. Their continental breakfast was fantastic, and had some different options everyday. We decided to go off of our diet for the duration of the vacation. We wanted to enjoy ourselves and not feel limited when it came to enjoying the local cuisine.

So that night we ventured to Downtown Tucson, Congress St. There are a bunch of restaurants around that area, but the Hub Restaurant & Creamery is what really caught our interest. Dinner was superb, but the Honey & Ginger Ice Cream afterwards was a life-changing experience.

Across the street was the Hydra clothing store, which had some steampunk garb in the window. It was closed, but we had the whole next day to venture.

So Thursday we drove around, first to a Walmart to pick up some stuff, then to a board game shop Travis had discovered while looking for things in the area to visit. We bought a few things, including Dungeon Petz: Dark Alley.

We then headed back to Downtown Tucson to eat and visit Hydra. While there weren't any clothes that fit us, they had some cool stuff. However, since we really wanted to find something for Travis we started looking at what was in the area on Yelp. To our elation, the 4th Street District was only a few blocks away. Several blocks of shops, thrift stores, and restaurants lined the streets. While shopping may not interest me usually, this stuff was cool. We found Travis some vests, ascots, shirts, and a really awesome leather satchel at one of the thrift shops. They had a special area for period/costume-wear that made it incredibly easy to get an outfit together for him.

Across the street was a Goodwill, another thrift shop, where I found this really awesome brass train music box, which matches a brass hot air balloon music box I acquired from a shop in Tennessee (I get around).

On the way back to the car we stopped at Hub again, this time getting the Lady Grey ice cream, which is Earl Grey flavored ice cream with ladyfinger cake pieces in it. Again, it was life-changing. The rest of Thursday was dull in comparison.

Friday, however, was when the excitement really started. The first day of the convention was perfect. As Aristocrats, we first visited the lounge and were welcomed with gift bags and a ribbon denoting our privilege. We went to a few panels, learned how to play Twisted Skies (a steampunk card-based game), and walked around the vendor's booths for awhile after lunch.

Then the Tea Dueling in the Aristocrat lounge. We sort of stumbled upon it when we were going in to rest. They were in the middle of the Tea Siposium when we got the "Tea Addict" badge. When the dueling started, Travis and I both won our matches against our opponents. In the next round, we faced each other. I let him win, of course. He then beat out Steampunk Boba Fett and then faced the Prussian, whom was victorious in the end.

The day ended with the Ball. First, Professor Elemental opened with a rap, engaging the crowd and even coming up to our table and stroking Travis's beard while saying, "I almost love you platonically". The first act was a wonderful belly dance performance, followed by a magic act, and ending with a concert.

Stay tuned for Saturday and Sunday!