Bricks by the Bay

This weekend there was a Lego-builders convention at the Fremont Marriot Silicon Valley in Fremont CA, just 20 miles from Palo Alto. Today, from 10-4, the public was invited to see the created structures. http://www.bricksbythebay.com/

I bought Doug (child #3) countless Lego kits as he was growing up. I always worked with (as in "forced") him to build the structure as pictured on the box before free play with the Legos could begin. We built castles, islands, space ships, etc, but when left to play on his own, Doug chose the people and accessories - all the little stuff. Doug, at 25, still likes Legos and looks forward to buying them when his two boys get older. I had to go see what today's adult Lego enthusiasts had built and I had to take lots of pictures.

I arrived at 11 am and walked in the front door of the hotel. I saw the exhibit hall and began following the line of people to find the end. Through the lobby, down one hall, turn right, down another hall, left turn, down another hall,

out a door where it was cold and rainy, around a corner,

into the parking garage, up the ramp,

up the ramp to level 2. At last I was in line. 220 yards and a minimum 2-hour wait to get into the exhibit hall. I really didn't want to wait that long. I can't imagine how the upteen families with little children could wait this long. Meeting this man was the closest I got. He was very friendly, a member of the Bay Area Lego Users Group, and chatted with many people in line. Very cool nametag, also.

On the way back to my car, there were many families who'd also given up and were headed out. One grandfather told me that he'd told his grandson that if they didn't spend the $5/person entrance fee, then they could go to the toy store and BUY Legos instead. It worked, the grandson was happy. Others families weren't so lucky.