Thankfully we had a beautiful morning to get under way and just to show you how excited we BOTH were to be getting away, we got on the road 15 minutes early! It wasn’t easy either with all of the crap we packed into the car. You would have thought we were going to a motel for a month! Even I did a terrible job of packing, but since it was just the two of us I wasn’t too worried. But we said so long to the cats and headed out.
We made great time through IN, KY and TN and were deep into GA before we stopped for the day. We ran into a driving rainstorm just south of Macon and it just about took it out of me. We stopped a little while later to eat, but the damn power was off in the area and we had to push on.
We made it down to Tifton, GA and decided we had to eat. We wanted to make Valdosta for the night, but while we were eating we just decided that we were close enough. Besides, with today’s start we probably would get up early enough to make up the 50 or so miles in the morning.
We ate at the Cracker Barrel and I got my chicken and dumplings! While we were there we called around to see how much rooms were. We didn’t want to spend a lot for just a few hours. Most of the places we called wanted $100 or so for the night. I thought that was too high. We decided to move on down the road when I spotted a ratty looking Rodeway Inn. I popped in and they just wanted $50 for the night and it didn’t look too terrible, so we deiced to stay. It was a good day and we pretty much accomplished what we set out to do.
SATURDAY
Saturday morning in Southern GA was gray and gloomy. But, we were up early and ready to go by 6. We had a five hour drive in to Daytona Beach and couldn’t really check in until 2 so we were in good shape. Worst case scenario I would have to hang by the pool and drink beer for a couple of hours. What a bummer;).
By the time we crossed into FL it was still crappy outside. We passed JAX and it was almost to Daytona Beach that we saw blue skies. We arrived about 11 at the Wyndham Ocean Walk. They had a room ready, but it was ocean view and we really wanted ocean front, so we decided to wait for an ocean front. We told the Wyndham people we didn’t want to speak to them this time around. While they seemed put off by this we got our parking pass and pool wristbands and moved on.
Now it was time to get into some swim suits and hit the pool and bar, not necessarily in that order. Of course we had a cooler with us and I had secreted a couple of coldies in there for just his moment and I don’t know if I even made it to through the lobby before one of them was gone.
Anyway, we found a couple of seats and waited for the front desk to call and let us know our room was ready. In the meantime I headed out to check out the ocean. Salty and cool, it was just as I had remembered. I came back in and went to the bar. I was pleased to find that the 16 oz. draft was just $3 and would be all week.
After a cold one I headed to the pool and some folks were hitting a volleyball around. I joined in and we played a couple of impromptu games when Linda came and told me our room was ready.
We headed in and got our keys, some towels for the pool and a cart to get our stuff up to the room. We were in room 1415 in the South Tower. We were at the far south end of the building. We weren’t really overlooking the pool which kind of sucked but later in the week our position would turn out to be advantageous.
The room was nice as we have come to expect from Wyndham. They may have annoying sales techniques, but all of the places at which we have stayed have been top notch. This was no exception and we had a lot of room as we had upgraded to a two room deluxe suite. This one had the whirlpool tub, shower, flat screen TV’s in all of the rooms and the usual full kitchen and laundry.
After we dumped off our gear we headed back down to the pool and had some onion rings and some more beers. Well, I had some beers!
We didn’t stay out too late that day. Unless you pick the right few chairs at the Ocean Walk pool, you lose the sun by 3:00 pm. We knew this and since we didn’t get out to the pool until almost noon, those seats were history. We headed back upstairs about 4 with the only threat looming was Hurricane Earl and it looked like it wasn’t going to be much of a factor.
We got cleaned up and did our trip to Wal Mart. Let me tell you, the clientele at the Wally World in Daytona Beach is no better, and maybe worse than that of any Wal Mart in Indy! Okay, we got some food and beer and we got a couple of beach chairs in case we went out to the beach for a whole day. Turns out we never did, but what the hell. We also got some noodles for the pool.
When we got back it was almost time for the Indy Car race and the only place we knew of to watch it was at the Legends Sports Bar in the Hilton since our place didn’t (or so we thought) have Versus. By this time I was pretty hammered having had nothing but onion rings to eat all day and several cocktails. So we made the trek to the Hilton and found the bar. It was a nice place and I had a really good burger and waffle cut fries. I was only able to watch about half the race and I was ready to call it a night. For some reason my knee was hurting and I had just had enough of this day.
We were here, had been to the store so we had accomplished what we needed to do for day one! Linda stayed up and watched some fireworks that evening, but I turned in fairly early. Tomorrow wasn’t supposed to be a real nice day but we’d have to wait and see.
SUNDAY
Up early but my knee fucking hurts like hell. The sky is gray and it’s only about 70 degrees out. Based on the forecast I’m not getting my panties in a wad but my knee is a bummer. I put some ice on it and see if I can get it to feeling better but it’s of little use.
We kill some time in the room deciding what to do. Linda doesn’t want me in the ocean because the jackbag on TV keeps talking about rip tides. I’m not really interested, but to appease her this early on I decide not to go to the ocean. Besides, I hurt too much to really do anything.
Linda suggests we go to the mall. I think she means the next door mall, but she means the one across town. I really don’t want to and pout a little. Turns out I bought a book and she didn’t buy anything. It also turns out to be just about the funniest book I have ever read. I don’t remember the author off the top of my head but the book was called Emails From An Asshole. Absolutely hilarious. Reading a bit of it definitely helped my mood.
We decided to take a look around town and just drove up and down Atlantic Ave. We drove almost down to the Ponce Inlet and then back up north past Ormond Beach. The Treasure Island is still standing, but it still isn’t open. I remember going there on Spring Break when I was a senior in high school and it was one of the nicest places you could imagine. I guess time takes care of everything.
After we drove we decided to stop at a place called Charlie Horse for some lunch. It was good, nothing extra special, but a nice little joint and reasonable. I had another burger. Linda had some fish sandwich. She liked it a lot.
After that we just went back to the condo. It was still kind of crappy out but not as bad. Finally I decided to go for a swim and Linda went for a walk. My knee still hurt so I wasn’t really into a walk. Afterward we popped across the street and grabbed a pizza at the Napoli Pizza. I thought it was really good. We watched a Carol Burnett special on TV, ate our pizza and pretty much called it a day. I hate being grumpy on vacation, but my knee hurting was just too much to overcome. Sucked!
MONDAY
Well the skies were still cloudy, but not near as bad as Sunday morning and it was evident that the skies would clear as the day went on so I went down and set up shop in the chairs we knew would get the sun the longest. The beauty of these seats is that they are at the prime people watching position as well as being near the bar! We set up camp and then went in and got our free juice and pastry from Wyndham in exchange for hearing from a few local merchants. Pretty painless.
My knee wasn’t great but it was better. I figured if I laid low today I’d be back to about 100% by tomorrow. I was pretty much right. We pretty much just hung out at the pool. I went out to the ocean a few times, but mainly had a few cold ones and enjoyed the sunshine. Met another Wyndham owner from Dalton, GA. He had some useful info that I can use in the future so that was nice. I’d meet another guy from Orlando later in the week who also had some tips.
We kind of started a string of days where we didn’t really eat any lunch. On this particular day I started with a Fosters and then it was all downhill from there. I went up and made a small cooler but ended up buying from the bar as well and had one of their specialty Voodoo Juice cocktails. It didn’t taste like much but it had a shitload of liquor in it!
Anyway we just hung out until we lost the sun and went back to the room and laid around until dinner. Actually this would become the MO for pretty much every day of the week! Sweet!
We went to the mall next door for dinner. Stopped at a place called Sloppy Joe’s. I figured it was just a name, but turns out they actually had a Sloppy Joe sandwich on the menu. And as it turns out, this bad boy was big and tasty. Served with fries and the obligatory cold beer it was a winner! Linda had the same thing and we both really liked it. Turns out Dalton, GA and his crew were there as well that night.
That day they had begun setting up a stage in front of the bandshell that is in a plaza between the Hilton and the Wyndham. We weren’t sure what was going on but at dinner that night we found out that the city was having a music festival starting Wednesday evening. Tony Bennett was the opener while the Jonas Brothers closed it out Sunday night. In between Blake Shelton, Buddy Guy, Usher and Huey Lewis played at various local venues. Shelton would play Thursday night while Guy played Saturday afternoon and Lewis that night. This is where our room location would prove advantageous. While we weren’t able to really see the shows we could hear them fine from our balcony. We asked the waitress at Sloppy Joes how much to reserve the table at the open window that overlooked the bandshell venue and she said it only had a $25 per person minimum. Not too bad thought I.
Anyway, we pretty much called it a night after dinner and went back to the room and watched The Family Man show and called it a night.
TUESDAY
The day started, and frankly rolled out pretty much the same as Monday. We did have breakfast at the IHOP. Mmmm! Grits! By the pool, beers, a few jaunts to the sea and a lot of swimming. I have to hand it to the two ladies who ran the Turtles Nest, the pool bar. They were awesome. The guys who worked a couple of days weren’t as good, but all in all it was excellent service!
During the afternoon they have a girl who does hair braids, wraps and henna tattoos. I asked as Linda was kicking around the idea of a tattoo, so I thought I’d check prices. I also asked about a hair wrap for me. Well needless to say, an hour later I had two really cool hair wraps on the right side of my scalp. They were with white beads for Colts colors. Later in the week a girl would ask me “Sir, is your hair braided?” like I was a ruh-tard. She may be on to something!
After I came up from the pool I was going to go fly my kite but my Spongebob kite was missing a few pieces so I had to buy a new one the next morning. To top it off we never really had any wind the rest of the week.
A few years ago when we were down here me and Linda at a little Italian place called Portofino and really enjoyed it. The concierge at the Wyndham recommended a place called Anna’s, but it was closed. So we ended up driving until we found the Portofino down south on Atlantic and we really liked it. We vowed to make it one of our dinners this time around and tonight was the night.
We drove down to the joint and like last time we were about the only ones there. That’s okay though. We liked it and what did we care if no one else did? We had our usual; Linda the lasagna and I the spaghetti with Italian sausage. Add a salad and their homemade bread and we came away happy campers again! We didn’t do much else that night. Kind of hung out and watched some poker on TV. My pattern doesn’t change much from home
WEDNESDAY
We finally had a beautiful sunrise and it was going to be a cloudless day. Linda didn’t want to go to the pool too early so I went down and claimed our chairs. Then I took a walk down towards the Hilton and the bandshell to scope things out. They had a memorial for the motorcycle racers from the past which was pretty cool. I wandered around the pool deck of the Hilton just to check it out. It was nice, but small compared to our pool deck.
For the most part there wasn’t much to report new today except one thing, some folks from GA showed up with a volleyball in the pool and I wasted no time in getting involved. The activities board kept saying there was pool volleyball at 11 each morning but that never happened. I guess they changed it to 3 and I was in the right spot at the right time. We had about 10 playing so it made for some nice games. They were all real nice so that made it cool to play. When we were done we pretty much agreed to meet the next day for some more games.
That night me and Linda just went next door to the Johnny Rockets for dinner. I like Rockets, but it is pricey for what you get. Still it was good and we were both full after some ice cream at the Cold Stone Creamery.
That night there was a small Texas Hold’em tournament in the bar. $5 entry for some nice prizes. I think we had about 12 play. It was fun, but the dealer was hilarious trying to scare us about the ocean. Earl had wandered further east than earlier expected. It posed no direct threat to us, but the waves would be so bad you couldn’t get on the beach, let alone the water. He was so dramatic!
