#HNS2017 Wrap Up

Last week, I got back from Portland, Oregon where I attended the Historical Novel Society conference. This was my third HNS and I loved every minute of it. It was nice to see people that I only really get to see in person every other year when I go to this conference.

The location was fabulous this year! The hotel where I stayed and where the conference was was right in downtown Portland, which is an amazing city. The public transportation is great. The city is clean and also has got to be the quietest city that I have ever been to.

View from Pittock Mansion.

The conference itself was great! It felt much bigger than the previous conferences. On one hand, that meant more sessions to go to but it also meant more sessions to choose from. There were easily more than one session I wanted to attend each time slot. The bigger conference also meant that there were a lot of people I barely got to see and even a few people that I knew were there, was hoping to meet, and just ran out of time.

One of my favorite sessions during the conferences was one called "History Through Hooch." We drank everything from mead to gin martinis and talked about the alcohol during the times from the drinks we were drinking. I tried absinthe for the first time and I have to say the preparation (pouring the absinthe and then water over a sugar cube resting on a nifty spoon) outweighed the drink itself (I don't like licorice).

I was also lucky enough to add a couple days on to the end of my trip and thanks to an amazing new friend, I got to see a lot of the surrounding area! Oregon is beautiful and I would love to go back someday! I'm hoping that maybe I can back someday and next time I'll bring my fam!