As Genetta had to check-in between 7a and 8a for her tournament we had to get up really early (like 5a early!), pack up, and get breakfast. We ate at the hotel, Michelle and the kids had the buffet and I had two eggs (over medium), bacon, and an English muffin with some strawberry jam.
Though the morning was as cold as Sunday the wind had really died down. It was almost pleasant, especially with all of the sunshine. We walked the short block or so to the convention center with me taking a photo of an interesting cupola along the way.
Cool cupola, Baltimore
At the convention center Genetta checked in and started practicing with her coach as well as her friend (the coach’s daughter). A bit after 8a (in our experience fencing tournaments never, ever start on time) the fencers started pool play. The 173 fencers were split into groups of 7 (and a couple of 6) and each group member fenced the other group members to 5 touches. Epee thankfully is a good deal easier to watch as many of the crazy rules that are involved with foil (“ah, you would’ve got a touch — but you weren’t on the attack”, etc.) are not in effect for epee.
Fencing epee during pool play
Genetta didn’t advance beyond pool play but she did have a ton of fun and got to fence against new opponents (our local fencing scene does not have a ton of female fencers). Her teammate (the coach’s daughter) advanced not only through pool play but the DE round, round of 64, and made it to the round of 32 before being eliminated (coming in 27th overall). She also got to rate up from a E to a D. The ratings go from E to A, and U for unrated. The eventual top 8 were all A rating — mostly from L.A. and the NYC area.
We decided to head out, pick up our bags and check out of the hotel, and hit the road. We drove by Camden Yards and the Ravens’ stadium on the way out. At 2p we stopped at Hard Times Cafe (yes, again, same one even!) for some lunch. I even had the same exact thing (shocking, I know). Genetta drove the entire NC leg of the journey. We arrived home at 8p and settled in for the work week ahead.