THURSDAY
When I got up I expected to see 20 foot waves and the tide splashing against the sea wall. Imagine my surprise when nothing really looked any different. Another beautiful day in Daytona Beach! The pool deck was definitely busier today than the previous days. With the upcoming holiday people were starting to head in. I didn’t really notice it too much until Saturday on the elevators, but you could sense more people in the pool and on the beach.
Apparently the chair rental people were sufficiently spooked as they didn’t put out any product for the day.
Well about noon the water did come up as far as it did all week. It did, in fact, come up to the sea wall, but for about 10 minutes. Me and Linda went out to the water and the waves were pretty strong. One low wave came in and the people it hit went tumbling. Thinking I could handle it I laughed as the wave took my legs out from underneath me and sent me flying. As I was going down I looked back and saw my wife go down like a sack of potatoes. It was pretty cool. The water receded in a few minutes and all was back to normal.
Later that day we took another stroll on the beach without incident. We did find a jellyfish that had floated in with the current, but he was dead as fuck.
More volleyball in the pool with my GA friends and I was ready to call it a day for the pool and ocean. Just two more whole days left at the resort, but I was having such a great time I didn’t really think too much about it ending. I would Saturday, but that was 48 hours away!
Thursday night we decided to hit another place we had gone to with Timmy and Tammy a few years back. Our Deck Down Under is situated under a bridge and has some pretty good seafood. It’s nothing fancy mind you. You stand in line and order your food and then stake out a table. Many of the tables are on a deck that is on the water but you have to be lucky to get one. We were lucky! Had a nice big meal of some fried fish and chips. I was going to get some conch fritters but decided to pass. I was glad I did as the fish and chips were more than I could handle!
After dinner we got some pretty cool photographs. My only regret about going on vacation with just my wife is that we end up with a dearth of pictures of just the two of us.
When we got back to the room Blake Shelton had taken the stage at the bandshell and was just starting his show. He wasn’t bad for a new country guy. He did play several covers including the Cheater song (Escape) and All My Ex’es Live In Texas!
FRIDAY
The weather is relentless!! Another beautiful sunrise giving way to another day of bright sunshine. Temps are up as well. Nothing really new today. More sun, more water, more volleyball, more Rocky Mountain Spring Water! I did have quite a few late in the day! Leaving the pool that day I started to feel a little sad knowing we had but one full day left before we had to leave this.
That night we went to Bubba Gumps for dinner. Linda had a steak and I had the Shrimp tower or whatever the hell they call it. It was good, but not great. With the concerts tomorrow night we figured this was our last chance to eat at the mall. There is a new wing place but we wouldn’t make it by on this trip. Hopefully it will be around next year. Hear that honey? Next year, same place!
I wanted to get a T shirt from the Charlie Horse, Sloppy Joe’s and one from the music festival, but I never saw any music festival shirts and when we drove down to the Horse they didn’t have any shirts in my size. SUCK! I did get my Sloppy Joe’s shirt which was cool!
Friday was a quiet night at the bandshell. Usher was at the hoity-toity joint down the street. I heard the ladies in the LBD’s were out en force but I was safely tucked into my room by the time that happened. Going to be I knew we had but one full day ahead of us and we were going to have to move from one room to the next to top it off. I promise myself not to be too much of a dick, but who knows.
SATURDAY
I get up with my stress level rising just because I have no faith in the front desk making today’s move a smooth one. I wouldn’t have to wait long to have it elevate even more. I wait until 8:15 to take our towels down and after that I swing by the front desk to make sure everything is on course to have us move without having to take our stuff to the car or put in the bell man’s office for a couple of hours.
I approach the desk and ask the lady if there everything is cool and I am told we are not on the list for room reassignment. Okay, are we staying in 1415 I ask. No, we have no reservation for tonight and the resort is full. Okay, I’m not hot I’m pissed. This lady tries to appease me by telling me she has Bell’s Palsey. I tell her that doesn’t matter to me and I know it has no affect on what she is telling me. She goes to the back office and tells me that when we upgraded our reservation for the week it somehow cancelled our other reservation. My BS meter is completely off the chart. NFW that our reservation got cancelled for that reason. I’m pissed and she knows it. She goes back to talk to the manager and comes back and tells me that she can reinstate my reservation. Okay, good answer.
Then she drops the “Well since your reservation is now the last one, your room won’t be ready until 4:00” Two steps back! I tell her that is ridiculous and that we were told everything was set and that we would just go from one room to the next around noon. She says no, can’t happen. I remind her we are VIP so we have to have our room by 2:00 anyway. She says she will do what she can. Not good enough.
By this time I am raising my voice and the security guard has stopped to make sure I don’t kill Bells. Look, I know this isn’t her fault personally, but right now she is the face of Wyndham and that face is bad.
She agrees to let us keep our room until noon and we are to check back at that time to see if our new room is ready. She also took our number to call us if it was ready early. Based on some grumbling from a few other customers this was a crapshoot at best to get a room at noon. Frankly I don’t care what time we get the room as long as we can have ours until it’s time to move.
I agree to this plan and head upstairs to gather my wife and head to the pool. Linda is not any happier than me claiming not to leave the room until the new one is ready. Be that as it may I tell her we just need to go hang out and wait until we hear from them. Let it be noted here that I purposely had no beer at this time so if things got ugly I didn’t go to jail!
Of course 11 passed and 11:30 and eventually at 11:55 we went back in. No, the room was not ready, but she will extend our room until 2:00. Fine, but now it’s noon and a Foster’s is beckoning! Well we don’t hear from them again and about 1:45 we go back in. Hooray, the room is ready, boo there are no luggage carts to be found to move our stuff. So we have to hire the bell man. He was a real friendly cuss too.
So anyway we go back to our room and our keys don’t work. Thankfully Mr. Friendly had his master key and got us in. We packed up the cart and moved. The new room was fine, just a one bedroom as opposed to a two. We’re just two floors down as well so we can hear the music tonight if we choose.
With that ordeal out of the way we head back down to the pool. My last day so I am making the most of it with many board rides and yes, more volleyball. Some jackbag from what had to be Boston joined us and ran his mouth for a couple of games. Not sure what he said, but one of the GA guys had a few words with this wheezy windbag and pretty much silenced him. When we were done I said bye to the GA’s and wished them a safe trip back and thanked them for letting me play. They were a nice bunch!
I decided to ramp up the drinking so I headed to the bar. I knew I was out in the room so I better get my fill down here. I had a few and closed out my tab for the last time at the Turtles Nest. As I gathered my towels, board and iPod and started heading in I shed a couple of tears. It had been a great week and anyone who has been to this place knows it’s not easy to leave. I mean it’s nice to get home, but I hate to see vacation end.
I gathered myself and took the resort towels in and turned them in and made the trip upstairs. I really started to lose it going across the lobby. Sometimes I am such a wuss!
That night we wanted to watch the Indy Car race but again, no Versus in the room. So I pooped down to the bar in the lobby and for some reason they had it. So me and Linda went down there and watched the race and ordered a pizza from next door. We enjoyed our last night in FL and sadly I closed out my last tab.
SUNDAY
Travel days aren’t much fun if you are driving. We got an early start out of Daytona Beach and stopped for gas around the FL/GA border. When we stopped to go to the bathroom just south of Macon I thought the car sounded a bit strange. I mean, what the hell were we going to do? It wasn’t an awful sound, just strange.
Just south of the ATL the battery light came on and I started to sweat. The AC was off and we were headed right into downtown ATL. We got through town fine, but just north of town I felt the power steering go. We were on the highway so steering wasn’t an issue, but I knew it wasn’t good. Soon after the ABS and airbag lights came on. They both went out quickly though and now my battery light was off. We were heading past Dalton, GA when I checked to see if we had radio and when we didn’t I knew our days was about done. I lost power right at a Dalton exit and was able to wrestle the car off the highway and into a gas station parking lot.
We discovered the serpentine belt was off and dragging and hoped it just needed to be put back on, but I think I knew better. I called roadside assistance and we had a tow truck there before I was even off the phone with them. We got towed to a Sears Automotive as it was the only thing open at 4:00 on a Sunday afternoon that did any real work.
Once there the mechanic discovered that a bearing had failed and would have to be replaced. They called around but no one in town that was open had one. Looks like were here for the night. Or are we. We give Sears our info and grab a taxi to the Days Inn. Nice Days Inn and reasonable. See Ford, we tried to save you money, because this is on you! Tired, hungry and frustrated we grab showers and walk over to O’Charley’s for a bite of dinner.
We head back to the room, not as nice as the two bedroom at the Wyndham, but what are you gonna do? It was a sucky day. Had to leave FL and vacation and now broke down and having to pay for a room. We had reservations up by Nashville, but obviously never made it. Looking forward to going home tomorrow.
MONDAY
Monday morning 8:30, time to call Sears and find out when we can get our car. As they say “Clank”! The Ford dealer is open, but parts are closed for the Labor Day holiday. It would be at least Tuesday before we could find out if they even have the damn part. FUCK! Stuck in Dalton, GA with no car.
We watch the Pawn Stars marathon most of the day after Saved By The Bell. Finally I go for a swim. I didn’t have my trunks as my suitcase was in the car, a $12 taxi ride away. Linda protested but I went in my skivvies. Hell there wasn’t a soul around.
I did spot a Fudruckers sign across the street and was all whetted up for a burger for dinner. So about 6 we wandered across the road only to find the MF closed. I was pissed. I guess we were going to have to hit the Waffle House. Great, but not as great as Fudruckers! We had a good dinner, the All-Star and left hoping Ryan, the waitress didn’t get the shit beat out of her by her ex who was hanging out in the lot.
We went back to the room and watched some more Pawn Stars until I fell asleep. We will be on the road tomorrow come hell or high water.
TUESDAY
The ordeal continues. Of course at 8:30 we find out that the part is not available at either local Ford dealer and will have to be ordered. It will be here Wednesday. We can’t wait. Linda had already checked around for rental cars and we would have been home had the office been open Monday. But we called Enterprise and they came and got us and we got the car, went to Sears, got our stuff out of the car and headed for Indy in the KIA Rio. It had no luxurious amenities, but it would be good enough!
We stopped in Elizabethtown, KY at the Cracker Barrel for lunch and even it didn’t seem as good. It was just time to be home. Linda took us the rest of the way in and we arrived home at just about 6:00. I wasn’t ready to kiss the ground, but I was glad to be home.
EPILOGUE
Well Linda and Ginny are on their way to Dalton to pick up the car. I just spoke to them and they are almost there and seem to be making pretty good time. We turning all this into Ford for warranty consideration and I suggest they pay it.
As for the vacation itself, it was wonderful. 8 fantastic nights in FL at a resort we both really like. The onion rings were as good as we remembered, the beer was cold and the wait staff was top notch. Other than the one day where my knee was really hurting it was one of the best vacations I have ever had. Hopefully we get to go back to the same place next year and spend another 8 nights. What with Amy and Greg’s impending nuptials it’s hard to know if we can do it next year.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Monday, May 24, 2010
Time for a liver break!
Now that was some weekend! From the lasagna dinner at Mom’s on Wednesday evening to coming home and absolutely dropping from being exhausted last night it was a great time start to finish!
First of all thanks to my mom and pop for having everyone over for dinner. We had a really nice time. Got to meet my niece’s boyfriend. I thought I put a moratorium on her growing up;) Had some cake and ice cream and got some nice gifts. Now at some point today I have to get those thank you cards out!
