Review of the National Book Festival's first year Inside

I am a book nerd.  And, I don't mean a Kindle or Nook or any other e-reader nerd.  I love the real deal.  Books with pages you can turn and spines you can crack. 

So, I was happy to head to the National Book Festival this weekend with my family.  In years past the festival was held on the National Mall.  This year, for the first time, it was held in the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. 

Festival organizers chose the new location under duress.  The National Park Service, which controls the National Mall, decided that the Festival did too much damage to the grass and would have to look elsewhere for this year's event.  The Convention Center isn't too far from the mall, but it is definitely a different kind of space.  Organizers were understandably worried that attendance would drop. 

Fortunately, things were just fine.  And, though I'd prefer the festival be held on the Mall, MOCO Musings can offer a positive review of the festival's first indoor iteration. 

Bye-bye porta-potties.  I skipped the 2010 festival because I was 8 months pregnant at the time.  I wasn't worried about the walking or the heat.  But, the fear that I wouldn't be able to go to the bathroom every 15 minutes put the fear of (your favorite holy guy here) in me.  The Washington Convention Center has bathrooms--plenty of them.  And, except for the bathrooms right by the doors, none of them had lines. 

Metro Accessible.  You can take the  metro right to the Convention Center.  This makes it easier to avoid driving to the Festival.  It also a big bonus if you've got mobility challenged people in your party.  Whether you drive or take metro, a trip to the Mall usually requires some walking.      

The Pavilion of States.  Maybe it is my imagination, but the Pavilion of States really upped its game this year.  For starters it felt like they had more space in which to spread out.  It was still crowded with kids and adults trying to get stamps, but the throng of people was manageable and worth it.  We scored cool state magnets, marbles (I'm looking at you West Virginia!), one free kids book, and MAPS (shout out to you Kansas!).  I didn't make every state, but here's a map of the states I did get stamps for.  Personally, I like the Kansas stamp the best.  But never fear, the Maryland Crab was a close second. 

Yay books!  And, long live the National Book Festival.  It is one of the few non-partisan things in this town.  It was started by Laura Bush and continued by Michelle Obama.  Let's hope the next first lady or first gentleman keeps it up!