We went to the City Museum http://www.citymuseum.org/home.asp last night for the opening reception. Getting there involved about a 20 minute walk with a gaggle of librarian colleagues. There are only about 350 at this year's conference which is about half the number that came to Palm Springs last year.
The city museum is a strange and whimsical place though I have to say I was mostly focused on getting something to eat and drink. The food mostly comprised of nibbly bits (thank goodness for chicken on a skewer for my protein needs) and desserts which I mostly resisted. The museum is a converted shoe factory with a variety of strange and wonderful displays. Someone at breakfast said they'd been wondering on what it would have been like to work at the shoe factory and how difficult it must have been. That reminded me of the time my sister worked briefly at the shoe factory.
I met a few people who were fun to talk to and after a couple of hours we walked back together to the hotel, having been warned not to walk alone. I met a few more people this morning including a couple of first timers. Off to the plenary session now.
I love factories that get repurposed for other needs. In Alexandria VA I visited the Torpedo Factory which did indeed produce torpedoes once. Now it houses an eclectic collection of artisans, their workshops and outlets for the sale of their work. I purchased three beautiful hand-felted brooches but admired the rest of the beautiful work without making more purchases.
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