Thursday was cloudy and cool, but not cold. I headed out to the track and saw a couple of hours of practice before we got some sprinkles. We were heading out that night for a birthday party so I decided to head home. I got home, got a shower, fed some cats and headed over and got my annual May manicure. Being on my feet all day, they needed a little TLC! Best $25 I spend a couple of times a year.
Then I drove down to Brandon’s on the south side for my birthday party. What a turnout. My wife billed it as a “Girls Night Out” but it was all about me;) I tried to count the number of attendees but could only recall 32! Thanks to everyone who turned out and for the birthday beers and shooters! It was a good thing I only had a couple at the track or I would have been face down on the table at the bar.
Friday, however, I was feeling it. But, being the trouper that I am I chewed up a couple of aspirins, drank a beer and was fine. Me and Linda headed out the Speedway about 10. It was another cloudy and cool day. Costanza didn’t show saying the rain was coming at noon. It didn’t and we enjoyed nearly a full day of practice. Linda even managed to stalk Graham Rahal long enough to get his autograph. I want to get Tomas Scheckter’s but that slippery shit is proving to be quite elusive!
We headed out about 4 from the track when we got some slight precipitation. I knew it was going to be a long couple of days coming up and it was supposed to get hot and sunny so leaving early wasn’t any big deal. I hit the rack early in anticipation of having to get up at 6 the next morning.
Welcome to Pole Day for the 2010 Running of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing! At home the day dawned bright, but a little chilly yet. The lady on TV said not to worry that the heat was coming. Okay Nicole, I’ll buy it. We pack up and head out and the closer we get to the Speedway the darker it looks. We stop and get gas in Linda’s car and when I get out I’m cold. Nicole didn’t say I would need a sweater to start the day!
When we get to the track we are parked about where we would park every day. Close to the shuttle stop, so that was a bonus. When we get to the seats we head out to get a bite to eat. We watched practice and honestly, I would have bet against sunshine ever happening on this day.
Finally, after all the festivities we were set for qualifying. The complete story of qualifying can be found at many online sites so I won’t bore you with all of the details, but there were some highlights not the least of which was Princess Poutypuss and her asinine comments.
To no one’s surprise Team Penske and Target Chip Ganassi Racing were fast. A little more surprising was that Rahal Letterman got Graham in at 7th and that Alex Tagliani showed he wasn’t faking all week when he had the second fastest speed of Q1. “Special’ Ed Carpenter was the biggest shocker coming out of nowhere to take the final spot in the “Fast Nine” and advance to Q2. For those of you unaware, they qualified 24 on Saturday and the fastest nine went back out at 4:30 in the afternoon and see who could post the fastest speed and sit on the pole. It was a new concept this year and there were some monetary enticements to get teams to participate. That “Fast Nine” session was Q2 or qualifying round 2. To make things more interesting, the fastest time in Q1 would get the first pick of pit location. That made it so guys wouldn't sandbag or hold out until the Q2 session to show what they had.
Anyway, Q1 played out pretty much to chalk. The biggest team surprise was that the Andretti Autosports team struggled so mightily. None of them were particularly fast and team leader Tony Kanaan crashed on his attempt. They weren’t great all week, but generally they are considered to be just a step down from Penske and Ganassi. Well ol’ Danica just couldn’t help throw a hissy fit after her run. If there is a bigger bitch in sports I sure don’t know who it is.
Obviously I am no Danica Patrick fan, but she is, for whatever reason, extremely popular. But this time Dunce Cap Danica stepped on her own wiener. Clearly agitated by not being the fastest and no where near the Fast Nine Danica got out the car and complained that it was all wrong and that she was scared and that the car didn’t deserve to be that far back and finally that her run was “not my fault”. You could hear the boos cascade down all over the Speedway and “the World’s Largest PA System”. It was classic! This bitch who refuses to ever accept any blame for any mistakes she makes threw her team and crew under the bus and pissed off her fan base in one small sentence. It was the line of the day or maybe even the Centennial era. She was derided and made fun of her the rest of the weekend. Her crew was jokingly told it was their fault as they went up and down pit lane and in the ultimate indignity she had the line yelled at here as she made her way down pit lane and there were even several “fuck you bitch!” epithets yelled at her. Poutypuss was as dour as ever and just couldn’t understand why her fans would boo her. Maybe she hasn’t figured out what we fans know. It’s a team sport and when an individual puts themselves ahead of the team, bad things happen.
Of course her staunchest supporters are still defending her saying she has a right to say what’s on here mind, or that guys like AJ Foyt were loved for speaking their mind because they were guys and not a woman in a mans sport. Well sorry but I have to call bullshit on that. Sure she has a right to say it, but just because you have the right doesn’t mean you should. This should have been handled in the privacy of the garage or motor home, not over the PA system. Yeah, I bet her crew was fired up to help her get her car ready for next Sunday. Second the Foyt, or any other guy comparison doesn't hold water. Foyt was a winner. I don’t like Tony Stewart but he is a winner as well and these guys have earned that right, yet they still don’t ever eschew all blame. Besides, when Foyt called his car a tub of shit, it was his team and his crew, the guys he hired and directed. It was a tub of shit because AJ had created a tub of shit. Danica hasn’t done shit, yet still acts like she if God’s gift to racing. What a bitch!
With all of the Danica excitement over we hardly noticed that the skies had cleared and it was not only sunny, but getting much warmer! Scheckter went out but they had some problem and wouldn’t get in until after 3:30. Helio was the fastest in Q1 after retaking the top from Tagliani. We got our beverages and settled in to see how this Fast Nine would shake out.
It turned out to be pretty fun. I don’t think they did a great job of explaining it, but all in all it was pretty exciting. Unfortunately Graham lost a position, but he still starts in the first three rows. Tomorrow is Bump Day and there are some big names still to try to get in. Paul Tracy, Vitor Meira, John Andretti and Tony Kanaan to name a few. It’s also supposed to be sunny and 90 degrees. Nicole? Is that accurate?
It was! 94 in fact. Hotter than a pepper fart. I was dousing my head down and then soaking may hat in the sink in the bathroom. The beer didn’t work and my hand is even sun burnt but it was a good day anyway!
Linda decided not to go as her back was hurting her a little. She ran me down to Neils to go with Keith and him. We headed out and it was obvious it was going to be a beautiful day. There was 2 hours of down time between practice and qualifying for Armed Forces day events. We got to hear the Army band play their usual assortment of military songs and had a nice flyover by some F-16’s. But the real show would be on the track and it didn’t disappoint and neither did that slippery shit Scheckter. Still don’t have that autograph! And Tomas, if you're reading this, nothing but love for you and your effort this month. Just sign my damn hat!;)
With the track heating up several drivers went out for qualifying attempts before the heat really set in. A few had some good runs but Bump Day is always about the 5 o’clock hour and it was a good one. I have to tell you, the heat almost ran me out to the shade, but I stayed and was rewarded with a spirited final hour of qualifying! Drivers pulled their speeds and retried, some bumped their way back in and some made questionable decisions. Of those, some worked out, some didn’t. I was sad to see Sarah Fisher’s team miss out putting their second driver in, but their decision backfired on them. Same thing happened to Paul Tracy and now the self-proclaimed winner of the 2002 Indianapolis 500 will have to wait until next year to even try.
Milka Duno was the only woman at the Speedway to fail to make the field although I expect to hear that she will take over her teammate Alex Lloyd’s car but the time the race rolls around. Money talks people. Nowhere louder than the racetrack I’m afraid.
So the field was set, the beer was drank and it was time to head home and rest up for a couple of days before I head back to work for a couple and then it’s Carb Day on Friday and Sunday is Race Day! My liver is happy for the break and honestly, the thought of a beer today just isn’t very appealing!
Peace out and thanks again to everyone for all of their Birthday wishes!!
First of all thanks to my mom and pop for having everyone over for dinner. We had a really nice time. Got to meet my niece’s boyfriend. I thought I put a moratorium on her growing up;) Had some cake and ice cream and got some nice gifts. Now at some point today I have to get those thank you cards out!
Thursday was cloudy and cool, but not cold. I headed out to the track and saw a couple of hours of practice before we got some sprinkles. We were heading out that night for a birthday party so I decided to head home. I got home, got a shower, fed some cats and headed over and got my annual May manicure. Being on my feet all day, they needed a little TLC! Best $25 I spend a couple of times a year.
Then I drove down to Brandon’s on the south side for my birthday party. What a turnout. My wife billed it as a “Girls Night Out” but it was all about me;) I tried to count the number of attendees but could only recall 32! Thanks to everyone who turned out and for the birthday beers and shooters! It was a good thing I only had a couple at the track or I would have been face down on the table at the bar.
Friday, however, I was feeling it. But, being the trouper that I am I chewed up a couple of aspirins, drank a beer and was fine. Me and Linda headed out the Speedway about 10. It was another cloudy and cool day. Costanza didn’t show saying the rain was coming at noon. It didn’t and we enjoyed nearly a full day of practice. Linda even managed to stalk Graham Rahal long enough to get his autograph. I want to get Tomas Scheckter’s but that slippery shit is proving to be quite elusive!
We headed out about 4 from the track when we got some slight precipitation. I knew it was going to be a long couple of days coming up and it was supposed to get hot and sunny so leaving early wasn’t any big deal. I hit the rack early in anticipation of having to get up at 6 the next morning.
Welcome to Pole Day for the 2010 Running of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing! At home the day dawned bright, but a little chilly yet. The lady on TV said not to worry that the heat was coming. Okay Nicole, I’ll buy it. We pack up and head out and the closer we get to the Speedway the darker it looks. We stop and get gas in Linda’s car and when I get out I’m cold. Nicole didn’t say I would need a sweater to start the day!
When we get to the track we are parked about where we would park every day. Close to the shuttle stop, so that was a bonus. When we get to the seats we head out to get a bite to eat. We watched practice and honestly, I would have bet against sunshine ever happening on this day.
Finally, after all the festivities we were set for qualifying. The complete story of qualifying can be found at many online sites so I won’t bore you with all of the details, but there were some highlights not the least of which was Princess Poutypuss and her asinine comments.
To no one’s surprise Team Penske and Target Chip Ganassi Racing were fast. A little more surprising was that Rahal Letterman got Graham in at 7th and that Alex Tagliani showed he wasn’t faking all week when he had the second fastest speed of Q1. “Special’ Ed Carpenter was the biggest shocker coming out of nowhere to take the final spot in the “Fast Nine” and advance to Q2. For those of you unaware, they qualified 24 on Saturday and the fastest nine went back out at 4:30 in the afternoon and see who could post the fastest speed and sit on the pole. It was a new concept this year and there were some monetary enticements to get teams to participate. That “Fast Nine” session was Q2 or qualifying round 2. To make things more interesting, the fastest time in Q1 would get the first pick of pit location. That made it so guys wouldn't sandbag or hold out until the Q2 session to show what they had.
Anyway, Q1 played out pretty much to chalk. The biggest team surprise was that the Andretti Autosports team struggled so mightily. None of them were particularly fast and team leader Tony Kanaan crashed on his attempt. They weren’t great all week, but generally they are considered to be just a step down from Penske and Ganassi. Well ol’ Danica just couldn’t help throw a hissy fit after her run. If there is a bigger bitch in sports I sure don’t know who it is.
