The Carpet Convention

There are refreshments everywhere-- organic teas, coffee, soda, hot cider, hot chocolate, and bottled water for your taking... They are also handing out soft pretzels with a choice of gourmet mustards and bags of freshly popped buttered popcorn.  Several open bars have been placed around the room and waiters come by offering hot appetizers like chicken dumplings, crab cakes, and bruschetta.  Every once in awhile, you see a guy handing out balloon animals.  There is also a stand where you can get your face painted and not too far away an artist is doing caricature drawings.  Oh, and not to mention there are lots and lots of carpet displays.

My parents travel every once in awhile to attend carpet conventions (they own a carpet store) and this year they ended up in DC.

My mom and I with Tommy Mohawk 

(Mohawk Carpet's mascot)

When I agreed to tag along, I didn't realize how much it would be like going to a fair (minus the rides of course).  The best part was all of the FREE STUFF I walked away with thanks to my dad's diligence in collecting it from all the stands.  I am now the proud owner of 2 new T-shirts, a sweatshirt, a bunch of flash drives shaped as corn, a bottle opener, some animal crackers, an umbrella, a carpet cleaning for dummies manual (you never know when this might come in handy), and plenty of pens.

During the market event, when a limited supply of carpet goes on sale, it was fun to witness the throng of carpet salesmen meander through the stalls trying to swipe the good deals before everyone else.  I particularly liked watching my parents in their element.  My mom would stand at a table rifling through carpet square samples while my dad stood close by.  Every so often they would lock eyes and start bouncing numbers off of one other:  "170?"  "Better make it 200."  "How about some 2's?"  "No, we need more 8's." It was like a hidden code or "carpet talk" that I could not decipher but was glad they at least seemed to know what the other was talking about.  For someone who grew up with parents who own a carpet store, I sure know very little about carpet...

And did you know that plastic bottles can be recycled into carpet?  I had no idea but I did enjoy this recycling display.  If you can't read the sign, it says "Turn your empty plastic bottles into carpet HERE!":

Apparently you can also make carpet from corn (surprise, surprise).  I got a kick out of this display and almost thought I was back in Nebraska again:

The convention was being held at the Gaylord National Resort that overlooks the Potomac River.  They had some spectacular holiday lights up so we asked for a room overlooking the atrium.  Here is a picture from our balcony.

My dad sent a few quick e-mails overlooking the view.

And here is a picture OF our balcony.  We were on floor 7.

Their tree was humongous and made entirely of glass.

And they had a fountain light show every night.  I caught the end of one on video:

So that's what a carpet convention is like from the perspective of an outsider.  Okay, you can probably tell I basically skipped out on all the informative meetings and classes and just attended the fancy lunches and dinners.  But I still like to think that I am wiser after this experience.

oo,