Sunday, September 19, 2004
The Broadway Show From Hell:
Steph and I were up and ready to go just before eleven so we could walk over to pick up our rental car and start heading toward New Jersey. The plan was to meet up with a friend of mine named Jonathan who I have been chatting with online for nearly ten years and met once before on a business trip in 2001. He would then take us to the beach and afterward help us find our way to the Starland Ballroom for the Alice Cooper concert that Steph was dying to attend.
When we first started out, I have to admit I was a little nervous about driving in a city the size of NYC because I had never done it before but I also saw it as an adventure and wondered just how much trouble the two of us could get into. LOL We did manage to miss a turn that we were to take according to the directions we had but went up a couple of blocks to the next one way street going in the direction we needed to go and ended up right where we needed to be. Traffic wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it might be and people were fairly sane (at least compared to some of the Chicago drivers I have come across). Then again, it was a Sunday which I am sure made a difference.
So there we were traveling along in our little Ford Focus (not the car we thought we would be getting mind you and even though it only had 6000 miles on it, it accelerated about as quickly as a dog with no legs) under the river in the Lincoln TunnIl on our way to NJ and I was once again reminded of a place I had been in France. Steph was busy attempting to dial up something good on the radio without much luck. It's too bad neither of us had a CD or two because just about all the stations she came across sucked. Luckily, she did eventually find one that wasn't too bad.
Once we came out of the tunnel, we hopped on the NJ Turnpike. There wasn't much traffic which was nice, however, when we got to the tollbooth things started backing up a little. Personally I have never been able to understand why anyone thought these things were a good idea. I know they were first put into place as a way to collect money to pay for the road but I see them as nothing more than a way to jam up traffic and cause a few more wrecks on the road. One thing I will say about this particular set up that was different and in a way better than the ones I have been through in Illinois is that rather than paying $.40 at multiple booths set up every so many miles, you took a ticket at the first booth and then you didn't hit another where you had to pay until you left the roadway.
Steph and I were taking our time getting to the planned meeting spot as we didn't need to be there until mid-afternoon but even so, it didn't even take us as long as Jonathan and Mapquest had estimated. With more than an hour to kill, we decided to drive around a little bit before going back to our destination (a Toys R Us in a strip mall off a main drag). We didn't see a whole lot but it beat sitting in a car in the middle of the parking lot. When we arrived back to our meeting place, we still had some time to spare so Steph and I went in and looked around for a bit. Jonathan called me and said he was going to be a bit longer than he expected and asked if we could move the meeting place closer to where he was especially since it was actually closer to the beach he had in mind anyway. The directions he gave me were pretty straight forward so I said sure why not. A little after 3pm, we were on our way again so we could get Steph to the beach that she was just itching to see.
Once we finally hooked up with Jonathan, we were on our way to the beach and arrived there a little less than an hour later. It was neat to see the ocean again, but since Steph was the one who had never seen it before, she took to it like a little kid by ripping her shoes and socks off and wading in the water. She also went on a great shell hunt while Jonathan and I took a walk and talked. Just like the on the Pacific coast, there were tons of little jelly fish that had been washed up on the shore - strange creatures. I freaked Steph out telling her not to step on them because they might sting her but she later found out from a couple of surfers she had struck up a conversation with that as long as they didn't have a red marking on them, they wouldn't cause her any harm - Damn them! LOL. She spent quite a lot of time soaking it in which I can't blame her. There is just something about the ocean that can captivate a person for hours. What I thought was really neat was that Jonathan just so happened to have an empty film container in his car which he gave to Steph so she could take some sand home along with her shells.
After Steph finished her roaming about, she decided to have some ice cream before we took off for the concert. I ducked into the near by Dunkin Donuts so I could use the restroom before our journey and when I came out, I didn't see Steph anywhere. I then looked over to my right and saw Jonathan standing in front of one of the food shops - Steph was inside getting this piece of pizza that looked as though they gave her half of the whole pie! Considering it was $3 and that you can't even find something like that in Iowa for that price, I would say she got a deal (cheapest meal we had seen yet anyway). Since we were on a rather tight schedule to make it back to Sayreville, we jumped in the car once she got her food and took off. Steph had wanted to get there early to be one of the first ones in but obviously as late as it was, it wasn't going to happen.
It ended up taking us not quite an hour to get to the Starland. Jonathan didn't turn where he should have so we had to go back and ask for directions but luckily we hadn't gone far out of the way. When we arrived, there was a rather long line out front and Steph was a little worried we weren't going to get a good spot to stand but when it comes to places like this, never say never. I was a little sad because I didn't get to say goodbye to Jonathan. He didn't want to park in the lot because you had to pay to do so and there really wasn't any place else for him to go. I was going to go back up by the road to see him but when I turned around he was gone. I gave him a call and asked what the deal was and he said he didn't have anywhere to go but told me that he would swing back by since he hadn't given me the birthday card he got for me. This time he was able to pull over to the side of the road where he could get out and we could have a short chat before parting ways. He also made sure that I knew how to get back to the city by writing down directions on the card envelope and everything. I'm sure between Steph and I we could have made it back ok on our own but it was very sweet of him to be so concerned. It was then that the line began to move again and I felt I probably should get back to Steph so I wouldn't lose her or have too many people yell at me for 'jumping the line' so with a hug and words of farewell, Jonathan was off home and I was on my way back to join the crowd.
