Flight to 221B Con 2026 and Waffle House Time

 Typically, at this time of year, I start writing about the road to the great Sherlock Holmes convention of the last decade, 221B Con in Atlanta. It's a twelve hour drive from Peoria that I typically split into a couple days, but this year . . . this year . . . well, direct flight, anyone?

Flying from a little regional airport into ATL is quite a transition, but for the hour and fifteen minute flight time, descending into the massive rivers of humanity at a Delta hub is not all that bad. The airport shuttles weren't hard to find and very regular and often to the Best Road Marriott. I was safely ensconced in the familiar confines before mid-afternoon after a leisurely morning.

Wandering the hotel a full 24 hours before the actual start of the Canon is always a smorgasbord of encounters. I helped unload TARDIS parts from a trailer, had appetizers with some prominent Sherlockian publishers, got dragged to an imaginary Italian restaurant by a notable Texas Sherlockian, returned to the hotel for some podcasting, then some miso soup and blackberry cobbler in the hotel bar with a world-travelling Sherlockian. 

Eventually, you have to go to bed, and if one wakes up in time and the leader of the 221st Northumberland Waffleers has assigned a time for a Waffle House breakfast, there is an All-Star Special in one's future.

And this time, Friday morning holds one more special Waffle House treat -- a reservations-only tour of the one and only Waffle House museum at the site of the first Waffle House in Avondale.

It's important to note: There is no food served at the Waffle House Museum, even though it is, truly, a Waffle House. 

The Belanger Brothers at the Waffle House Museum

It's a reproduction of the first Waffle House restaurant at the site of the first Waffle House restaurant, the building of which was sold at some point and served as a few other things, including a Chinese restaurant, before being bought by Waffle House to make it their museum.

Tours of the museum have to be arranged, and our guide was the Waffle House archivist and museum curator, Julia Buschman, who told the Waffle House story, answered questions, and scored our scavenger hunt papers after we perused the other side of the museum.

There was even a working jukebox featuring Waffle House related songs.

And, if you successfully completed the scavenger hunt, one of the prizes you could pick was a 45 record of one of the Waffle House songs. 

How could things get any better on such a day? Did someone say "comic book store restaurant/bar?"

"My Parents' Basement"

Lunch at any place subtitled "Your Friendly Neighborhood Comic Book Bar," sitting on its open air patio on a sunny day, is a lovely follow-up to the Waffle House Museum, and when we finally made it back to the hotel for the con to begin, we'd had a pretty great day already.

And 221B Con was yet to come.

The Napoleon Bust of Crime

 And now for something completely different . . .

Saturday Later Dayton 2026

 Okay, I'll admit it. I had to take a nap.

Stayed up too late, got up too early, not really a napper, but sometimes, ya just gotta recharge. As a result I missed George Skornickel's "Every Poster Tells a Story." Ed Petit from the video podcast Sherlock Monthly had started his presentation when I rolled downstairs again, even though I'd set an alarm for myself.

Ed spoke about how his job at the Rosenbach collection in Philadelphia evolved, under the title "Sherlock Monthly: Smoking, Drinking, and Talking My Way Through the Canon." Having found Ed outside the hotel front door with a few others smoking cigars last night, the love of smoking he speaks of during his talk is already well evidenced this weekend. Smoking a pipe and drinking during his podcasts has become a habit, and he's made sure he had a drink in hand for his talk. Mary Alcaro, his show's mixologist, was on the program but unable to attend, and, if I remember right, was the designer of "the Great Mogul" that's being served at the bar this weekend. Her Sherlock Holmes story based recipes get a little bit of celebration. 

