On the road again: DragonCon, Atlanta, day 0

After a little over four hours of sleep, I forced myself out of bed, showered, and began the car trip to Atlanta.  I didn't have to drive for most of it--I was behind the wheel only the last hour and a half--so I was able to doze fitfully in the car.  The rest helped.

For lunch we stopped at Tony's Ice Cream Co. in Gastonia, a place that Sharon, a friend and colleague, had told me about.  I'm going to write a separate entry on it after the trip, but suffice to say for now that I'm really glad Sharon pointed out the place to me.  If you want good, not fancy, cheap food and ice cream, and if you find yourself anywhere near there, don't miss Tony's.  

After settling into the hotel, doing a little work, and napping, I headed out for dinner at an Atlanta favorite of mine, Chef Kevin Gillespie's Gunshow.  I've mentioned this place in previous blog entries (and will do so again soon, because I'm heading back there Friday night), so I won't go into too much detail on it.  The basic premise is one I've not seen elsewhere:  the chefs who cook the many dishes on the menu come to the tables, present the food they just prepared, tell you about it, and see if you'd like to order it.  If you do, they put a tally mark next to the item on the menu.  If you don't want it, they mark off that item.

Click an image to see a larger version.

We sampled quite a lot of the menu, and every dish was at least good.  None blew me away, though the duck confit was probably the closest.

The lone dessert we shared was the best I've yet had there, a take on rocky road.

The marshmallow layer was thick, smoky, and easily the best marshmallow I've ever tasted.  The burnt caramel foam on top played perfectly with the marshmallow.  All in all, it was an exceptional dish. 

As before, I highly recommend Gunshow.  

After dinner, as has become a DragonCon tradition for me, I took a walk through the Hyatt and the Marriott for some people watching.  Because the con does not officially start until late tomorrow afternoon, both lobbies were relatively empty.  

Relatively.  

The Hyatt, for example, featured two remote-controlled droids,

and at the bar plenty of people were getting their drink on.

Over at the Marriott, which connects to the Hyatt via a human habitrail, the main atrium was empty by con standards but hopping by most other measures.  

Tomorrow afternoon, the con starts in earnest.