Obviously I am no Danica Patrick fan, but she is, for whatever reason, extremely popular. But this time Dunce Cap Danica stepped on her own wiener. Clearly agitated by not being the fastest and no where near the Fast Nine Danica got out the car and complained that it was all wrong and that she was scared and that the car didn’t deserve to be that far back and finally that her run was “not my fault”. You could hear the boos cascade down all over the Speedway and “the World’s Largest PA System”. It was classic! This bitch who refuses to ever accept any blame for any mistakes she makes threw her team and crew under the bus and pissed off her fan base in one small sentence. It was the line of the day or maybe even the Centennial era. She was derided and made fun of her the rest of the weekend. Her crew was jokingly told it was their fault as they went up and down pit lane and in the ultimate indignity she had the line yelled at here as she made her way down pit lane and there were even several “fuck you bitch!” epithets yelled at her. Poutypuss was as dour as ever and just couldn’t understand why her fans would boo her. Maybe she hasn’t figured out what we fans know. It’s a team sport and when an individual puts themselves ahead of the team, bad things happen.
Of course her staunchest supporters are still defending her saying she has a right to say what’s on here mind, or that guys like AJ Foyt were loved for speaking their mind because they were guys and not a woman in a mans sport. Well sorry but I have to call bullshit on that. Sure she has a right to say it, but just because you have the right doesn’t mean you should. This should have been handled in the privacy of the garage or motor home, not over the PA system. Yeah, I bet her crew was fired up to help her get her car ready for next Sunday. Second the Foyt, or any other guy comparison doesn't hold water. Foyt was a winner. I don’t like Tony Stewart but he is a winner as well and these guys have earned that right, yet they still don’t ever eschew all blame. Besides, when Foyt called his car a tub of shit, it was his team and his crew, the guys he hired and directed. It was a tub of shit because AJ had created a tub of shit. Danica hasn’t done shit, yet still acts like she if God’s gift to racing. What a bitch!
With all of the Danica excitement over we hardly noticed that the skies had cleared and it was not only sunny, but getting much warmer! Scheckter went out but they had some problem and wouldn’t get in until after 3:30. Helio was the fastest in Q1 after retaking the top from Tagliani. We got our beverages and settled in to see how this Fast Nine would shake out.
It turned out to be pretty fun. I don’t think they did a great job of explaining it, but all in all it was pretty exciting. Unfortunately Graham lost a position, but he still starts in the first three rows. Tomorrow is Bump Day and there are some big names still to try to get in. Paul Tracy, Vitor Meira, John Andretti and Tony Kanaan to name a few. It’s also supposed to be sunny and 90 degrees. Nicole? Is that accurate?
It was! 94 in fact. Hotter than a pepper fart. I was dousing my head down and then soaking may hat in the sink in the bathroom. The beer didn’t work and my hand is even sun burnt but it was a good day anyway!
Linda decided not to go as her back was hurting her a little. She ran me down to Neils to go with Keith and him. We headed out and it was obvious it was going to be a beautiful day. There was 2 hours of down time between practice and qualifying for Armed Forces day events. We got to hear the Army band play their usual assortment of military songs and had a nice flyover by some F-16’s. But the real show would be on the track and it didn’t disappoint and neither did that slippery shit Scheckter. Still don’t have that autograph! And Tomas, if you're reading this, nothing but love for you and your effort this month. Just sign my damn hat!;)
With the track heating up several drivers went out for qualifying attempts before the heat really set in. A few had some good runs but Bump Day is always about the 5 o’clock hour and it was a good one. I have to tell you, the heat almost ran me out to the shade, but I stayed and was rewarded with a spirited final hour of qualifying! Drivers pulled their speeds and retried, some bumped their way back in and some made questionable decisions. Of those, some worked out, some didn’t. I was sad to see Sarah Fisher’s team miss out putting their second driver in, but their decision backfired on them. Same thing happened to Paul Tracy and now the self-proclaimed winner of the 2002 Indianapolis 500 will have to wait until next year to even try.
Milka Duno was the only woman at the Speedway to fail to make the field although I expect to hear that she will take over her teammate Alex Lloyd’s car but the time the race rolls around. Money talks people. Nowhere louder than the racetrack I’m afraid.
So the field was set, the beer was drank and it was time to head home and rest up for a couple of days before I head back to work for a couple and then it’s Carb Day on Friday and Sunday is Race Day! My liver is happy for the break and honestly, the thought of a beer today just isn’t very appealing!
Peace out and thanks again to everyone for all of their Birthday wishes!!
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
A Season Ticket No More. For Now;)
Well the NFL draft is now a few weeks past, mini-camp is over, it’s May and we are at the point on the calendar that is about as far away from NFL football as you can be.
So why am I writing a piece about the NFL and the Indianapolis Colts at this time of year? I guess with a week or so until the track opens, just a couple of other racing events and no other real sports news that grabs my attention I started thinking about the upcoming season. I mean, I love to follow the Yankees and the Reds but baseball has five months UNTIL the playoffs. I want to follow hockey more but just can’t really make myself. The NBA playoffs, uggh! No thank you.
This isn’t an entry about how I think the upcoming season will go although there may be a little of that thrown in. Nor is it going to be my assessment of past events such as the loss in the Super Bowl or the 2010 Draft. No, this is about my personal experience as a 25-year season ticket holder.
Sadly, I’ve made the choice to not renew my Indianapolis Colt season ticket for the 2010 season. Frankly it just wasn’t in the budget this year and I felt it was time to make the right decision regarding the ticket. I’m not saying it is in any way permanent; it was just the right thing to do this year. Hell, I’m hoping something happens that allows me to go to most of the games this year, but only time will tell if that happens. Even if I don’t make it to the games I’ve had more fun over the past 25 seasons than most fans can dream of.
I’ve seen what amounts to the birth of a franchise. Sure the Colts had been in Baltimore for years, but they were new to Indianapolis and what a welcome they received. Of course the newness wore off quick as we sat through some crappy seasons with what we thought were marginal NFL players and coaches. 3-13 season records were the norm rather than the exception for most of the first 15 years the team was here. But the team had their moments.
We drank Old Style beer, maybe a little too much, at the games. We laughed at the inept play of some of the Colts. Eugene Daniel was “the Toast of the Town”. Mike Pagel was a horrible quarterback and we always wanted Art Schlichter to play, but truth be told he was even more of a nightmare. There was Jeff George and the whole train wreck that he was.
We stole the famed “Steel Curtain” banner the Steelers fans had the audacity to hang in OUR room. Of course the police made us give it back, but it didn’t go back up! We wore tuxes to the game the day after one of the guys in our row got married. We ran the fans in front of us off. I kind of regret that but I guess they had had enough beer spilled on them. The Bears fans wanted to fight us for no reason other than they are just jerks.
And lest you think that the first years were ALL bad there were some shining on field moments and memories that I’ll never forget. Jack Trudeau was a defensive, arrogant prick but he gave his all on the field and I will always be thankful for that. Number 29 Eric Dickerson provided many thrills most notably his dominating performance against the Broncos on that Halloween night in 1988. The Dome literally rocked that night as it did a week later when the Colts came back from a halftime deficit to beat the Jets. There was Rosie Potts blocking and catching the ball. Brief glimpses of greatness from linebackers such as Barry Krauss, Duane Bickett and Jeff Herrod. Bill Brooks catching most anything that got in his area, although with some of the QB’s, that wasn’t much! And of course the short, but brilliant career of Steve Emtmann.
But going to the games was ultimately more social than it was about being a serious fan. Of course we were and are serious fans, but to mock and deride those around us who were only there for the “event” was misguided as the team gave very little to get enthused about. In fact, for the first 10 years we only had one playoff appearance and that came in the strike year.
Then there was 1994. The Colts drafted Marshall Faulk and we had OUR first real superstar. Sure 29 was here in the 80’s but he was acquired in a trade and will always be known more as a Ram than a Colt. With Marshall running and Captain Comeback Jim Harbaugh at QB and a solid defense the team seemed headed in the right direction. After a revolving door at head coach the team had their old coach Ted Marchibroda back on board with some solid help at key coaching positions.
With Harbaugh, Faulk and a decent team we saw a deep run in the playoffs for the first time. None of the games were at home, but after 10+ years we had a team the city could rally around. Unfortunately the feeling nor the success lasted. A couple of short years later and we were watching the same old 3-13 Colts, but we still loved them and still had a great time at the games.
Finally, in 1998, the Colts turned the corner for good, or at least as good as for 12 years of success. With Peyton Manning at QB and a laundry list of stars on offense the Colts started putting up gaudy numbers for wins, yardage and points each season. For the past 10 years the Colts have been in the conversation for Super Bowl champion. Sure we’ve only won the one, but there is little reason why this team can’t win another or more.
More importantly is how the whole experience of going to the games has changed. From the “ho-hum, I’m here, where’s my book” days of 15 years ago to the fever pitch we have today. More than anything I will miss that. The whole “fuck you, this is our house” mentality that has come with winning is awesome to experience. Sure we get fans of the other teams, especially those jackass Patriot fans, but their numbers are small and getting smaller all of the time.
I’ll miss hanging at Tom’s before the games. Drinking my RBV before the game and my four Bud’s at the game with a couple after thrown in for good measure. I’ll miss seeing the Colts try to improve upon last seasons incredible 13 wins in a row stretch and make it through unscathed and culminating in a Super Bowl win. I’ll miss the camaraderie of the fans around us with whom we’ve become game friends.
It has been a great 26 years and like I said, I wholly expect this to be temporary and am already making arrangements for my return. It’s just something that has been such a part of my life over the past generation that I feel like I am losing a great friend. Just know, I’ll see you again old friend.
So why am I writing a piece about the NFL and the Indianapolis Colts at this time of year? I guess with a week or so until the track opens, just a couple of other racing events and no other real sports news that grabs my attention I started thinking about the upcoming season. I mean, I love to follow the Yankees and the Reds but baseball has five months UNTIL the playoffs. I want to follow hockey more but just can’t really make myself. The NBA playoffs, uggh! No thank you.
This isn’t an entry about how I think the upcoming season will go although there may be a little of that thrown in. Nor is it going to be my assessment of past events such as the loss in the Super Bowl or the 2010 Draft. No, this is about my personal experience as a 25-year season ticket holder.
Sadly, I’ve made the choice to not renew my Indianapolis Colt season ticket for the 2010 season. Frankly it just wasn’t in the budget this year and I felt it was time to make the right decision regarding the ticket. I’m not saying it is in any way permanent; it was just the right thing to do this year. Hell, I’m hoping something happens that allows me to go to most of the games this year, but only time will tell if that happens. Even if I don’t make it to the games I’ve had more fun over the past 25 seasons than most fans can dream of.
I’ve seen what amounts to the birth of a franchise. Sure the Colts had been in Baltimore for years, but they were new to Indianapolis and what a welcome they received. Of course the newness wore off quick as we sat through some crappy seasons with what we thought were marginal NFL players and coaches. 3-13 season records were the norm rather than the exception for most of the first 15 years the team was here. But the team had their moments.
We drank Old Style beer, maybe a little too much, at the games. We laughed at the inept play of some of the Colts. Eugene Daniel was “the Toast of the Town”. Mike Pagel was a horrible quarterback and we always wanted Art Schlichter to play, but truth be told he was even more of a nightmare. There was Jeff George and the whole train wreck that he was.
We stole the famed “Steel Curtain” banner the Steelers fans had the audacity to hang in OUR room. Of course the police made us give it back, but it didn’t go back up! We wore tuxes to the game the day after one of the guys in our row got married. We ran the fans in front of us off. I kind of regret that but I guess they had had enough beer spilled on them. The Bears fans wanted to fight us for no reason other than they are just jerks.