Cocktail hour, quite appropriately, followed. Folks change clothes, some dressed up, some dressed down, no real pattern. Many Great Moguls were ordered and visible amongst the crowd in the bar. And then we all headed in for the dinner banquet. Toasts (all of a reasonable length and not whole presentations looking for a timeslot, as sometimes happens) were proposed and cheered, the most memorable of which was to the orangutan from "Speckled Band," a character whom I don't remember getting such attention in decades of Sherlockian presentations and toasting, with a notable orangutan impression supporting the toast from the crowd. Dinner was a buffet with all the meats (and salmon) which was very nice. I was lucky enough to sit at the speaker's table which got to go first. Both the cost and added benefit, however, was sitting at a table of very smart and learned folks where you occasionally think, "Man, I'm the dumbest person at this table!" (which is definitely good at keeping the old ego in check).

The after-dinner speaker, and reason for our choice place in the buffet line was the never-boring Erika Dowell, speaking up "The BSI Archive: From Every Point of View." The archive, held at Indiana University's Lilly Library and its storage facilities, is a key resource for anyone studying the history of Sherlock Holmes fan culture in the United States, not just the Baker Street Irregulars, and Erika gave us a sense of the unexpected connections that can be made delving into the documents, photos, manuscripts, letters, etc.  It was a great talk for a nice after dinner treat, and Kyndall ended the evening program with a few remarks before the crowd headed their different directions.

At the previous hotel, the little bar would have karaoke until the DJ got sick of us, and there was a valiant attempt by the organizers to have some late-evening karaoke that just didn't catch on for a few different reasons, so we didn't even get Ira doing "Baker Street," or even an attempt at the theme from Young Sherlock, which seems like an excellent karaoke choice. (221B Con is much more karaoke friendly, so we still have that to look forward to.)

A few of us played Mystery Fluxx while the first episode of BBC Sherlock played on the big screens, which was a nice post-event wind-down. By the end of the episode, we were just watching the show, which was made a nice circle back to the initial talk of the morning. 

After that, we talked about the conference in general, and how much the new hotel improved things. The issues that did come up were mere fine tuning compared to the issues of the previous hotel, and overall it was deemed a successful weekend. Dayton will surely continue as a destination for Sherlockian spring doings.

With that, I will apologize for any errors, or photos that might not portray the true handsomeness of our day's speakers of either gender and call it a weekend. Safe travels to all, wherever you roam this Sunday.

Saturday Midday in Dayton 2026

 Breaks never seem quite long enough at Sherlockian conferences, and sometimes conversations just want to keep going. They went from fifteen minutes to thirty this year, and I have to admit I was listening to someone else and not the introduction to our next speaker when Bob Bernier was introduced, and I am pretty sure I was far from the only one.

Bob's talk, "Transporting Sherlock Holmes," covered all those modes of transportation in Holmes's day -- rail bicycle, horse-dawn cab. 

Ann Margaret Lewis came next, kindly taking a vote on how we wished her to say the name "Irene" as she spoke on "Irene Adler: The Life of a 19th Century Opera Diva." (Inspector Lestrade was a little more forceful in telling us how to pronounce his name in that early talk today.) Ann walks us through the probable training and career path as a successful opera singers of that day. Europe, patronage, American opera houses both small and large, and, of course, La Scala. Toward the end we get to hear the full presentation of the piece Irene is heard to sing briefly in the Granada adaptation of "A Scandal in Bohemia." Timothy Chalamet's recent comments come to mind, if one is up on the Timothy Chalamet gossip.

Hotel box lunches follow, with some more conversation, some more spending at the dealer's tables, and at 1:45 we're back in our seats for the learned remarks of Bob Katz.

Bob's talk "Don't Drink The Water" is about the importance of Watson's enteric fever (a.k.a. typhoid), mentioned in A Study in Scarlet from before he met Sherlock Holmes to the rest of the Canon, from Watson's perspective, Conan Doyle's perspective, and a personal perspective. Bob Katz is the only person who could have given us the talk he gave today -- the unique sort of presentation we come to these weekends for. (Besides all the wonderful chance to socialize and see our friends.)

