Gen Con was last weekend! So why am I just writing about it now? Because I couldn’t be bothered. When you have lukewarm takes like these, sometimes you just aren’t that interested in vomiting them forth for approximately zero people to read.
Anyway, this will be a series of posts (approximately three) about Gen Con 2026 – the travel, the events, the shenanigans, etc. This one will mainly cover the travel.
Travel to Gen Con is boring. At least, it’s boring when you drive from the Midatlantic, because you just get on Interstate 70 and then nothing happens. (Depending on where you get on Interstate 70, you might go through Breezewood!) There were a few notable things, though (or notable lack of things for the first one):
Nobody’s transmission exploded! I mean, I’m sure somebody’s did, but it wasn’t mine or the one of anyone else I know. That meant that once I was actually on the road, it was smooth sailing. The only stop was near Ohio Valley Mall in Ohio for gas and food, and then to wonderful downtown Indianapolis.
Downtown Indianapolis is fine, but there is a lot of construction going on there at the moment. Specifically, the block in front of the Sheraton hotel is under construction, as well as various blocks nearby around the city. This meant that I could not put my car in front of the building to unload it, and also that it took roughly 20 minutes to circle around the block to pull into the parking garage because the streets are all one way and the garage is on the wrong side of the hotel to be able to pull in after stopping at the front door. (I did not park in the hotel’s garage, granted – they charge $55 per day for that and the convention affords better uses of money.)
But once the car was unloaded and stowed, I didn’t need to bother with it again until the end of the convention. It was safely indoors and above ground (which all became relevant on Saturday) and was waiting for me to load it back up and make the trip the other direction.
As for the hotel – the Indianapolis Sheraton is fine. I’ve now stayed there at least three times for Gen Con and while it’s farther from everything than I’d like, it’s near some good food and walking from there to the con helped me find Jack’s Donuts, which is quite good. (And water didn’t pour in to their downstairs conference rooms. Or at least, if it didn’t, I wasn’t aware of it. Water did pour in other places though – more on that later.)
I’ve said this before, but not on here – the drive from the east coast (and specifically the Midatlantic) to the Midwest has one big hurdle – the Appalachian Mountains. There are only so many routes across them. From Northern Virginia, you can drive up to Frederick, Maryland and get right on I-70, or you can drive out west on I-66, then pick up I-81 and take that up to I-70. You can either just take I-70, diverting up into Pennsylvania (to Breezewood!) then paying like $9 for the Turnpike, then a segment of the interstate that is specifically described as not up to interstate standards, and then getting into West Virginia and onward. On the other hand, you can divert from I-70 onto I-68, which is a straight shot right across Maryland, passing the future site of Noah’s Ark (that broke ground 50 years ago, but they’re gonna finish it!)… right up until it just sort of terminates in Morgantown, West Virginia. You can take US-40 to get from 68 to 70, climbing the mountains through Uniontown, or you can get on I-79 in Morgantown, spending a significant portion of time going north instead of west toward the destination.
Anyway, all that’s to say that the eastern end of the trip has a lot of hurdles. It’s a lot of slow going and not a lot of progress. It looks lovely, though. Going to Gen Con, that’s the beginning of the trip. You get some scenic views and crummy roads and a lot of up and down (I’m a little surprised my transmission hasn’t exploded, considering it’s already basically defective) but convention energy gets you going and you make it over the mountains and it’s a nice time. Going from Gen Con, however… ugh. You drive from Indiana, which is flat and boring, into and through Ohio, which is flat and boring, and then when you’re kind of tired and sort of almost home, then you have to deal with all the mountain bullshit.
So yeah, the trip to and from Gen Con was fine. And there’s a Buc-ee’s along the way now!
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