And lest you think that the first years were ALL bad there were some shining on field moments and memories that I’ll never forget. Jack Trudeau was a defensive, arrogant prick but he gave his all on the field and I will always be thankful for that. Number 29 Eric Dickerson provided many thrills most notably his dominating performance against the Broncos on that Halloween night in 1988. The Dome literally rocked that night as it did a week later when the Colts came back from a halftime deficit to beat the Jets. There was Rosie Potts blocking and catching the ball. Brief glimpses of greatness from linebackers such as Barry Krauss, Duane Bickett and Jeff Herrod. Bill Brooks catching most anything that got in his area, although with some of the QB’s, that wasn’t much! And of course the short, but brilliant career of Steve Emtmann.
But going to the games was ultimately more social than it was about being a serious fan. Of course we were and are serious fans, but to mock and deride those around us who were only there for the “event” was misguided as the team gave very little to get enthused about. In fact, for the first 10 years we only had one playoff appearance and that came in the strike year.
Then there was 1994. The Colts drafted Marshall Faulk and we had OUR first real superstar. Sure 29 was here in the 80’s but he was acquired in a trade and will always be known more as a Ram than a Colt. With Marshall running and Captain Comeback Jim Harbaugh at QB and a solid defense the team seemed headed in the right direction. After a revolving door at head coach the team had their old coach Ted Marchibroda back on board with some solid help at key coaching positions.
With Harbaugh, Faulk and a decent team we saw a deep run in the playoffs for the first time. None of the games were at home, but after 10+ years we had a team the city could rally around. Unfortunately the feeling nor the success lasted. A couple of short years later and we were watching the same old 3-13 Colts, but we still loved them and still had a great time at the games.
Finally, in 1998, the Colts turned the corner for good, or at least as good as for 12 years of success. With Peyton Manning at QB and a laundry list of stars on offense the Colts started putting up gaudy numbers for wins, yardage and points each season. For the past 10 years the Colts have been in the conversation for Super Bowl champion. Sure we’ve only won the one, but there is little reason why this team can’t win another or more.
More importantly is how the whole experience of going to the games has changed. From the “ho-hum, I’m here, where’s my book” days of 15 years ago to the fever pitch we have today. More than anything I will miss that. The whole “fuck you, this is our house” mentality that has come with winning is awesome to experience. Sure we get fans of the other teams, especially those jackass Patriot fans, but their numbers are small and getting smaller all of the time.
I’ll miss hanging at Tom’s before the games. Drinking my RBV before the game and my four Bud’s at the game with a couple after thrown in for good measure. I’ll miss seeing the Colts try to improve upon last seasons incredible 13 wins in a row stretch and make it through unscathed and culminating in a Super Bowl win. I’ll miss the camaraderie of the fans around us with whom we’ve become game friends.
It has been a great 26 years and like I said, I wholly expect this to be temporary and am already making arrangements for my return. It’s just something that has been such a part of my life over the past generation that I feel like I am losing a great friend. Just know, I’ll see you again old friend.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Happy Thanksgiving!
Hi everyone and I hope you are all enjoying a Happy Thanksgiving weekend! Whatever you did or are doing, from visiting with family and friends to shopping or just enjoying some free time I hope you all have at least something for which you are thankful.
Me, I am feeling especially blessed this year. I just got a promotion at work and I have a beautiful kind wife whom I love a great deal and a great family and many great friends. In fact I got to spend last Sunday with my wife's family, had drinks with some friends on Wednesday evening and had a wonderful dinner with my family on Thursday. On top of that I am enjoying a nice four day weekend!
While I am thankful for all of those things and many more, something that happened Thursday morning made me realize how much I have and how the little irritations in my life are so insignificant.
My wife volunteered us to deliver Thanksgiving meals for the Mozzell Sanders dinner on Thursday morning. I know she misses her mom so, and she wanted to do something nice in her honor. I love to do that kind of thing so I was excited that she got us involved.
So before we went to the church I figured we'd be delivering meals to the elderly for the most part, which for the most part turned out to be the case. However, a couple of deliveries really opened my eyes.
As expected our first sortie was to elderly folks who were all very appreciative, as was everyone, for the dinners. We did just three deliveries on our first sortie and we had plenty of time before we had to be at my folks house so we headed back to the church to see if they needed more dinners delivered. Turns out they did.
This time we were going to a place I honestly did not know existed in America, let alone Indianapolis. Maybe I'm naive, but the area we drove into looked more like what I would have expected in Vietnam during the war. The area, as a matter of record, was due east of the Raytheon plant, which used to be the Naval Avionics center over at 21st and Arlington.
Honestly, when we turned into the neighborhood I was not prepared for what I saw. The dwellings were mostly doubles that at one time probably served military personnel working at Naval Avionics. What they are now can only be described as severe urban blight. I found it interesting that the street names were Commodore and Nimitz and the like, fierce, Naval names. It looked like Chester Nimitz had just cruised his ship near and let loose with every canon and other weapon he had on the area.
Most of the buildings were boarded up. There were junk cars in the yards. No trees. An occasional broken toy scattered in a yard here and there. In fact it was the toys that really made me sad. Not one of the houses was decent. You know how you come across a bad neighborhood but you see at least one or two decent houses? Well that simply was not the case here. Every 100 feet we drove it seemed to get worse. I was in disbelief. Shocked.
Our first delivery was to a middle aged woman who probably had the “nicest” house on the block. Hey, she at least had a storm door on here house. She was nice, but I just couldn't help but feel sorry for her. The next delivery around the corner was 7 meals to a house that had no storm door and some kind of sheet for a window covering. A middle aged Mexican man answered the door. He thanked me, but I wondered how bad it could have been in Mexico for him to be here and living in this neighborhood.
As we drive out of the neighborhood I was silent, still stunned from what I had seen. Less than 3 blocks away we had another delivery to a very nice older neighborhood. Had I not known better I would have thought a tornado touched down in the one neighborhood and passed the next.
I decided to write this tonight because I haven't been able to get that sight out of my mind. I know there are people who have it a lot worse off than I so seeing some of the places we went didn't come as a surprise. But I just had no idea how bad some did have it. And who knows, they may not think they have it bad at all, but it made me sad and reflective. It makes me want to do something about it, but what? Did delivering meals to these people represent all that can be done?
While I could drone on all night about what I saw I'll cut it off here. Suffice it to say I was even more thankful for what I have after we got home. The good Lord willing I will never take what I have for granted again.
Love and peace to all!
Me, I am feeling especially blessed this year. I just got a promotion at work and I have a beautiful kind wife whom I love a great deal and a great family and many great friends. In fact I got to spend last Sunday with my wife's family, had drinks with some friends on Wednesday evening and had a wonderful dinner with my family on Thursday. On top of that I am enjoying a nice four day weekend!
While I am thankful for all of those things and many more, something that happened Thursday morning made me realize how much I have and how the little irritations in my life are so insignificant.
My wife volunteered us to deliver Thanksgiving meals for the Mozzell Sanders dinner on Thursday morning. I know she misses her mom so, and she wanted to do something nice in her honor. I love to do that kind of thing so I was excited that she got us involved.
So before we went to the church I figured we'd be delivering meals to the elderly for the most part, which for the most part turned out to be the case. However, a couple of deliveries really opened my eyes.
As expected our first sortie was to elderly folks who were all very appreciative, as was everyone, for the dinners. We did just three deliveries on our first sortie and we had plenty of time before we had to be at my folks house so we headed back to the church to see if they needed more dinners delivered. Turns out they did.
This time we were going to a place I honestly did not know existed in America, let alone Indianapolis. Maybe I'm naive, but the area we drove into looked more like what I would have expected in Vietnam during the war. The area, as a matter of record, was due east of the Raytheon plant, which used to be the Naval Avionics center over at 21st and Arlington.
Honestly, when we turned into the neighborhood I was not prepared for what I saw. The dwellings were mostly doubles that at one time probably served military personnel working at Naval Avionics. What they are now can only be described as severe urban blight. I found it interesting that the street names were Commodore and Nimitz and the like, fierce, Naval names. It looked like Chester Nimitz had just cruised his ship near and let loose with every canon and other weapon he had on the area.
Most of the buildings were boarded up. There were junk cars in the yards. No trees. An occasional broken toy scattered in a yard here and there. In fact it was the toys that really made me sad. Not one of the houses was decent. You know how you come across a bad neighborhood but you see at least one or two decent houses? Well that simply was not the case here. Every 100 feet we drove it seemed to get worse. I was in disbelief. Shocked.
Our first delivery was to a middle aged woman who probably had the “nicest” house on the block. Hey, she at least had a storm door on here house. She was nice, but I just couldn't help but feel sorry for her. The next delivery around the corner was 7 meals to a house that had no storm door and some kind of sheet for a window covering. A middle aged Mexican man answered the door. He thanked me, but I wondered how bad it could have been in Mexico for him to be here and living in this neighborhood.
As we drive out of the neighborhood I was silent, still stunned from what I had seen. Less than 3 blocks away we had another delivery to a very nice older neighborhood. Had I not known better I would have thought a tornado touched down in the one neighborhood and passed the next.
I decided to write this tonight because I haven't been able to get that sight out of my mind. I know there are people who have it a lot worse off than I so seeing some of the places we went didn't come as a surprise. But I just had no idea how bad some did have it. And who knows, they may not think they have it bad at all, but it made me sad and reflective. It makes me want to do something about it, but what? Did delivering meals to these people represent all that can be done?
While I could drone on all night about what I saw I'll cut it off here. Suffice it to say I was even more thankful for what I have after we got home. The good Lord willing I will never take what I have for granted again.
Love and peace to all!
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Vacation 2009
Hi y'all!
Just back from a great week in Myrtle Beach, SC. I have the trip details and some review stuff for you here.
First off the trip details. We (me, Linda, Amy and Greg) left out of Indy at 1:00 pm last Friday (September 4, 2009). We had a fairly uneventful trip down. Stopped a couple of times for gas and stopped for dinner at the Cracker Barrel in Lake City, TN. I started the drive, Greg took over for a while then he gave way to Linda and I took the last part from Columbia into Myrtle. It did take us about 14.5 hours with the stops. Not awful time, but not great either. We would be in Tower 4 which was across Ocean Boulevard from towers 1-3 and not on the ocean for a couple of night's. No worries as we would move oceanfront on Sunday.
We arrived at 3:40 am at the Wyndham Ocean Boulevard and Linda and Amy ran in, got our keys and room assignment and we parked the car and unloaded. I had no problem going to sleep, but staying asleep would prove to be a task I was not up to.
I was hoping to sleep in on Saturday morning. I had been out until midnight on Thursday night bowling, up at 6 for work on Friday and had popped three 5 Hour Energy's and a couple of Red Bulls so I thought I'd crash hard. Oh fuck no! 7:00 am and I just can't go back to sleep. I laid in bed for a half an hour and finally said to hell with it and got up. I decided to take a look around the property and grab a paper before everyone else got up.
It was a quick walk across the street to the main part of the resort and across the dunes to the beach. The water was cool that morning, but still nice. I checked out where all of the pools were, where the bar was, of course and where it looked like would be the best sun places on the pool decks. The place looked pretty nice.
When I got back to the room I read the paper and waited for Linda to get up. When she did we ran down to the WalMart to check out the beach chairs and kind of get the feel of the town. We were technically in North Myrtle Beach. While we were out Linda spied the Tanger Outlet Mall. She was sleeping the night before when we came by it on our way in. I was hoping to keep it that way, but you know how that goes!! Of course they had a Coach outlet store so we had to stop in! She found a purse she liked but wasn't for sure she wanted to get it, so she decided to wait. We got some beer and headed back to the Wyndham.