Our next speaker is a longtime Dayton attendee and a first time speaker. Mark Curtis is quick to point out that he's the first Amish speaker we've ever had at this conference, with an opening survey of the audience that points out his gaslit lifestyle is "always 1895." The talk itself "Was Holmes Unfair to Watson's Brother?" focuses on that pocket watch with which Holmes deduced much of Watson's "unhappy brother." Mark is a collector of pocket watches and very knowledgeable on the topic, and again a little personal experience and a little humor add a lot to a talk. Numbers scratched into the back of the watch, scratches near the key hole -- both of these can have innocent explanations, yet Watson's brother gets disparaged.

Time for another break! More to come.

Saturday Morning in Dayton 2026

 If you get up early enough, if you're not otherwise encumbered with Sherlockian conference duties, and if you hit the hotel lobby at the right time, there are always the 221st Southumberland Waffleers, the society of Sherlockian Waffle House fans. 

Steve Mason typically drafts this volunteer patrol to gather intelligence of local Waffle House breakfasts at the site of Sherlockian events, though there are many others. And among these stalwarts are always a standout hero or two, one of whom is Erica [Full Name Withheld for HIPAA Considerations -- Her Waffle House order is practically a medical condition.]

Ever seen someone eat hash browns with every possible topping? Waffleers have.

Back at the hotel, registration was soon starting at 8:30 and the dealer's tables were open. The BSI and Wessex presses always have their new wares at Dayton if you missed them in New York in January, and there art pieces of art, an array of old books, and even a few baked goods available.

Kyndall Potts, the general manager of the symposium, starts of the program with an intro and the general business of the day. Regina Stinson then gave a short tribute to the late Jacquelynn Morris, whom Regina met online in an AOL chatroom, then first met in person at the Dayton conference in the late nineties. I first met both Jacquelynn and Regina here back then, at which point they introduced me to sushi, a food that was not nearly so omnipresent around the year 2000.

The Susan Diamond Award, usually presented in New York, wound up being presented here as Ann Andriacco recognized Carolyn Senter's contributions to the Beacon Society.

The first talk of the day brought Kyndall back to the podium to provide a wonderfully comprehensive talk entitled "BBC's Sherlock: Phenomenon and Lasing Impact." Results of a survey of over a thousand Sherlockians were presented both on screen and as a handout, and were fascinating, and a perfect follow-up to conversations that some of us had the evening before. The key to any conference is always that first talk, setting the tone for the day, and Kyndall did good work here.

The Q and A afterwards gave a lot of folks the chance to spout their opinions about BBC Sherlock season four and more, which always gets dicey, as you have to listen to people airing their grievances about something you may have yourself enjoyed. But some good discussion as well, and the attendees are definitely engaged at this point.

You won't believe what came next . . .

Inspector Lestrade marched up to the podium to give new recruits to the police force their indoctrination to Scotland Yard, Sherlock Holmes, and the writings of Doctor Watson for starters. She then went into detail on the uniform and tools of Victorian policework. Did I say "she?" Well, despite the British accent, Lestrade's voice sounded a lot like that of Erica of Waffle House fame. Nightstick use, the needs of extra officers to get the screw-lock darbies around the wrists of a perpetrator, and the riff-raff of criminals one would expect to encounter on the streets of London. An amazing bit.

We get a half hour break after Lestrade/Erica, which is good, because who would want to follow that?

So I will break here as well. More to come.

Friday Night in Dayton 2026

When Sherlockians come to Dayton, Ohio, somehow we're always somewhere else.

Mentally, we're with our Baker Street friends, fellow irregulars in service of Sherlock Holmes. Physically, our hotels are always, technically, somewhere else. In the recent past, that was Clayton, Ohio at the old, dilapidated hotel. This year, after something like two decades, we've returned to Fairborn, Ohio and the Doubletree, which used to be a Holiday Inn. And they really seem happy we're here.

