Salute to Supernatural – Hawaii #Paradise

So, funny story…

I attended my first Supernatural convention in Chicago in 2014, with my husband. At some point, I suggested to him that we take a vacation to Vegas; he enthusiastically agreed… and then I told him there’s a convention in Vegas, to which he replied, “of course there is.” Sometime later, I suggested we take a vacation to Vancouver, and he was very excited about that… and then I told him there’s a convention in Vancouver, to which he replied, “of course there is.”

Hubs then said, “I just really hope they take this convention to Hawaii because obviously that’s the only way I’m ever gonna get there.”

Well, well, well, my sweet hubs, Hawaii it is.

The Salute to Supernatural Convention in Hawaii marked a few milestones for me. It was my 10th convention. It was my birthday. But more than that, it also served as the destination for my second honeymoon as I celebrated 25 years of mostly wedded bliss with my hubs. (Let’s be real, marriage is hard work, it ain’t all chocolate and roses all the time, so when I say mostly wedded bliss, I mean like 99.43% wedded bliss, okay).

Once again, I was not disappointed. Creation Entertainment truly put on a wonderful weekend. The lines moved quickly. Questions were answered with smiles. I am so very impressed by the continued enthusiasm these team members show, even on Sunday evening, even after working crazy-long hours. If you have the chance to attend one of these cons, please make the time to thank these people for making your experience the wonderful thing that it is.

The Hilton Waikiki Resort was massive. I think there were six hotel towers, three pools, countless shops and eateries, and oh yeah – there was a beautiful beach, with the softest sand my toes had ever felt. The water really is that decadent bluish green just like you see on TV. And yes, the water is also crystal clear. And slightly warm, the kind of warm that feels a bit cold for like half a minute but then you remember that you’re in the water in Hawaii so who even cares if it’s a bit chilly because HAWAII.

And the sunrise. I mean, seriously. Yes, hubs and I got up at dark:thirty to watch the sunrise, and it was glorious and breathtaking and spectacular and how is this my life.

I’ll be honest… it was a wee bit hard to pull myself away from the beach to go into panels. But then I remembered how many friends were at this con (so many!) and then I thought about seeing my favs again, listening to their stories and their jokes and their thoughts and opinions and advice, and holy seashells Batman, the convention is starting and I. Can’t. Wait.

I don’t know what happened to the Rules and Regulations speech from Richard Speight Jr. Tbh, I kinda miss his always hilarious attempt to tell us the rules. However, seeing Richard and Rob bound onto the stage, pretending to surf, as the boys from Louden Swain played the theme from Hawaii Five-O… oh yeah, even better than the Rules and regulations speech.

Rather than getting into a lot of details about panels, let’s just jump right to pretty pictures, and I’ll add captions as needed, okay? Okay.

The first panel on Friday featured Gil McKinney, wearing his Borjaloha tshirt and shorts. And yes, at one point, Gil did share his hidden talent with us… he can roll his stomach, something I found kinda gross and disturbing and hot all at the same time.

Side note:
On this Friday, this very day, my hubs checked off an item on his bucket list. He woke up at 4:30 that morning, ate a bit of cereal, and then headed over to the shuttle pick-up point. That shuttle took him to North Shore, to a small boat. Hubs boarded that boat around 7:00 am, and they headed out to the open sea… several miles out into that open sea… with 10 foot swells along the way. Having reached their destination, the crew then began to lower the cage into the sea. And then my hubs, whom I have loved for more than half of my life, climbed into that cage and the crew lowered him into those crystal clear, amazingly blue waters. With Sharks. Sharks. SHAAAAAAARKS. About eight of them, some as big as 12 feet long! Hubs stayed in the cage for about 20 minutes, filming the whole experience.

No, no. I did not go. Listen, there ain’t a boat big enough. Because sharks. I’m just sayin.

Anyway, so he returned from his bucket-list journey later that morning, showered and changed, and then we headed over to the convention. After Gil’s panel ended, hubs and I had a photo op with Kim and Briana. When that finished, hubs was ready for some lunch and we wanted to look at his footage from his shark adventure. So we did not attend Jason Mann’s panel. I am 100% sure that Jason’s panel was awesome, and I am sad to have missed it. But on this day, I needed to be with my hubs, to listen to his incredible experience, to share in his joy. So please forgive me for not having any pics of Jason’s panel to share with you.

Hubs and I returned to the convention for the final panel on Friday, with Kim Rhodes and Briana Buckmaster. The ladies were honest and open and inspiring and awesome. There was talk of Wayward, and parenting, and tattoos. And once again, I left the panel truly conflicted… do I want Briana’s hair, or Kim’s?

Saturday panels began with Rob, Richard, and Matt. Well, sort of. Matt wasn’t there at the beginning of the panel. But no worries! The comedic genius duo of Rob & Rich carried on without Matt, even doing the Matt-jumps-off-the-chair without Matt. They began to take questions, and within a few minutes, Matt joined them on stage. I have never laughed so much, so hard, at a panel. I was literally crying with laughter. The innuendo, the one liners, all of it was just absolute hilarity. R2M has become one of my favorite panels, and they did not disappoint.

The next panel featured Kim, Briana, Ruth, Gil, and Osric. I missed most of their panel because I was doing photo ops with Rich, Rob & Matt. Although I missed it, hubs stayed in the theater and did his best to take some pictures. He did get a few of Osric, but he did not get, well, any, of Gil. His pics of Kim turned out okay, and his best shots were of Ruth. But his shots of Briana? Well, I think it’s kind of like me trying to photograph Jensen… I just get so distracted by him, and I frequently lose focus. Most of hubs’ pics of Briana are out of focus.  LOL  Methinks hubs has a wee bit of a crush. Let’s be real, folks, is there a better crush? I think not.

Mark Sheppard’s panel was next. For me, this was the last time I will see him at a (Supernatural) convention. I was more than a little sad. Mark looked great, full of smiles, a little less snark. He even answered some questions. And at one point, he talked about fandom, something I have heard him say at several previous conventions, and man, that never gets old. He is so passionate and so sincere when he talks about fandom and being a fan. Truly one of the most inspiring things I’ve heard at a convention. So, thank you, Mark, for saying it again at this con. Thank you for reminding us that it is Okay to be a fan, okay to be a passionate fan. Thank you for everything you brought to Crowley, and to the show, and to these cons, and to the Saturday night concerts. Thank you, Mark, for everything. I already miss Crowley, and I will miss you at these cons.

Misha’s panel was much more subdued than normal, in part because his mother-in-law was sitting in the audience. So Misha was on his best behavior, and shout out to the question askers and to those of us in the audience – everyone respected Misha’s desire to be on his best behavior. Good behavior, bad behavior, naughty behavior… heck, let’s be honest, I don’t even care what Misha does in his panel because MISHA. Honestly, I’d really love to have him over for dinner, to listen to his stories and his ideas and really listen to his desire to save the world, one small piece at a time.

The luau and the Saturday Night Special started soon after Misha’s panel ended, so Rob and the band were somewhere preparing for that event. Richard was left to close out Saturday’s panel by himself, and he did fandamntastic!

 

Additional coverage of this epic con in Hawaii coming soon,
-Kim.
@MamaPrior
just a mom with a camera.