Hi Art,

I sent this to the list a few days ago, but if you missed it, others are
liable to have missed it too. So, just in case your (im)patience is
anything approaching Helmut's, here goes again:
>
> The 2001 Convention, A Shell Space Odyssey, of course,
> is planned for July 7-11 at the Radisson Resort at the Port, Cape
> Canaveral, FL. Hosted by the Astronaut Trail Shell Club and capably and
> imaginatively co-chaired by Doris Underwood and Bobbie Cordy, this will
> be a big one! Bobbie gave a super presentation of the plans to date that
> had everyone in the audience salivating! A bonus is that it will be
> turtle time...the sea turtles will be egg laying during convention and
> those who have watched the late night phenomenon say it is a never to be
> forgotten experience. (I've not seen them...always thought that if I
> were a turtle laying eggs, I'd not want to be doing it center stage or
> have cameras trained on my egg-laying apparatus! But then, who knows
> what I'd think if I were a turtle?)
>
> Those of you who had to stay home and sulk while we were in Houston
> should start making plans now to be there in 2001! We want you to be
> with us there for the biggest COA convention ever! Let's show them who
> big Conch-L really is! (Do you all know we have been hovering not far
> under 500 members for a while now? When everyone gets home and signed
> back on after Houston, we'll maybe top that!) So start saving your
> change in a jar! Get ready for your own 2001 Space Odyssey to Cape
> Canaveral. (Bobbie, is there a launch scheduled?)

However, I did not mention rates...I am looking at a brochure here,
obtained from the Melbourne convention committee in Houston: 1 kingsize
bed plus a fold out queen-size hide-a-bed (word has it they are nice
inner spring mattresses, not the usual beds of nails!) for 1-4 people
for $105; and suites with two kings and a queen size hide-a-bed for 1-4
people for $135. A floorplan shows these two-room suites (not
two-bedroom...they are more expensive, I'm told)as spacious and lovely.
I have no floorplan of the $105 rooms. Judging by the brochure, there
are: ceiling fans, biggie tv's, walk-in showers, hair dryers, iron and
ironing board, 2 phone-lines and cordless phones, dataports, etc.
etc.... and in-room whirlpools in the $135 suite. Larger suites are
available but there are no convention rates on them. Write Doris or
Bobbie for details. Or wait to hear from them that I told you all
wrong!!!

Also, we will have a lot of links up on the website when we get it
together in the fall, stuff to see and do. Or you can go chase around on
the web for the Canaveral/Melbourne/Orlando area and check it out right
away. (Do our research for us and report your findings!)

I did hear Bobbie explain to someone in Houston last week that one would
want to fly into Orlando and take a cab (or was it shuttle?) to
Canaveral because flights into Melbourne area are quite pricey! And the
cab (or it probably WAS shuttle) was only about $15. I am sure we'll
hear more.

I do know that Orlando has about everything there is to do EXCEPT
beachcomb, or snorkel or dive for marine shells. And theatrical?  Disney
and Paramount and Epcot and more in the Orlando area, even SeaWorld if
she likes bad acting for raw fish by large finny critters! And I know
there are dinner theaters and mystery theaters, and I noted a few
theater websites myself on a quick search foray:

Enzian Theater:

<http://www.enzian.org/>

Mark Two Dinner Theater at:

<http://www.TheMarktwo.com/>

and Boca Raton/Boynton Beach's Mystery Dinner Theater at:

<http://www.dinnertheaterflorida.com/>

I think there was a great field trip to the Mystery Theater several
years ago at the Orlando/Walt Disney World  Convention.

Anyway, get her involved in the plans! She'll find plenty to get into!
This is Florida, after all!

Lynn Scheu
Louisville, KY


Art Weil wrote:
>
> Dear people who are hosting the next COA;-
>         I know that if I wait patiently, all will be revieled in a
> forthcoming American Concologist. But patient is not one of my middle
> names.
>         I really want to know: 1. the dates of the 2001 convention.
>                                             2. what hotel? what rates?
>
>                                             3. any other good stuff
> you may have arranged. I'm bringing my designated wife. She dont do
> shells. She do shows---the theatrical kind.
>         Art
> PS: by the by; I now have a digital camera (kids on Fathers day). It
> is a WOW!!
>     Advice appreciated.
>             Art