First day of vacation so you know I am going to have a few coldies! I did. Unfortunately they don't seem to sell the 16oz'ers down there, so I settled for the 12's. They seemed to work okay!
After swimming and playing in the pool we chillaxed for a while and then went out to explore the area as a unit. Those of you who have been down to the Grand Strand know all about Wings, Eagles and Bargains. We hit them all and got some minor souvenirs. When we got back we tried to get some pizza from the bar at the resort but they wanted to charge us an arm and a leg so we got some Hungry Howie's with cinnamon bread and bread sticks for about half the price! And I don't care what Willie says, it was awesome!
SUNDAY
The skies are cloudy and it doesn't look like it's going to get any better for a while. We grab breakfast at the Waffle House. Amy puts on one of the great eating displays of the week. I had some grits, eggs and toast! I love the Waffle House! When we get back I get yelled at for doing what I am told to do, but I don't let it bother me too much!;) Apparently the deal was that the desk would call us when our room was ready in the other tower and we could just grab our keys at the desk and move our stuff to the oceanfront room. I wasn't sure what was said but I was told to call. Regardless it all worked out and with two heaping luggage carts we made the move from tower 4 to tower 1. It was quite a sight!
The new room was laid out just like the other, but the couch in this one wasn't as comfy. Still, we were oceanfront and it mattered little! Once we were in we decided it was time to do our food shopping for the week. We hit Wally World again and got in some supplies for the week, and of course, another case of beer!
Things didn't get any better weather wise, so we just kind of knocked around the place and had a drink at the bar. Swam a little and used the new boards. Even flew my kite a little. Looking at the forecast it pretty much showed my mood was going to be shit for the next 24 hours. Any longer and I would explode. Stay tuned!
That night we went to the BW-3's to eat. I had a chicken sandwich and what have become my favorite onion rings around anywhere. Fuck they are so damn good! To make matters worse it rained hard while we were there. I mean we were inside, but still...
Some drunk young guys were there watching the Colorado-Colorado State game and they were hooting and hollering, dropping F bombs and just carrying on like they owned the joint. The manager made them ease up on the language, but it was funny that their team lost! We just watched the race from ATL.
Back to the Ocean Boulevard, pretty beat as the lack of sleep is catching up to me. In bed by 11 which would turn out to be the latest I made it the rest of the week!
MONDAY
Happy Labor Day! Thud! Weather, crap. Mood, worse. Oh well, forecast calls for great rest of week.
We get up and decide to walk down to Main Street. Along with the Wing's and Bargain's there are numerous shops and stores selling all kinds of things. Clothes, food, drinks etc. The hot dog joint has a hot dog ketchuping itself. For some reason I didn't get a picture, but vow to later in the week. I did get a huggie with the SC logo on it, the moon over the Palm tree.
We ran out for some rum and mixer and to check out the nearest other Wyndham resort. It was nice, but small and quiet. I like big and rowdy! Amy and Greg were able to find some quality cigarette's for a decent price so they were able to smoke better for the week. Just a side note, they need to stop smoking. It really seems to dictate their lives and they are better than that. JMO.
After that we headed back to the room. Me and Greg went out swimming and when we came back up we pretty much watched the last day of the US Nationals and watched John Force make a complete ass of himself. What a tool! I did manage a little nap with the rainy weather, but not much.
Linda wanted Italian food that night so Greg checked out the reviews of the local establishments. You know how I feel about reviews, but I just played along. We decided on a place that turned out to be in Little River just north of North Myrtle Beach. It sounded good and I was hungry. Unfortunately, or fortuitously as it may be, we went the wrong direction on the main drag and had to turn around. White we were backtracking we saw a billboard for our intended destination and it showed they were closed Mondays. Luckily there was a place called the Villa Tuscana we had just passed and we decided to give it a go. Good call!
The place was kind of small, but the food was real good. I had spaghetti (I like spaghetti) with meat sauce and it reminded me of Arturo's, a place that used to be up at 86th and Keystone, but has since closed. It was one of my favorites and so was this! Linda and Greg had the lasagna and it was excellent as well. Greg crushed his, Linda had leftovers. Amy had the chicken Parmesan and it looked good as well. I had a glass of chianti that was superb. The only downside was that they only gave you one basket of bread and you paid for more. Basterds (sic)!
It was a little pricey, but still, I give it two thumbs up!
Back home I made it about an hour on a full stomach and a glass of wine. By 10 I was out! See you Tuesday!
TUESDAY
Or Black Tuesday as I am calling it. Oh it was real nice at 6:00 am, but the clouds rolled back in. I went swimming, but it wasn't a day to be “out”. My mood was turning more sour by the minute and it was threatening to derail the whole trip. I'm pretty sure I uttered the “let's just go home” line. God bless my wife as she doesn't even seem to listen to my crap some times! I'm sure she does but just knows I'm blowing off steam.
She then suggested we go see a movie. We had talked about seeing Inglorious Basterds before we left so what better time? I called and the movie started at 1:15pm. Of course when we got there it started at 2:00. The drain was getting closer. We walked around the Myrtle Beach Mall for a while and went into the Bass Pro Shop. Glorified Dick's if you ask me, but who's asking? Got some fun pictures of the walk and finally the movie started. God am I spoiled by the Kerasotes. This place had free refills, but their popcorn sucked and they controlled the butter allowance. The movie, however, was fantastic. I love Tarantino movies and this one didn't let me down.
It was a long movie and when we walked out the sun was shining and the clouds had lifted. Amy wanted to hit the Victoria's Secret for some undergarments so we did that and beat feet back to Ocean Boulevard (OB). I changed into my trunks in about 2 seconds, grabbed a towel, the boogie board and headed to the sea!
FINALLY it was nice. I wasn't about to look at tomorrow's forecast. All I know is that the clouds were gone and I was on the beach! Linda, Amy and Greg went for a walk, I plopped down, stuck the iPod on and soaked up the late day sun!
It was damn near dark when we finally went back to the suite. We showered and worked on dinner plans. Me and Linda has seen a place called Hamburger Joes that looked fun so she suggested that.
Joe's was good and cheap, but honestly I could have eaten 2 burgers. They were pretty small, but again, very tasty. Linda had a BBQ sandwich which she said was really good. Amy, who wanted hot dogs that night but was vetoed by mom, got her dog and Greg had a burger. Unfortunately something didn't sit well with Greg and he lost his dinner soon after. I think he puked on a dog, but I'm not sure.
On the way home we saw some drunk chick practically fall out of an Irish pub on Ocean Boulevard and her friend throw her up on his shoulders and try to carry her up some stairs. I kept expecting them to come tumbling back down the stairs, but I guess they made it!
Again it was an early night. Watched a little poker on TV and in bed by 10!
WEDNESDAY
The sun came out in all its glory today! I hit the pool early and grabbed some spots that looked like would retain sun for the longest time. We would eventually move as the sun crept behind the building from our vantage point about 1:00 pm. No biggie. With the sun out I was ready to guzzle some beer! My mood was 180 degrees from what it was.
Swam in the pool and the surf a lot that day. The wave were kind of down as the wind had died down as well. Still nice though.
For dinner we drove down to Myrtle Beach to the mall and ate at the Margaritaville. Thankfully no one threw a pickle at me! On the way down we checked out the other Wyndham resort in the area. It looked nice and probably a place we'd consider for future vacations.
At the Margaritaville I had the conch fritters (I love 'em) and a cold beer. We hung out and took some pictures and got some ice cream, but the beer and the sun pretty much had me beat. A new low as I was in bed by 8:45!
THURSDAY
Another beautiful day coming our way! I'm feeling the effects of yesterday's drinking and as far as that goes it's going to be a fairly light day! We grab seats by the pool and I swim in said pool and make several trips out to the ocean. It's a beautiful day and we are catching lots of rays. Pretty quiet day, but nice!
Amy and Greg had done some footwork up and won Ocean Boulevard and found a place called the OD Bar and Grill just down the street from us. It was also known by the much cooler moniker “Cheeseburger Republic”. That's what they wanted for dinner and they agreed to walk down and get it. I told them I wanted a cheeseburger, but to make sure they were bigger than Joe's from a couple of nights before or to get me 2. Well they were much bigger, but they still got me 2, and fries.
The burgers were very good, the fries, not so much. A little to soggy for my taste. Amy got a Philly and liked it a lot. Linda and Greg both got burgers and were pleased.
We watched some of the Steelers-Titans game, but I was tired and turned in about 9:45.
FRIDAY
9-11. A day of remembrance. I was once again up early and actually was able to get some decent shots of the sunrise. It was strange, but I got some great shots from our balcony, but couldn't get a good shot standing on the beach. Go figure.
Another glorious day! The resort had some really nice chaise's out in front of our building. Not on the pool deck, but just in a nice grassy area. Linda wanted to camp there for a day, but they seemed to have a lot of bugs hanging around, so we kept checking each day and the bugs seemed to be in much fewer numbers but we still passed on the chairs, opting once again for the pool deck. We did actually move to a new location for us that day by the little lazy river.
After setting us up at the pool I went back to the room and we went to the Golden Griddle for some breakfast. I had some pancakes, sausage and some funky hash browns. They had some kind of Cajun flavoring on them and they pretty much sucked. I was less than impressed with the place.
I had a couple of the daily drink specials which was the Rum Punch. It was decent, but you know those kind of drinks don't seem to have much alcohol in them and if you are angling for a good buzz you have to drink enough that you puke because of the sweetness. It's just a theory and one I wasn't willing to test.
For dinner one night I wanted some local fish and since we had just 2 nights left I figured I better jump at the chance.
I called the concierge desk and asked for a suggestion. She told me some place that had Alaskan Crab flown in daily. I said “pass, how about some local fish?” She told me a about a place in Little River called Captain Juel's. So into the shower I went and off to see the Captain we went.
The place was kind of a hole in the wall dive that looked like it probably would live up to the concierge's suggestion. It was right on the river nestled between a couple of gambling boats and by several fishing charted slips.
Inside, the place looked old and quaint, but decent. I ordered a beer and the flounder and fries. I don't know if it was the best meal I had during the week but it was excellent. Linda had some tasty coconut shrimp that I was lucky enough to get to try.
We watched the gambling boats head out for their pocket wringing excursions while we ate and then waked down on the pier as a fishing boat was coming in. We watched as some drunk young guys debarked the charter with a 4 foot shark they had caught. The one who had actually landed the shark was holding it up for pictures and being congratulated by all around. One of the guys told him that it was a Myrtle Beach tradition to kiss the fish he caught so the guy doffed his cap, sat his beer down, knelt down and planted a smooch right on the shark's mouth! It was crazy. I said “Dude, you just made out with that fish!” The whole thing was hilarious!
On our way back to the resort we hit the Eagles for their $5.99 hooded MB sweatshirts. We were able to find one, but the pickings were slim. We also made a run down to the Ron Jon store and got some things and a quick stop at the House of Blues for a shirt.
By now it was getting late (9:00 pm LOL) and I needed to get back so I could get to bed!
SATURDAY
If there has to be a saddest day annually then to me it is the last day of vacation. You know the end is nigh and there ain't nothing you can do about it. Today is that day.
The weather once again was fabulous. In fact, it would prove to be the warmest day of the week. As the sun rose over the beach Linda was adamant that we try just one more time to get the comfy chairs. I took the towels down and to my delight there were no bugs to be seen. I set us up as I had the days before and went back to the suite and we went to breakfast.