After checking in, getting the luggage to the room, etc., I wandered to where the dealers were setting up their wares for Saturday, and several early arrivals were just hanging out. Kyndall Potts, a key player in the Holmes, Doyle, & Friends weekend let me know that in addition to the visual elements welcoming us to the hotel, the bar was featuring a Sherlockian cocktail, "the Great Mogul," named after a diamond in a Basil Rathbone movie. And I'd be having one of those before the evening was over, to be sure.

Many conversations ensued, but as I'd had an early lunch, I wandered over to a nearby group of restaurants and had a ramen bowl at Hoshi Ramen, my first dinner of the evening, as when I returned to the hotel, I quickly fell into conversation with friends who would soon decide to try Tandoori Crust Pizza, a pizza/Indian fusion place, where normal pizzas and things like the butter chicken pizza shared the menu.

So many folks to greet on any arrival night for a Sherlockian conference, so many conversations to be had. Getting to see people you'd only socialized with online previously. The ongoing speculations of the hobby's future and the generations to come. Maybe some chat about that one Sherlockian that gets on everyone's nerves. But mostly our delight in being together again and all the myriad ways we celebrate our love of that one great detective Sherlock Holmes, who keeps some of us very, very busy.

I could go into greater detail, name names, go deep on some great topics that were discussed, but there's a Waffle House breakfast with my name on it and a foray of the 221st Southumberland Waffleers into the Ohio world, so I will adieu for now. More to come.

Days are forgotten, young Sherlock!

 After about fifty years of Sherlock Holmes, I just love it when he still tickles me.

Because Sherlock Holmes isn't my comfort food, he's what he's always been, wild spirit of curiosity and intellect running wild, not content to be constrained by a sixty story box. And, man, is he running wild this month. He's even different Sherlocks, but still my Sherlock Holmes.

We have entered the multiverse phase of our entertainment icons. Doctor Who and James Bond did it the old fashioned way, each incarnation dutifully taking turns. Spiderman got a whole movie to show us how it work if we just got them all at once. And this week felt a little like that, as we recorded next week's Watsonian Weekly podcast and spoke of the Sherlock & Co. podcast, Young Sherlock on Amazon, and CBS's Watson. All so different, yet all showing us sides of Sherlock Holmes. (Including Morris Chestnut giving us a Watson who plainly learned Holmes's tricks and pulling them off splendidly.)

Guy Ritchie's Young Sherlock on Amazon is getting my main focus this week as I cruise through it. It's a fast-moving thing, as a young Holmes would truly be. It's giving us origins for Lestrade, the Baker Street Irregulars, James Moriarty, and a dozen other things, all behind a real James-Bond-movie corker of opening credits to an abbreviated version of Kasabian's "Days Are Forgotten" from decades past. (And yes, I've gotten very into the full tune after listening to it time and time again as the show started.

I just love the lyrics to "Days Are Forgotten," as "Hey son, I'm looking forward. You're leaning backwards. Of this I'm sure," applies both to the plot of the show itself and an accidental side-comment on Sherlockiana's tendency to stick with the past. The full lyrics, which conjure old ghosts and disappearing history, fit the show well, and the energy behind it is pure Sherlock. Sherlock Holmes was never a cozy man, and the Xena-like cries in the tune just seem to fit Sherlock's mental electricity to me.

There's a lot of running in Young Sherlock. There are a lot of big action pieces. And there's a big, big international plot that might remind one of a previous Guy Ritchie outing in its scale. Like Batman, some folks aren't content to just let Sherlock Holmes stop local crime -- he has to save the world a lot, too. But this is Sherlock Holmes at big-screen level, big scenes full of people, lots of travel, big moments that hearken back to not just the original Conan Doyle, but so many other things we love to see about Sherlock Holmes.

I could go on. But I'll call out one thing and then call it a night, and that's this:

Best Sherlock's Mom Ever. I do hope she makes it through the series intact.

Back to watching!