Fortress Part 2016 Retrospective, Part 2: Beach Party and Hall of Mirrors

 

We have long had a no-shoes policy at Fortress Party, but Beach Party was the first room in which socks were also forbidden.

A wall of Hawaiian shirts set the mood.

A few weeks prior, we had visited Lauren's parents in Alexandria, VA. They had some bamboo in their yard they were anxious to part with, so we packed the longest poles that would fit into our car, and brought them home to build this tiki bar. It proved to be a great place to sip rum drinks and chill out to Bob Marley's Greatest Hits.  

And then there was a beach. We projected a Nintendo Switch beach sports game on one of the walls, so guests could pretend they were playing beach volleyball while sinking their heels in the uncomfortably cold sand. I have repressed all memories of getting this stuff into and out of our garage. 

Hall of Mirrors was a maze of white sheets and cheap dorm mirrors at 45 degree angles from each other. From the correct vantage point, you could see around 6 or 7 corners. 

We had custom Fortress Party 2016 shirts..

After giving shirts to family members and FOPSEC (FOrtress Party StEring Committee) members, we had a few left over, so we raffled them off throughout the evening.