My husband has gone with me to a few smaller local shows and to the Spring Paducah show twice (2017 and 2019). I won't say that he's eager to go, but he goes with me and never rushes or nags me. He'll walk around and look at the quilts and the vendors and when he's done, he finds a seat and plays on his phone. I don't have any women quilter friends... I don't belong to a guild and I work full time and I'm not a "group" person. Hubby appreciates the work of quilters but he does not quilt. I always try to find something of interest for him during part of a big trip.
He has hobbies that I'm not especially interested in - comic books and model cars and super-hero movies. He doesn't belong to any groups and doesn't have friends interested in his "stuff" either, so I go with him to the toy shows and the movies. I don't rush him or nag him, and if I get bored I'll sit and read or play on my phone. In a movie, I can't really do that but I figure I can sit through three hours of explosions and ridiculous plot lines if he can cheerfully spend three DAYS at the Paducah show!