BCinDC & the 2011 Convention

BCinDC held its annual holiday party at authorauthor’s house in Alexandria, VA on December 5. More delicious food than anyone could eat was on hand, lively conversation was had, and our traditional game was played. We had a box literally overflowing with books we had all brought that were wrapped and had the first lines taped to the front. Mdm139 read out the lines and the first person to speak up got to open that book. We had a book buffet as well, so any opened books that had already been read or didn’t interest the opener ended up there. As always it was lots of fun. The word “mistakes” kept popping up in first lines and sometimes we thought we knew what book it was, only to find out it was something completely different. The Shadow of the Wind‘s first line about the Cemetery of Forgotten Books made one of our members immediately think of the Book Thing!

BookCrossers in attendance were: authorauthor, FURBALL, Ixion, KateKintail,mdm139, nat4lee, ResQgeek, Rock-Solid, SqueakyChu, T-Train, and tiatia.

This post is part 6 of our Wednesday Adventure Series. Each week we will highlight something different in the Washington, D.C., Metro Area, many of which will be options for part of your own BookCrossing Journey. With so many things to see and do, how will you choose?

Special Deals! – We will now be offering special deals — anything from getting entered into a drawing for a special item to earning extra raffle tickets. Check now for the current deals and take advantage of them quickly because they will only be available for a short time.

Union Station is one of the busiest places in Washington, D.C. You can find people coming and going from the Metro, Amtrak, MARC, and VRE as well as people sightseeing, shopping, working, and viewing a bit of history that dates back to its opening in 1907.

The red line Metro station area of Union Station looks like any other platform in the Metro system, with the same architecture and features. But you only need to leave the station area to be awestruck by the grandeur of Union Station itself. The Main Hall has an impressive design with great arched ceilings, beautiful artwork, and sculptures. Don’t forget to go outside and look at the front, with its grand facade that sits in an intersection designed by Pierre L’Enfant, who also designed the city plan of Washington. If you are interested in historic buildings you will be delighted to know that Union Station is on the National Register of Historic Places. Statues and plaques inside and out – including a large sculpture of Christopher Columbus out front – may captivate others, especially the Markeroni.com members among us. (A list of nearby historical markers will be provided upon request.)

If you are looking for something to do near Union Station, we have a couple of suggestions for you. You can take advantage of the shopping within Union Station (there is a Barnes & Noble and a Fantom Comics for the book-lovers among us) and several places to purchase souvenirs, postcards, and other touristy items. If you have a bit of extra time you only have to cross 1st Street to the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum(free admission) where one highlight is sending a postcard from their own metering machine. (Bring small change with you for the stamp.)

Union Station is not only a wonderful place to visit, but its central location has made it the site of a few BCinDC meetings. The food court and numerous other small restaurants are great places to sit and chat for a while enjoying the company of BookCrossers. The only downside is a few security officers who do not understand BookCrossing have asked us not to advertise the free books in any way. It is also to be noted that the cleaning staff is diligent and wild released books may end up in the trash.

Union Station will be the starting point for our Extreme Early Bird activity on Thursday, which you can register for now. After getting something to eat on your own in the food court at 5:00 PM, we will meet in the Main Hall at 6:45 PM to board our tour bus just outside the front doors. From there, we will take a moonlit tour of the Washington, D.C., monuments.

On Sunday, November 21 at 11:00am BCinDC BookCrossers met up with Pennsylvania BookCrossers fro ABXC at the Book Thing of Baltimore, Inc. After helping themselves to books, the BookCrossers headed to lunch at 1:00 at KosherBite to enjoy great food, talk about books, and exchange more books.

Attendees were: authorauthor (plus 2), flut3girl, H2OMelons, MaryZee, lghtheart4, mdm139, NancyNova, prettypoodle, Rock-Solid, SqueakyChu, T-Train.

The Early Bird Rate expires as the clock ticks over into the new year! We are on Eastern Standard Time here in D.C. and so that is when the change will become effective.

If you would like to qualify for the lower $150 rate you must do 2 things:

One: your registration form must be filled out and submitted BEFORE the clock strikes midnight on December 31, 2010 EST. (That’s when the ball falls in Times Square.)

Two: you must submit payment within 3 business days. That means that your PayPal transaction must be submitted or your check postmarked by Wednesday, January 5, 2011. If you cannot make this deadline then please send the regular convention fee amount of $175.

There are some special deals available now on the website. In order to qualify you must submit your PayPal payment or postmark your check within 3 business days of submitting your registration form. Don’t get disqualified from some great deals by procrastinating on sending in the payment.

(Please note: if you submitted your forms prior to December 1 and you have already paid, you will be grandfathered in and are qualified for promotions regardless of the length of time it took you to pay).

What are you waiting for? We want to see YOU at the convention in April, so register today!