We got lucky, most of the people in front of us in line decided to get drinks and mingle so Steph and I were able to get a place right up front for the show and what a show it was! I have NEVER in my life seen something so wack. All I could think of while I was watching it was some Broadway musical that had gone severely wrong. Had it not been for the extremely yummy eye candy (the band), I don't know that I could have stayed for the whole thing since it just wasn't really my cup of tea. Don't get me wrong, I do like some of Alice Cooper's music but there was something about seeing the guy on stage which just gave me this comical visual of my dad being up there. I don't know if it is because Alice looks aged beyond his years or possibly the outfit he wore which I could have sworn was complete with a hernia belt but it all just seemed WRONG! LOL
After the show, we hung around for awhile in the VIP lounge with some people Steph 'knew' from Metal Sledge and while we were there, one of the guitarists and the bass player from Alice's band (just happened to be the two that Steph and I were smitten with the minute they had taken the stage) along with a couple of the guys from the opener. It was really cool because the guys from Cooper's band had their own little 'postcards' to sign and give out to people so as long as you had a pen, you didn't have to worry about having something for them to sign. Thankfully they showed up when they did because we had these two rather weirdo guys hanging around us that I just kind of wanted to go away.
At first I wasn't going to say anything about it being my birthday but Steph decided to play it up. I have to admit, I'm glad she did because Ryan Roxy (my favorite bit of yummy) gave me a kiss on the cheek. Shocked the hell out of me since that was the last thing I was expecting. The joke for the rest of the night was whether or not I was going to wash my face. LOL Me, being my goofy self, went into the whole 'Valley Girl' type skit when we were driving back to the city over it just because I think people who get that crazed about getting a kiss from a rock star are totally out of their gourd.
Not too long before we left, Steph and I were sitting on some of the stools they had in the lounge by the pool tables and when I looked over to my left, I saw Ryan Roxy, Alice's daughter, and the singer from the opening band sitting right next to me. I whispered over to Steph about the daughter child sitting next to me and just then, a guy came in and told the group that the bus was getting ready to leave. When they got up, Steph asked Calico how she got roped into being part of the show. She laughed and said she didn't really know. Steph also asked if she could have a picture of her and Ryan Roxie and they were very kind to oblige. In fact, they went beyond what either of us was expecting. Steph was just going to take a picture of the two together but Ryan started tugging on my shirt and told me to get in the pic too. Cool! Calico suggests to make it a 'good one' by making a funny face and stuff. I didn't know she was being serious about being goofy so I just smiled - DAMMIT! LOL Ah well, I got a laugh out of it even so. As soon as the picture with me was taken, Steph got one with them too (check her website for the pics). Shortly after that we decided to leave since it was getting late and we knew we had about an hour's drive back to the city.
Thanks to Jonathan's directions, getting back to Manhattan was a piece of cake. What wasn't so easy was finding a gas station (we had to fill the tank back up to full since that is how we got it). We decided since we had the car, we might as well take a little tour while on our scout for the station. It was late enough that the traffic wasn't too bad and we thought that way we might get to at least drive past some things that we just didn't have time to see. One thing I noticed driving along was that cabbies have a little bit of a problem riding the lanes. Normally I am a curtious driver, however, this one cab I came across just pissed me off. First he didn't want to pick a lane, then he thought he needed to pull out in front of me. That was it! I honked my horn and stepped on the gas. I had probably the worst car at the time to be doing that but was enough to get him to move his ass back over in his own lane.
We continued on and after blocks upon block of driving, we weren't having much luck finding a place to get some gas. I knew not to expect that many in the city, but I thought we would have come across one by this point. Luckily, we had come upon a police car so Steph rolled down her window and asked the cop where we might find one (yet our second "run in" with the NYPD......LOL). Turned out it was basically right around the corner from where we pulled in. Had I driven just a little bit further, we would have come across it.
The minute we pulled into the place (think it was a BP) and I got out of the car to pump the gas, this rather scruffy guy came over to me and started pumping my gas for me. I had heard about bums who will want to wash your car windows and pump your gas for you but I never thought I would run into one. Sure enough, we did (Damn rental cars with out of state plates!). What struck me as strange is that this guy saw that I was paying for a credit card rather than cash yet he insisted on pumping the gas and then asking for change afterward. I felt bad telling him that I didn't have any but it was true. I normally don't carry cash on me unless I have to not only because of simplicity but because if it is stolen I am the one in "control" and I can earns lots of points towards Sony brand purchases like my little $300 MP3 player I got for free. :)
Once we got the gas which was expensive by Iowa standards ($2+ if I remember correctly. Iowa is about $1.80 at the moment), we took off towards the parking garage that happened to be located at the same place the rental place was (very handy) so we could park the car for the night. Thankfully it didn't take us long to get to the garage since it was getting kind of late and we needed to be up somewhat early in the morning to officially return the car and then get to the airport. From there it was about a ten minute walk plus a stop at Duane Reade of course (LOL) back to our room.
Knocked Off By The Fashion Diva
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