Weekend Wrap Up! (CrimeCon: Day One!)

What a weekend!

I spend Fri-Sun at CRIMECON in Indianapolis!

Here's Day One of my crime filled weekend....

I thought I would break this up into two posts but I have so much to say that it's going to turn into three posts!

My wonderful parents picked my up at 4:30am and dropped me off at BWI (Baltimore airport), which is about an hour and a half from my house... but about 2.5 hours from their house. They are parents of the year! 

My anxiety was THROUGH THE ROOF! As soon as the airport was in sight and I saw the jumbo sized Southwestern planes, I got tears in my eyes. HOW THE HELL DOES THAT BIG THING STAY IN THE SKY? No amount of Ativan can make me not afraid of crashing.

I arrived at the airport at 6:09 and was at my gate by 6:27. It was very quick! So I had tons of time to freak out and decide when to take my 1mg of Ativan. I even got a little homesick. I wished Paul was with me.

I was sad to be missing all the Pride marches that weekend, so I was sure to show

my support by wearing my equality necklace.

When waiting for a flight, I always try to scope out the pilots. I hope they are about 45-60 years old, trim, clean cut, with grey hair. I didn't see my exact pilots, but when I went to the bathroom, I saw a pilot that fit my preferred pilot description and just pretended that was who would be flying my plane.

Luckily, my flight was uneventful. There wasn't any turbulence. I scored a seat right on the aisle behind the emergency exits. I was pretty happy about that. I tried to zone out and listen to a podcast but I didn't really hear any of it due to the Ativan. 

We made it to Indianapolis in just under 90 minutes. Somehow, in my Ativan haze, I got my butt on the Indy Go Green Shuttle which took me from the airport to the JW Marriott in downtown Indianapolis.

The hotel was HUGE. It was like it's own little city. This was probably the nicest hotel I have ever stayed at.

The CrimeCon welcome/kickoff was at 12:30. Claire and I headed down a couple minutes early so we could sign in, get our badges, and just wander around a little bit. 

Before the welcome even started, we were able to find a crime scene!

Retired FBI profiler, Jim Clemente (my dude!) kicked off CrimeCon in the Grand Ballroom. There were lights, music, and video. The crowd was really hype!

A note about the attendees: They were all different ages, anywhere from 20-70! I did see a *couple* tweens with parents. There was definitely more women than men, but if you did not know that this was a crime convention, you would not look at the crowd and know what they all had in common, if that makes sense?

The first session we went to was called CSI Indianapolis. There was a fake crime scene set up on the stage and there were real CSIs processing the scene, just like they would if it were real life. They took pictures, dusted for finger prints, the works. We were allowed to as questions at any time. This session was interesting but I feel like it could have been more informative, however, I'm not sure how.

Then we went to an Escape Room called 29 minutes to live. Apparently, there was a bomb locked away in the room and we had to disable it. First we had to find it, which required us to figure out the codes to unlock a bunch of containers. I thought the Escape Room was fun, but Claire assured me that "real" Escape Rooms are a lot better. This one was just what they were able to set up in a small hotel conference room.

Next, we went to a live taping of a podcast we like called Thinking Sideways. You are going to think I'm crazy, but all I remember about the case they talked about was that it had to do with two fires and whether a man named Richard died in the first fire or the second fire. The podcast is not on iTunes yet so I can't look it up. I blame my terrible memory on the Ativan! Maybe there are some true crime enthusiasts reading this that know exactly what case I am talking about and can shed some light on it for me!

Next, Jim Clemente (my dude!) spoke in the Grand Ballroom. He talked about his life and his experiences in the FBI. I was surprised at how funny he was! Jim is also a writer for the TV show Criminal Minds, which I have actually never watched. I do not watch the fictional criminal shows. I prefer the ones that document real cases. But maybe I should check out his show...

Next, I went to a meet and greet with Jim Clemente while Claire stayed in the Grand Ballroom to listen to Aphrodite Jones talk about the Scott Peterson case. I didn't want to miss that, so as soon as I met Jim, I went right back over to hear Aphrodite talk.

Jim Clemente is one of the investigators that reexamined the JonBenet case and made the CBS special called The Case of: JonBenet Ramsey. His is the best documentary I ever saw on the case. You can watch part one here and part two here, but they do cost money. You may be able to find them somewhere cheaper or even free if you look longer than I did!

This is how our conversation went:

Me: I am really obsessed with the JonBenet case.

Jim: I am really obsessed too.

Me: My goal is to solve the case this summer, but I think you already did that!

Jim: I think we did too!

I was riding high after meeting Jim. I slipped into the Grand Ballroom and found Claire so I could listen to the rest of Aphrodite Jones talk about Scott Peterson. I actually didn't like her. All she talked about was what a horrible person Scott was. WE ALREADY KNOW HE'S HORRIBLE. I wanted to know details about the case or investigative/trial strategy. We got none of that.

I forget what session Claire went to after that, but I went to a live taping of a podcast called Real Crime Profile. One of the hosts is none other than Jim Clemente! His co-hosts were Laura Richards, who used to work for the New Scotland Yard, and Lisa Zambetti, who is a casting director for Criminal Minds. Joining them was James Fitzgerald, a forensic linguist who helped identify the Unabomber and helped profile the Beltway Snipers.

James Fitzgerald

I'm a big fan of his and told him so after the podcast!

He wasn't very talkative or friendly so I left him alone. I'm still a fan!

I was really tired by this point, but when I met Claire up in our room, she had drinks poured for us. I enjoyed 1.5 (small) glasses of wine as we had girl talk and got ready for dinner. She made reservations for 8pm at St. Elmo Steakhouse. We took an Uber even though it wasn't that far away. This was my first ride in an Uber!

I ordered a dirty martini, which was DIVINE, even though I only had one sip of it. I also had lobster bisque and yellowtail tuna. Unfortunately, after the sip of the dirty martini, I was suddenly TRASHED. I mean, I could talk and my eyes were open, I was just really really really drunk. WTF? I didn't even have two glasses of wine (over the course of about 1.5 hours) and one sip of the cocktail. We figured out it was probably the Ativan. Even though I had taken it OVER 12 HOURS EARLIER, I should have probably only had one glass of wine, if that.

We sat and chatted for awhile after our dinner. This trip was the first time I really got to know Claire, which I am happy about because she is a funny, smart, and a very interesting person. I keep calling her my cousin, but she is actually married to my cousin and they have always lived in different states than us. That is why I never had a lot of time to sit down and get to know her well.

When we got back to our room, it was a lot more girl talk and then finally lights out. We were exhausted, and it was only Day One of CrimCon

Look for Day Two of CrimeCon tomorrow!

Do you think it was the Ativan even though I had taken it over 12 hours earlier?

If you could see a live taping of any podcast, which would you choose?

What was the nicest hotel you ever stayed at?