Well, I’m back in Frisco, and though it was great overall, my trip did not go exactly as planned. Right before I left for TLA in San Antonio two Wednesdays ago, I came down with a horrible head cold that rendered me weak, tired, and unable to breath through my nose until just a few days ago. My flight to Philadelphia to visit my family and friends on Friday evening was canceled [after I had already paid $20 for a shuttle and checked in at the airport!]. I finally got there, only to end up food poisoned after lunch with a friend the day before my flight back to Texas. I went back to work on Friday, after calling out on Thursday to recover some, but then I had a relapse and am still feeling lousy and nauseas.
Still, I had a great time on my little vacay. Some highlights from San Antonio:
1. Driving for 6 hours with my coworkers (three “librarimen,” as I recently decided male librarians should be called.) They are smart, kind, and hilariously funny, and were tolerant of my 3 volume music mix entitled Librarians on the Road. Being stuck in a car was never so much fun!
2. Staying in the Sheraton Gunter Hotel, a glamorous yet creepy inn [think, The Shining] built in 1909. The place has supposedly been haunted since the 60’s when a woman was brutally murdered in room 636. My roommate and I stayed in room 631, and though neither of us ran into any spirits or witnessed any eerie presences, I wouldn’t doubt that the place was haunted. Read the ghostly story here.
3. Seeing the Alamo. I was obsessed with Davy Crockett as a kid and loved to read and watch movies about him and his cronies at the Alamo. Actually being there was unreal! Here is a picture I took of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library, part of the Alamo complex:
4. Exploring the gorgeous, bustling River Walk. I pretended I was strolling the streets of Venice, which was easy to do since I have never been to Venice.
5. Hearing Joe Hayes, author of Ghost Fever: Mal de Fantasma, tell us a ghost story at the Texas Blue Bonnet Award Luncheon. I loved his hypnotic voice and the way his words rolled from his native English to Spanish and back.
Coming back to work and 94 emails this Friday was just a bit harrowing. Hopefully I’ll start being able to digest food properly so I can function at full-librarian-throttle this week.
another kick butt librarian 
Adrienne said
“Librarimen” — love it! 🙂
Your hotel story also reminds me of 1408, another Stephen King story about a haunted hotel, due in theaters this July. I’m looking forward to that one.
Stephanie said
Oooh, I’ll have to check it out. Sounds cool! The hotel also reminded me and my librariman friend of “Barton Fink,” by the Cohen brothers.