Then on to Lawrence for the annual Art Tougeau wheeled art parade. It is one of the coolest small town events that I have found in Kansas.

On the way back to Kansas City, I stopped in Bonner Springs at the Great American Barbecue Festival , which moved to Sandstone this year. It was a big disappointment - the first Kansas BBQ contest that I didn't enjoy visiting. It was very hot and windy and the smoking teams were mostly closed off from the outsiders and not talking to people & offering samples the way they do at better events like the American Royal. The other food options were just carnaval food.

Leaving the Great American Barbecue Festival  still hungry and wanting BBQ, I made a second visit to Roscoe's Barbeque on Kaw Drive in Edwardsville. I am still not ready to give this restaurant a strong recommendation, but it is coming along well for a new operation.

Art Tougeau 

We had the best meal of the trip at lunch on our way out of Cocoa Beach, at Rubio's Cuban Café. The The Cuban Creole sauce was so good that I had to fight myself not to lick the plate.

That evening was the Nebula Awards presentations at the Hilton Cocoa Beach. Although I am not saying much about it here, I really enjoyed our time at the Nebula Awards Weekend. Our highlights this evening were my good friend, Joe Haldeman, being inducted as Grand Master, and my receiving the Service to SFWA Award for the 12 years that I wrote and ran the news section of SFWA's web site.
 

Linda & I at the Awards

I was surprised at how long we could view the shuttle;. At one point the announcer said that Atlantis was 80 some miles down range and over 40 miles up, but we could see at least a dot representing the shuttle Atlantis for a long time after that.

My photos and description of the launch

In the evening, we attended a mass autograph signing and reception back at the Nebula Awards Weekend.

We checked into the the Hilton Cocoa Beach Oceanfront Hotel where Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America would be having the Nebula Awards Weekend.

We got into the Orlando Airport about 30 minutes late, but all seemed fine until we got to the Dollar rental counter. There were only about 7 or 8 parties in line to pick up rental cars, but the clerks were going to great lengths to try to get people to pay for upgrades and additional products. Even though a 3rd clerk came on duty, it took over an hour for us to get away from the Dollar rental counter and it was after midnight before we left the airport.

But the food was still excellent. I had an Italian beef wrap that is new to the menu and very good. So were the fresh cut French fries.

The owner made several errors with our order, but he was too good-natured and were were having to much fun to mind. He did give us a cupcake to make up for it.

But more importantly, I think the food as significantly improved. When I previously visited the Chinese restaurant at this location, I found a number of the items odd, and nothing that stood out as special.

This time there were several good options, with the best being a crispy, fried shrimp with onions and peppers that was very flavorful. When I asked its name, the server said they just call it spicy shrimp.

There were actually several good shrimp dishes on the buffet.

Lunch was at L'été en Pente Douce in Montmartre. Supper was bread wine and cheese along the shore of the river Seine near Notre Dame. 

We returned to London on the Eurostar this evening.