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Wilhelmina

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    • TravelerTrip to the US - Sep/Oct 2023
      Day 4

      Tampa

      September 15, 2023 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 29 °C

      So after breakfast this morning, I walked to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, which also serves as an animal rescue facility. The place became world-famous as the home of Winter, the dolphin whose rescue story is told in the wonderful movie Dolphin Tale. The movie was filmed at the Aquarium and is inspired by the true story of a dolphin that was rescued after getting caught in a fishing wire. In the process, its tail was badly damaged, and eventually a custom prosthetic was made, allowing Winter to swim normally again.

      Sadly, Winter passed away a couple of years ago, but it was fun to see the facility where the most famous dolphin in the world lived for over a decade, and where the movie based on it was made. I also did a behind the scenes tour which was really interesting.

      After the Aquarium, it was time to head into Tampa!

      In Tampa, I went to day one of 90s Con - a convention themed on the biggest pop culture events of that decade. My main reason for going was to meet the cast of Beverly Hills 90210! They have most of the main cast at the convention this weekend, and today I had the pleasure of meeting Jason Priestley (Brandon), Tori Spelling (Donna), Ian Ziering (Steve) and Jennie Garth (Kelly). I also saw Brian Austin Green (David) while waiting in line. So much fun to meet these actors that I have watched on my TV screen countless times over the past 30+ years.

      Except for Tori, they all look like they haven't aged over the past 33 years. Tori looks a bit different nowadays, but she was very sweet, and she hugged me when we bonded over Ghostbusters! She also loves Denmark apparently.

      Jason was also super sweet and we talked about Tru Calling, another TV show he did back in the day.

      Aside from the 90210 cast, I met Danica McKellar from The Wonder Years, another one of my all time fav shows. She was also really lovely.

      After the Con, I had dinner at the GenX tavern - a place themed on the 80s and 90s pop culture, so very fitting.      Read more

    • TravelerTrip to the US - Sep/Oct 2023
      Day 5

      90s Con: Day 2

      September 16, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

      Great day at 90s con!

      I first attended a panel for the show "Family Matters" - the one with Steve Urkel! It's been decades since I last watched that show, but the three cast members at the convention were quite entertaining. One of them, Reginald VelJohnson, famously played Al Powell in Die Hard!

      The next panel was for "Sabrina The Teenage Witch" - another show I haven't watched in many years, but I've seen Melissa Joan Hart (who portrayed Sabrina) in various shows and movies over the years.

      After a cosplay contest, I attended a panel for Full House with Jeff Franklin who created the show and five of its main stars. Dave Coulier, who played Joey, was very funny in particular.

      My primary mission of the day was getting a group photo with the 7 main cast members of Beverly Hills 90210! I grew up watching this show, and I still enjoy watching episodes here and there more than 30 years later. It was surreal to meet all of them in person and it's probably the first convention they have all done together (except for the late Luke Perry of course).

      While waiting in line, and it was almost my turn, there was a snafu with the camera and we had to wait around for it to be fixed. While waiting, Ian Ziering came over to us waiting at the front of the line to say hi!

      Before leaving the Con for the day, I caught the end of a panel with the lovely Danica McKellar talking about her books and career.

      In the evening I had dinner at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, a little outside of Tampa.      Read more

    • TravelerTrip to the US - Sep/Oct 2023
      Day 6

      90s Con: Day 3

      September 17, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

      Third and final day of the 90s convention! I didn't have much on the agenda today, so I spent basically the whole day in the panel/Q&A room - also ensuring I would get a good seat for the 90210 panel later in the day!

      The first panel of the day featured Kimberly J Brown and Daniel Kountz. I have seen Kimberly in a few things, but not super familiar with their work. Still an interesting panel though, as they talked about the craft of acting.

      The next panel was focused on classic 90s show "Saved by the bell" and the panel featured Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Elizabeth Berkley and Mario Lopez. While I haven't watched the show in a long time, it was a fun panel and I've seen the three actors in several projects over the years, especially Mark-Paul.

      Next up a very 90s group of people: TLC (Chilli & T-Boz), AJ McLean and Howie Dorough from Backstreet Boys and Joey Fatone from NSYNC! They were definitely an entertaining group of people!

      The second-to-last panel of the day was focused on two cast members of the show Charmed - Holly Marie Combs and Rose McGowan. A cool show that I watched once in a while. The actors can't talk about specifics due to the ongoing strike, but they still shared fun anecdotes and stories that were somewhat related to working on this and other productions.

      Finally it was time for the last panel of the day, which was the one I had looked forward to the most - 7 cast members from Beverly Hills 90210: Shannen Doherty, Tori Spelling, Jennie Garth, Gabrielle Carteris, Jason Priestley, Ian Ziering and Brian Austin Green.

      While it has been great to meet them and get a photo with them earlier at the convention, I really enjoy these panels where you can hear them talk about their work. Again, due to the strike, they were not able to get into specifics, especially with regards to 90210. This was really a shame, but they are still such a fun group that 45 minutes in their company passed in no time. Such a cool experience and a perfect way to cap a really good convention.

      After leaving the Con, I boarded a train to Kissimmee in the Orlando area. Despite being literally the only train that day from Tampa, the timing worked out pretty well. I also met a fellow 90s con attendee at the station and we had a lovely chat on the whole train ride about our favorite 90s shows!

      When I got to my hotel in Orlando, I walked down the street to visit the biggest McDonalds in the world! Possibly also the only one serving pizza and pasta dishes! Quite unusual for a McDonald's 😁      Read more

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