Strangely Enjoyable Date Night

Last weekend, my mom volunteered to babysit so that Spencer and I could go on a date. Awesome! Well, we didn't have a big financial allowance, and we wanted to do something different than the normal, so I started searching for free things to do around the city. As it turns out, Mesa does an event downtown every second Friday. That night happened to be a Sci-fi/ Steampunk gathering. There was going to be a costume contest, booths set up for people to sell their creations, and displays etc. Spencer and I decided to go check it out. First we went and got Italian gelato at Dolce Vita. It was delicious! Then we headed to Center and Main. We were expecting some interesting characters and we were not disappointed. As we drove in, Spencer spotted a storm trooper walking down the street.  So, our first mission once we parked the car was to find him and get a picture with him. After that it was fun to just walk down the street and see all the people that were so serious about this pretend world. The Steampunk crowd far exceeded the traditional Sci-Fi crowd. Steampunk is not a new sub-genre of Sci-Fi. It's been around since the 80's, but it's fairly new to me. The best way that I can describe it is that they create a world that combines the past and the future... think "Around The World in 80 Days" styled clothes and mechanics + the imagination of futuristic machines and lifestyles. I can't say that I could ever get into it, but it made for excellent people watching and a strangely enjoyable date night.