Thursday was the Unofficial Opening Day of Dragon*Con 2002. By Thursday afternoon, people were already costuming and partying - showing the promise of a great convention! Many, if not most of us arrived Thursday afternoon... some of us having a longer and more detailed tour of the one-way streets of Atlanta than we wished! We won't go into parking or using MARTA for the first time!

Members of the DMEB-2 met in the Hyatt lobby at about 6 p.m. It was terrific to see old friends again - and to introduce new friends.

The beautifully restored Fox Theater in downtown Atlanta held a special showing of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones on Thursday evening at 7:00 and the 501st Legion was there to make the event even more special for the fans! The GA Garrison Commander, Moff Sienar led a group of his troopers to the theater... actually, it was more like a forced march in the summer heat only the American South can provide. The four members of the DMEB-2 who tagged along were grateful for trooper escort though - considering the area of town we were marching through! (We have yet to figure out how and why troopers always seem to find the worst areas of town to take us through - first it was C2 and the Slippery Noodle experience, and then this! Different troopers.... same thing!)

Once we were taken inside and ordered to hold some seats for the 501st/Rebel Legion, the doors opened to the general public. Most seem genuinely surprised to be greeted at the door by troopers and Darth Vader! Opening credits were greeted by thunderous applause - and we agreed it was damned cool to see AOTC with troopers!

The return trip to the Con was, perhaps, more harrowing than the trip to the theater. We lost a few troopers on the way, apparently they accepted rides from strangers rather then contemplate a walk back to the hotels ... those remaining had to figure out the token system for MARTA ... all the while in a part of town that is best left undescribed!

However, we did manage to make it back - relatively unscathed. We quickly found ScottMaul and the other Florida 501st Boys - since they were aimlessly wandering the lobby of the Hyatt, it really wasn't that difficult. We even found the lost tribe of "Belle" who had been wandering the streets of Atlanta with her luggage for forty years... erm... a few hours really, though it probably seemed like forty years!