We went to Hot Stacks and it was so much better than the Golden Griddle. I had the sausage links, 2 over easy eggs and grits. Very good!!
After that we headed back to the resort and out to the chaises. Being the last day I was determined to stay out as long as I could stand it. I also wanted to fly the kite one more time but the breeze just wasn't going to cooperate this day.
About 4 I finally came back up to the room, decided to go for one more swim and then brought it back in for good. I kind of planned on swimming one last time in the ocean on Sunday, but as it turned out I just decided against it.
That night we all kind of just wanted to get some pizza brought in. They had pizza at the resort but like I said, when we tried to get it the first time it was so expensive we abandoned that idea. I called the concierge and asked for a recommendation on a good local pizza and was told to call a joint up in Little River. Turns out it was good, not dissimilar from mall pizza which is good, so I was happy.
I watched a little of the race and then went in the bedroom to watch some football. Of course I fell asleep soon after. No matter, we had a long day of driving coming back so I was ready to get a good nights sleep.
SUNDAY
The return trip. Bummer! All good things have to come to an end and this was it for us. We loaded up the truck and headed out about 8:30 am. I drove us to the Greenville/Spartanburg area and Greg took us all the way to the northern Kentucky area where I took over and finished the trip.
We stopped at Lake City, TN again for a late lunch after listening to the Colts beat the Jags. Unfortunately soon after we got a call from a friend informing us that another friend of ours had passed away earlier that day. Micheal Brewer was the same age as my wife and much too young to be gone. It was a somber ending to the vacation to say the least.
Around 10:00 we dropped Amy and Greg off and headed home. We got in just past 10:15, unloaded the truck and plopped down to watch a little of the end of the Sunday night game. It had been an excellent week, but it's always nice to be home. You can check out all of our pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/mboxm/sets/72157622367288844/
WYNDHAM OCEAN BOULEVARD
After looking over the Wyndham book we decided to try their Ocean Boulevard resort in North Myrtle Beach. The only real issue we had was the parking. Each night we would leave for dinner and would have to park across the street at tower 4. It wasn't a huge problem, it was just inconvenient. With space at a premium I doubt there is a whole lot they could have done to alleviate this problem, but the fact remains, it was somewhat of an issue.
Both of our rooms were nicely decorated and comfortable. I tried to keep the living room and kitchen neat, but I didn't have a whole lot of luck.
The floor plans made me think we had a door to the balcony from our bedroom, but we didn't. No biggie. There were just 7 suites on each floor in our building, with 14 floors. Tower 3 appeared to be the same as ours while tower 2 was probably twice as big. Tower 4 across the street where we spent the first couple of nights seemed larger, but it was hard to say for sure. There is a resort called The Cottages at the west end of the resort. I drove back there one day and they looked really nice. They were, however, quite a ways from the ocean and probably not an option for me.
We've stayed at Wyndham properties the past 3 summers and have very much enjoyed all three. Each had things we like the best of the bunch and each had their drawbacks, however small. This one had great location, was very nice and as usual the staff was accommodating. Our blender broke on Friday and a replacement was brought to us in minutes. The staff made our move from tower 4 to tower 1 a snap and answered any questions we had. I have no doubt we would return to the Ocean Boulevard resort next time we are in Myrtle Beach.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Goodbye RCA/Hoosier Dome!
I went downtown yesterday to see the deflation of the RCA Dome roof. Standing in the shadow of the new Lucas Oil Stadium I was kind of sad to watch as the dome slowly began to deflate. Ending an era and a chapter of our city’s history. As I turned around I was reminded of what that old gray and white dome had meant to our city. Without it there would have been neither the Colts nor Lucas Oil Stadium. Without it we would still have had just one NCAA Final Four.
The word “bittersweet” was uttered by at least three of those who spoke before they turned off the fans that held up the dome roof. Yes, it was the end of an era, but the memories that each of us have of it can’t be taken away with the flip of a switch. And while I shed a few tears as those responsible for the dome spoke, I couldn’t help but think back on the great times I had in there.
I remember the dome going up in 1983. We had no team to play there and no real prospects of getting one. But it, along with the reincarnation of the Union Station transformed our sleepy downtown into a vibrant and fun destination. Before 1983 you went downtown at night for a Pacer game or maybe out to eat at one of the handful of restaurants in the area. Not any more. There were movies, shopping, bars and restaurants to fit everyone’s desire, and it was just the beginning.
I remember the first time I went to the Hoosier Dome. It was for a preseason NFL game between the Bears and the Bills. It had been scheduled before the Colts arrived the previous winter. The place seemed as big as all of outdoors. We sat in the first row of the upper deck and the players seemed a mile away. But it was so cool to see an NFL game and it was just a taste of what was to come.
I actually missed the first two Colts games in the Dome. I went back over the seasons a few years ago and while I missed those two games I had missed only 8 since. I missed a few more preseason games in later years, but only a couple and only a couple of regular season games.
The Colts weren’t good for many years, but we managed to have a good time. That first season we stole the fabled “Steel Curtain” banner the Steeler fans had hung from the upper deck. Not in our house! We were caught and had to return it, but it didn’t go back up!
How many beers were spilled on the people in front of us? Mark Lee taking a dive over a couple of rows of fans one day, full beer gone. Fritz and them in front of us? Gone in just a few years. I guess we were too much for them!
Greg Stenger taking in food. Proud to the end that he never bought any food at the dome. A giant potato chip box used to smuggle in some kind of punch from the previous night’s party. Craig asking for quiet after a tough Saturday night. Nearly coming to blows with the Bears Suck fans. And yes, leaving the dome either before or just after the fourth quarter started because we were behind by so much.
$26 tickets which ended up being $109 our last season at the Dome.
We saw the first Monday Night Football game in 1988. Eric Dickerson running wild over the Broncos. The city all aglow for the occasion. Feeling the Dome actually rock as we kicked the Bronco’s asses. The feeling the next week when we came back in the second half to beat the Jets and feeling the stadium rock again.
We saw 3-13 season’s and I really thought that was our destiny. In 1995 Jim Harbaugh led us out of obscurity and into the AFC Championship game. The next year we were back in the playoffs, but were destroyed in the first game and went back to being bad until QB Peyton Manning arrived. By 2006 we had come full circle with the team as we won Super Bowl 41!
The Colts have provided most of my memories of the Dome, but there have been other events which have been very cool indeed.
I saw the Rolling Stones there twice and while the sound pretty much sucked it was still cool.
In 1987 the Indiana basketball team started its drive to the National title at the Dome. We didn’t have very good seats but it was great watching the Hoosiers get out the gate well and be on their way. In later years I saw the team play Kentucky at the Dome. While the Dome wasn’t the greatest basketball venue, it played host to some big games with big crowds and the city always managed to put on a show. I wasn’t there, but in 1984 the Dome hosted what was to be the largest crowd to ever see a basketball game. A record that stood for years.
Add to that the many state football titles the Roncalli Rebels won at the Dome and there were just so many memories. While winning the AFC title game in 2006 was the sweetest game, the celebration the day after the Super Bowl may have been the greatest non sporting event!
It wasn’t fancy or glitzy but it served its purpose and over the past few years was a helluva home field advantage for the Colts. Whether or not the new stadium can ever produce the noise or the memories of the Dome remains to be seen, but it’ll have its chance. But for now, in the last few weeks of the Dome’s existence I’ll think back to all of the great times and even some of the disappointments that came inside her walls.
The word “bittersweet” was uttered by at least three of those who spoke before they turned off the fans that held up the dome roof. Yes, it was the end of an era, but the memories that each of us have of it can’t be taken away with the flip of a switch. And while I shed a few tears as those responsible for the dome spoke, I couldn’t help but think back on the great times I had in there.
I remember the dome going up in 1983. We had no team to play there and no real prospects of getting one. But it, along with the reincarnation of the Union Station transformed our sleepy downtown into a vibrant and fun destination. Before 1983 you went downtown at night for a Pacer game or maybe out to eat at one of the handful of restaurants in the area. Not any more. There were movies, shopping, bars and restaurants to fit everyone’s desire, and it was just the beginning.
I remember the first time I went to the Hoosier Dome. It was for a preseason NFL game between the Bears and the Bills. It had been scheduled before the Colts arrived the previous winter. The place seemed as big as all of outdoors. We sat in the first row of the upper deck and the players seemed a mile away. But it was so cool to see an NFL game and it was just a taste of what was to come.
I actually missed the first two Colts games in the Dome. I went back over the seasons a few years ago and while I missed those two games I had missed only 8 since. I missed a few more preseason games in later years, but only a couple and only a couple of regular season games.
The Colts weren’t good for many years, but we managed to have a good time. That first season we stole the fabled “Steel Curtain” banner the Steeler fans had hung from the upper deck. Not in our house! We were caught and had to return it, but it didn’t go back up!
How many beers were spilled on the people in front of us? Mark Lee taking a dive over a couple of rows of fans one day, full beer gone. Fritz and them in front of us? Gone in just a few years. I guess we were too much for them!
Greg Stenger taking in food. Proud to the end that he never bought any food at the dome. A giant potato chip box used to smuggle in some kind of punch from the previous night’s party. Craig asking for quiet after a tough Saturday night. Nearly coming to blows with the Bears Suck fans. And yes, leaving the dome either before or just after the fourth quarter started because we were behind by so much.
$26 tickets which ended up being $109 our last season at the Dome.
We saw the first Monday Night Football game in 1988. Eric Dickerson running wild over the Broncos. The city all aglow for the occasion. Feeling the Dome actually rock as we kicked the Bronco’s asses. The feeling the next week when we came back in the second half to beat the Jets and feeling the stadium rock again.
We saw 3-13 season’s and I really thought that was our destiny. In 1995 Jim Harbaugh led us out of obscurity and into the AFC Championship game. The next year we were back in the playoffs, but were destroyed in the first game and went back to being bad until QB Peyton Manning arrived. By 2006 we had come full circle with the team as we won Super Bowl 41!
The Colts have provided most of my memories of the Dome, but there have been other events which have been very cool indeed.
I saw the Rolling Stones there twice and while the sound pretty much sucked it was still cool.
In 1987 the Indiana basketball team started its drive to the National title at the Dome. We didn’t have very good seats but it was great watching the Hoosiers get out the gate well and be on their way. In later years I saw the team play Kentucky at the Dome. While the Dome wasn’t the greatest basketball venue, it played host to some big games with big crowds and the city always managed to put on a show. I wasn’t there, but in 1984 the Dome hosted what was to be the largest crowd to ever see a basketball game. A record that stood for years.
Add to that the many state football titles the Roncalli Rebels won at the Dome and there were just so many memories. While winning the AFC title game in 2006 was the sweetest game, the celebration the day after the Super Bowl may have been the greatest non sporting event!
It wasn’t fancy or glitzy but it served its purpose and over the past few years was a helluva home field advantage for the Colts. Whether or not the new stadium can ever produce the noise or the memories of the Dome remains to be seen, but it’ll have its chance. But for now, in the last few weeks of the Dome’s existence I’ll think back to all of the great times and even some of the disappointments that came inside her walls.
Friday, August 29, 2008
The Vacation Blog!
Day 1 (Saturday August 23, 2008)
We’re off! A quick stop at the CVS and we are on our way south. I do feel a little sad because I am going to miss the game tomorrow night at the new stadium, but it will be cool to see it on TV. Also, we know we are heading into the teeth of TS Fay. The bitch has just been sitting over the northern part of FL for days and shows no signs of leaving. From what I’ve seen on The Weather Channel the whole week is going to be a wash. I’m not in a particularly good mood about going because of that. Linda on the other hand is ready to get there and so we go.
