Really Rad Weekend with Pew Pew Bang

Eighteen days without a post Gerdy, I really thought you were going to stick to one post a week for at least a month. Okay that’s fair but I technically did post four times in October just twice in one week, and it’s not my fault that any change to my regular routine comes with a week of anxiety to torture me for something I really want to do. Yes that is correct dear reader I have massive amounts of anxiety about mundane things but I didn’t let the intrusive thoughts win this time and had a really awesome time as a result. 

Really Rad Weekend is a great gaming convention in Fort Walton, Florida that is an excuse to hangout at a resort surrounded by video games but also all for charity. Kelsey Lewin of Pew Pew Bang fame, and also a bunch of other stuff including an Animal Crossing book I really want to read; sold it to my cold midwestern heart best when she put it as a great escape from the grey skies that fall often comes with. As great as this initial pitch was, what really got me committed to going was the panel that Pew Pew Bang was holding at the convention. Pew Pew Bang is the best podcast to come out ever. I like to pretend I helped manifest because I always wanted the four best MinnMax cohorts to make their own podcast. If you are tired of the plethora of dudes talking about games podcast, and want something casual and crunchy about games from every genre you can imagine but especially the ones many dude podcasts ignore, this is the podcast for you. Sometimes we have to admit that we like something so much that we can longer be objective about it, while this is true I am adamant and objective saying Pew Pew Bang is the best thing to come out of 2025 and will help save us all. I may elaborate more on this in a future post; for now I must return to pontificating on Really Rad Weekend. 

For some context let me say that I was born and raised in the Twin Cities in Minnesota. I also don’t like flying, so when I was planning to go there solo I was intending on taking a bus and then ride share to the resort. Luckily, I have awesome friends that are down to impromptu trips and my friend Maxi was able to come with me. We ended up taking the train to Mobile, Alabama and then renting a car from there and driving an easy hour and a half over to Fort Walton. I’ve never taken the train before but gosh was it amazing. First there are no metal detectors or security theater antics, you just get on the train and go where the conductors tell you. Then you just sit for hours and eventually get where you’re going. The people are nice, the seats are comfortable enough and you get to see the land going past instead of just seeing everything from above. It was thirty-two hours of travel but most of our trains had observation cars that were open the entire time and you were allowed to walk around the train to your heart's content. It was also slightly cheaper than the plane tickets so that was an extra sprinkle of good. 

Did all that travel time or the dingy motel we stayed in Mobile on our first night ruin Really Rad Weekend for me?? NO!! To be snarky it’s because I’m an adult and able to compartmentalize the negative things that happen to me but also the travel was just the icing to the delicious cake that was Really Rad Weekend. Being an outsider was a fun perk because it seemed to be a very local convention, which is really most conventions outside of the ones held in California. The couple that run Really Rad Weekend also have a bar in Fort Walton called Rad Bar, who could’ve guessed. The history of Really Rad Weekend and the four years it’s graced this earth is that once upon a time there was a convention called: Emerald Coast Con. This from what I could tell from the verbal history of the con was also a video game convention that was a bit too corporate or not chill in layman's terms. Emerald Coast Con was killed by covid and left a hole that the owners of Rad Bar were willing to fill. They kept the good intentions like donating all profits to charity while adding some radder vibes. Such as hosting it at a resort on the beach, and allowing all people there to enjoy free pinball, retro and modern games and basically having poolside panels. The cons theme was video games but being such a large topic allows many crossover topics. The resort was full of cosplayers and like a leech on cosplays elbow anime came with. There was an entire cosplay contest packed with talent and judged by cosplay sages. Retro gaming had a whole room to itself as did modern gaming neighboring it in the same hall. The vendor hall was packed with great local creators that I am now deeply regretting not grabbing their handles to shout them out here, it’s okay there’s always next year. Truly a nerd's paradise wrapped in a cozy resort; being anxious doesn’t help with the social side of my life, but being on one of the most beautiful beaches I’ve seen and surrounded by people that all love video games does a great job of washing it out. 

If you don’t believe that the world is absurd than maybe the fact that I planned a trip to FLORIDA for the first time, we know that you aren’t all crazy but you have to admit that the stereotypes of the Florida man are grounded in reality and y’all can be crazy, travelled over two thousand kilometers by train while staying in the central timezone and had the time of my life may convince you that it is. Thank you to Pew Pew Bang for having an awesome panel and answering my not at all biased chicken question, please listen to Pew Pew Bang for context, and an even bigger thank you to the people who ran Really Rad Weekend and giving me a taste of how rad the world can be.