Anthro Northwest 2019


Getting cozy in the room.
Our favorite kid-friendly, porn-free, totally-not-furry convention was back for its third year from November 21st-24th. Back and, it could be argued, better than ever. ANW received a hotel upgrade this year, moving to the brand new and beautiful Hyatt Regency Seattle. I'd already had the joy of experiencing the Hyatt Regency when accompanying friends to SakuraCon and was excited to reunite with the massive guestroom TVs, the pricey hotel bar, and the sleek shiny new interior. Proggy and I chose to step it up a notch this year - why get a room for one night when we could get one for TWO nights? And so we did.

Arriving Friday night, we registered for the con and explored the new premises a bit. It was SO much more spacious than the previous hotel, but some things never change: the good ol’ DashCon ball pit remained intact, located in the main con space outside the Dealer’s Den.


Is a caption even necessary?
Our friends came to join us in our room that evening. Jae came and put a YouTube playlist full of random bullshit on our giant TV. Regg brought Dick's burgers. We laughed, ate and drank the night away, until it was down to just me, Proggy and Flowers hitting the town to find a fancy dinner. First we tried a very dimly lit upscale restaurant and bar, full to the brim with well-dressed patrons drinking and chatting. Servers continually walked past us, made eye contact, and ignored our presence, so eventually we decided they probably wouldn't give a table to riff-raff such as ourselves and left to seek out a different option.

We landed on another elegant, low-lit place, but this time, one where we felt much more welcome. We were seated swiftly. I ordered sparkling rose and an artisan cheese plate. Flowers had claimed he wasn't going to spend money....but he went for the New York strip. I had a bite, and it was outta this god damn world. He did not regret his decision, and Proggy and I were thrilled to have a friend with us who was equally enthusiastic about going out for a pricey evening meal.


At the whiskey bar.
Afterwards, it was time for slumber. Proggy and I returned to the room to find the last straggler from our gathering passed out on top of my dakimakura on one of the beds - totally dressed and ready to go, with his messenger bag on and everything. We chose not to disturb him. Before turning in for the night, I opted to take a bath in the room's luxuriously deep tub, drinking the Pocari Sweat I'd purchased at Uwajimaya earlier.

Saturday morning arrived to find Proggy still fast asleep long after I'd awoken, and the prospect of deciding where to get food on my own felt bizarrely overwhelming. Indecision kept me confined to the room until my housemate Barnaby came to say hi, his presence helping to awaken the slumbering otter. Barnaby and some other Olympia furries and I went to explore the Dealer’s Den, where I bought 2 Goldenwolf matted prints and nothing else. I became separated from the group after the Den closed early, but luckily I soon found Booper and Tabernak and spent time people-watching with them for awhile.

Eventually...Proggy finally appeared! And we hit the hotel bar for food and cocktails. I got a duck confit pizza which was rich as hell, but amazing. We briefly engaged in some gossip with others at the bar concerning homophobic behavior on the part of the ANW organizers.


The beautiful Kentucky Derby Woodford Reserve bottle.
4:00 PM was our time slot for the ANW 'Furry Friends Thanksgiving Feast.' Yes, it was a furry con event the likes of which I have never seen...every registered con attendee was invited to consume a catered Thanksgiving meal. I'm not gonna complain about free-ish food! We went through the line where I was served my mashed potatoes, turkey (2 thin slices), gravy (watery), and lemonade (uhh, where's the apple cider, people?) Oops, sorry to complain about free-ish food. No, let it be known I was quite “thankful” for the grub, which was eaten sitting at a long table in an auditorium of furries, with a musical performance being given on stage.

Afterwards we met with Flowers and hit another bar in the hotel, this time the 'whiskey bar.' We were joined by others including Jae and Wine. I enjoyed a Seahawks themed martini, and a good time was had by all. It was becoming apparent that there was almost no point in having registered for the convention, with the majority of our time being spent dining or drinking with friends instead of in the con space.


The lineup of pre-ban Lokos.
Our Saturday night gathering was planned for 8 PM. Back in the hotel room, Jae loaded up the YouTube playlist with videos to have playing on mute as background visuals, while I added songs to Proggy's party playlists. Barnaby and the other Oly furs chilled with us during the prep. Proggy had purchased the limited edition Kentucky Derby Woodford Reserve bottle. But this decadent beverage was not the star of the evening. No...that honor went to the four pre-ban (that is: caffeinated) Four Lokos that Jae had provided for the night. They were probably about 9 years old. They had been stored in the hotel safe, but were ready to be brought out and sipped by the apprehensive revelers.

So many friends and acquaintances alike stopped by that evening, and I felt on top of the world in the ensuing whirlwind of socializing and intoxication. The Four Lokos tasted musty. Fursuits filled our room, and filled my brain with serotonin. I watched a brake failure fetish video on the TV next to a lemur sniffing poppers.


Flowers as Cash.
A break was needed, though: with me in my partial suit, Jovian and I were off to check out the inflatables panel. It was a fun time, especially because the plain white prototype of the Phenod Toy husky inflatable I preordered was present at the event. Lounging on it in my head and paws allowed me a little taste of what giant inflatable dog ownership would feel like. After getting our fill of the squeaky stuff, we then headed for the dance, where we were greeted by a different sort of inflatable.

This year, ANW had introduced "Andy's Adventureland" - a collection of full-size bouncy houses situated in the same space as the dance. Jumping around inside a bounce house, in a huge dark room with rave lights and music, wearing a fursuit, drunk, was extremely disorienting in a good way. Franky, I had a blast. There was also a giant inflatable slide. Jov and I were both impressed and my respect for ANW was raised. While some might feel that the bouncy castle zone only contributes to ANW's condescendingly juvenile vibe...I would say...but it's fucking fun as fuck!


The party rages on.
Then, it was back to the socializing, where I continued to feel awesome and had plenty of attention lavished upon me by the guests, as the pre-ban Four Lokos fueled us through the night. Over time, things quieted down a bit, but I had a great time just chilling in bed talking with friends.

Of course, as the night wound down, I began to feel a bit stressed at the prospect of having to clean the room the next morning while hungover. But luckily Jae agreed to help out, and Soma placed a very professional-sounding phone call to the front desk to arrange late checkout for us - a task that felt impossible for me to perform in my drunken state. And soon...the last guests trickled out and it was bedtime.

The morning cleanup went perfectly fine, but my hangover only became worse as the hours went on. A group of us went to Shake Shack for grub, which sounded quite healing...but my stomach never calmed down. Attempts to ralph in the Shake Shack bathroom were completely unsuccessful, so I knew I was just going to be in for a day of severe discomfort. I soon hopped on the bus home, feeling entirely drained, and post-con depression of an unexpected intensity set in. Just goes to show that when ya have great friends by your side....even a furry con that refuses to brand itself as furry can be a wonderful, life-affirming time.



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