Pensacon is here, and this year we need it.

Two significant events have put our nerd life on hold. One, of course, has affected everyone – Covid. The second is Hurricane Ida. This week I was on the phone with insurance, trying to reach a fair settlement on the damage we have had. Not only did Ida affect our home, but it damaged our place of work as well. We are both teachers at the same school. Our building finally opened in mid-January which meant our school had to be housed at another school. While our hosts were great, it was a lot like cooking in someone else’s kitchen.

So we need a weekend at Pensacon and Pensacola.

Even with the roadblocks Pensacon has had themselves due to the pandemic, they still find a way to get great guests and put on a great con year in and year out. This year’s con features Richard Dreyfuss, Alex Winter, George Takei, Giancarlo Esposito, Joey Fatone, Lou Ferrigno, Michael Rooker, Samantha Mathis, Ryan Hurst, John Barrowman, and Nick Carter. If you only knew how much my wife loves the Backstreet Boys…

They also have plenty of guests from Star Wars, WWE, Supernatural, The Walking Dead, Doctor Who, and American Horror Story. Plus, they will have many voice actors, including Yakko and Wakko Warner (Rob Paulsen and Jess Harnell). Don’t miss Jim Cummings, who is the voice of Winnie the Pooh, but also so much more. Matt Lanter, who plays Anakin in The Clone Wars, is always a treat to meet. And while I love the actor cast in the live-action Uncharted, Nolan North will always be Nathan Drake to me.

Plus, there will be tons of great artists there. I’m not sure if I’m hoping Encanto art will be there because if they do, my little one will want them all.

Speaking of our little one, Pensacon is the weekend before her birthday. If you see us, make sure you tell her happy birthday.

Later today, we are going through the costume section of her closet to pick out her cosplays for Pensacon. She is such a people person. It will be amazing to watch her interact with everyone at the con. Our review of Pensacon will probably be mostly from her eyes. For fan convention vets like us, it makes conventions new.

The most significant impact Pensacon has had on me is reminding me of how great Pensacola is. Our family lives in Panama City Beach. It seems that all of our friends vacation in either Gulf Shores or Destin. Before Pensacon, Pensacola was a drive through town. Not anymore.

Each time we go, we discover new restaurants and new adventures. We need to get our National Parks passport book stamped to make a Sunday morning trip to Fort Pickens. We have a trip planned later in the year to make it to the National Naval Aviation Museum.

Plus, the entire downtown area of Pensacola becomes part of the con. While there are trolleys that take you to where you need to go, if it is a lovely day, we highly recommend walking and discovering some of the charms the city has to offer.

We can’t wait for the weekend, and we hope to see you there!

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