We make pretty good time for the bulk of the trip. Before stopping for gas and lunch in Franklin, TN we were even getting nearly 26 mpg in the Escape. Eventually that would go down to nearly 24, but still more than a mile per gallon more than I was expecting.
We had a nice lunch at the Cracker Barrel and got some excellent peanut brittle. We’re stopping on the way back for more of that! I told Linda we had to do the Cracker Barrel and the Waffle House if nothing else on the trip. One down, one to go!
We stop for gas south of Birmingham and the rains have started. The farther south we drive, the worse it gets. By the time we hit Montgomery it is a full blown storm. Google’s directions suck and we take some twisty 2-laners from Troy, AL to Panama City Beach. Normally I wouldn’t mind but there was so much water on the road that I was hydroplaning all over the place and visibility sucked ass.
Finally we hit FL and the weather seemed to break a little. We listened to the NASCAR race and drove into PCB. That last 16 miles was grueling. I was so ready to get there and it just seemed to take forever.
Finally we arrived at about 8:30. We gained an hour so it took us about 14 hours to get here. With an hour for lunch, a couple of gas stops and the rain slowdown it wasn’t bad, but I was glad to be here!
We were here a day early and figured we could get a room somewhere for cheap and go to the Wyndham on Sunday. We stopped in the Wyndham Emerald Beach Resort and explained our situation to the girls at the desk. The checked and much to my surprise they let us check in right then and didn’t charge us for the night! We were tickled pink at this and I vowed to send a letter to the resort manager and the corporation telling them how much we appreciated their customer service.
The weather still sucked but we were here. We popped out to the beach for a second and came in, had a drink and watched the end of the race.
Let the vacation begin!
Day 2 (Sunday – Sales Day)
Yep, sales day. We knew it was coming and they said we could get a $75 Visa card if we listened to their pitch. Linda had her fixed week in Orlando and wanted to convert it to points so we thought what the hell, we’ll talk to them about it.
The first thing I did was head down to the Purple Haze and get some swim trunks. It was all downhill from there!! Just kidding.
Sunday was a nice day, but we had our appointment at 11:00 so we knew that was going to take a chunk of it. Fay was still around, but she wasn’t too mean today. Didn’t help us though. Frankly all I cared about today was the condo and catching the Colts game.
When we arrived for our appointment they were overbooked as some of the crew couldn’t get in from Destin due to the storm. They asked us if we could come back at 1:30 and they bumped the gift card to $100. We agreed and decided to run out to the store to get in our supplies for the week. Of course we found the Wal-Mart. We also looked around town a little. Found Pineapple Willy’s and saw what appeared to pretty much be a ghost town.
We got the supplies back and it was time to talk condos. Our sales guy Joey looked about 15, but was pretty knowledgeable and didn’t try to BS us too much. When we had a question he didn’t know the answer to he found someone who did. After much wrangling over the package we eventually bought. They played some games with us, but it wasn’t a deal breaker. Regardless, it’s a good deal. Me and Linda were up at the Blue Green offices a few months ago and except for price we would have loved to have taken advantage of it. For us it makes sense. We now have a myriad of vacation choices and the room prices don’t go up. Having her condo at Star Island was what allowed us to take advantage of Wyndham’s deal rather than the Blue Green deal earlier in the year.
Finally after talking to the manager and closing the deal we were free! We ran upstairs and freshened up and headed to BW-3’s to watch the Colts suck again. Oh well! I enjoyed some wings and beers and we watched football from the new stadium. It looked beautiful on TV! Can’t wait until the Bears game!
Day 3 (Monday)
Fay was back, and with a vengeance. I popped down to the Starbuck’s to get a latte and to call my dad. While I was reading the paper and talking on the phone it was raining sideways. It eventually slowed down, but not much. Watching the radar it was clear that this day was not going to be very nice.
We decided we’d run out and look at the new Pier Park mall where the BW-3’s was and see if they had anything we couldn’t live without. Of course they did! We stopped at the Ron Jon’s and spent a quick $100. A lot of the stores were tourist traps and kind of expensive so we didn’t really buy anything else. We had thought about going to a movie, but I guess we kind of forgot about it.
We hit a few more stores, got some ice and decided to get a Hungry Howie’s pizza for lunch. It was tasty, but Linda felt a little bad after eating and eventually puked.
We just hung out the rest of the day in the room. I went walking around and got drenched by another storm. It was crazy and my mood was not improving. The bitch Fay it seemed was going to prove me right and not move all week.
Day 4 (Tuesday)
I was in full meltdown mode about 9:00 am. The skies had cleared and it looked like it finally was going to work out for us. We got ready to go for the pool and as we were doing our final packing for the day it started to rain. We flipped on the radar and it looked bad for PCB. I was pissed, Linda was mad at me for being pissed and I was ready to go home. I considered packing up the car and heading east to the beaches at Apalachicola.
We decided against it and we were eventually rewarded. We drove around the east end of town and had lunch at Pineapple Willy’s. I had some fish and Linda had the ribs. Both were very good. We also bought some souvenirs at the gift shop.
By the time we got back to the resort however the sun was peeking through so we headed down to the pool. We had purchased some cheapie chaise lounges at Wally World on Sunday and took them as it appeared there were no seats to be had.
We stayed out for a while and got a lot of sun in a few short hours. The week was looking up as the radar pretty showed the storm finally moving north and west!
That night we went down to Margaritaville for dinner. I had the conch fritters and a salad (not just a plain old salad, but a fancy schmancy one!) and of course a keeper glass drink and Linda had the Cheeseburger in Paradise which she really enjoyed. I had had a bit too much to drink by the end of dinner and went home and pretty much went to bed. I would live to fight another day!
Day 5 (Wednesday)
Wednesday dawned just as we had hoped for all week! Beautiful sunny skies, temperatures in the upper 80’s and no forecast of rain. Fay was still wreaking havoc just east of us, but her tail was the last remnant and it wasn’t coming to PCB!
We hit the pool deck around 8:15 and waited the requisite hour and 45 minutes for the sun to cover the area. It was well worth it even if we only did a 10 to 2 stint. We were both pretty fried so we didn’t want to ruin the rest of the week. We came in and laid around until we were hungry.
We went to a little joint called the Pasta Grill just west of town. I had a pizza that was okay, and a glass of pretty good Chianti as well as some calamari. Linda was wanting lasagna and wasn’t disappointed.
I was beat and pretty much crashed when we got in. The debauchery of Tuesday had caught up to me!
Day 6 (Thursday)
Another beautiful day and this time it was not going to be a four hour tour in the sun. This time I was out from 9 until 4. Linda made it to 3 and we both got a shitload of sun.
We really didn’t do much while we were out there other than listen to music, swim in the pool and the gulf and have a couple of cocktails, well I did anyway!
When I came in I got ready and I had been wanting to go to a place called Sharky’s. Despite the name I had a fantastic cheeseburger and one of their specialty fruity drinks. Linda had a sample platter, but looking at what she ate of it she must not have liked it very well. We picked up another T-shirt for me, that made about a dozen so far this week along with several pair of swim trunks and other sundry items.
When we got back we took some flashlights out to the beach and took a quick swim and a walk and checked out the crabs on the beach. As usual I was acting a fool and was flashing my light all over the place. When we got back to the Wyndham the guard gave us shit about shining our lights at the building. He was acting like a real dick and Linda wanted to call about it, but we decided just to let it go. Still he was an ass when a simple ask would have been fine.
Day 7 (Friday)
We got up this morning and went to the Waffle House for breakfast. It was really good. I had eggs, grits and a waffle. Linda had an omelet that was real good and hash browns.
When we got back to the resort we got ready to go to the pool. When we got down there we were informed that the pool was closed for at least an hour due to them spraying for ants. I’m not sure why they decided to do that on the Friday of Labor Day weekend, but they did. This gave us an extra hour of sun as we went to the beach. Linda took a walk while I swam and took a little nap until the pool opened.
Finally about 10 the pool opened and we headed up. We hung out until around 3:00 and decided to head in as we had maxed out on sun for the day.
It was Linda’s turn to pick the dinner place. She had talked about Breaker’s most of the day as she wanted a steak. She had a change of heart later in the day though and we went to a place called Angelo’s. It was a big place and the parking lot was nearly full when we got there so we figured that was a good sign. Not sure if it was, but the food was very good. Linda opted for a New York that wasn’t really done enough for her, but she seemed to like it. I had the steak and shrimp which consisted of five large shrimp battered and deep fried and an 8 oz. filet. It came with a baked potato, a very good salad and hush puppies that were excellent. It was kind of pricey, but I’d say it was worth it.
We topped off the evening with ice cream at Kitchen’s. I had the pineapple coconut which was superb. Linda had something and butter pecan. By this time we were both stuffed and pretty sleepy. No beach walking tonight!
One last day tomorrow :(
Day 7 (Saturday, the last full day)
It was going to be another great day, but it looked like we were going to get out just in time as Hurricane Gustav was bearing down on the Gulf Coast. By all indications it would be a busy day at the pool so I ran the towels down about 8:30 and by 9:00 there were no more chairs.
We went down about 9:30 for the day. It was another hot one. Temperatures were at 90 by now so it meant a lot of time in the pool. They were serving hot dogs and chips at the pool so we had our lunch there.
Later we took our last tour of the gulf. It was sad, but all in all we had had a really good run at the weather!
There were some drunk hillbillies who came down to the pool about 3. They had a cooler which was a no-no. They tried to hide it but I guess the chugging of the vodka got the best of them and they left it uncovered! One of them was so drunk she crashed into a table and just about fell over the fence. Her girlfriend wasn’t paying much attention to her and I thought she might drown, but the pool seemed to help her. It was pretty funny.
They also had a beer special on Friday at the Tiki bar. A couple of draft Bud’s for 2.50!
By the time we were heading out for dinner a storm blew up and dumped a shitload of rain on the beach. We went for a drive and ended up getting Hungry Howie’s pizza again. No one got sick this time! Unfortunately I had one too many and tripped and fell into a rack at one of the beach stores. I’m sure my wife thinks I’m an idiot. The store owner stuck some band-aid’s on me, but hell they were nicks. I felt pretty stupid myself!
At least I got some pizza for the last night!!
Day 8 (Homeward Bound)
We weren’t going to be in any hurry to get out today, but as it turns out we hit the road about 8:00. The clouds were pretty thick and it looked like a good day to get out of town. We checked out and loaded the car. Unbelievable how much shit just the two of us had!
We returned the chaises we bought at Wally World earlier. We only used them once and only at the pool. With that accomplished we blew town. We came back a little different route. It was a more direct route, but maybe just a little longer in distance. We had cloudy weather the early part of the day and finally around Birmingham the sun broke through.
We had lunch at MacAllister’s Deli in Prattville, AL and some ice cream in Decatur. Other than that we stopped for gas just beyond Nashville and we made it home about 10:15. I already miss the beach, but it’s always nice to be home!
Conclusion
In general this was a really nice place although it doesn’t have the amenities of the Ocean Walk we were at last year, but this is a work in progress. They do have a bar but it’s only open from 5 until 11. They also have a tiki bar by the pool. Draft beer was $2.79, but the frozen Pina Colada’s and other frozen drinks were $8.50!
We used the valet service all week and for the first 4 days it was great. Unfortunately the service slowed way down by Wednesday. Linda was pretty put out by it. It didn’t really bother me, but it was a noticeable difference.
I had read that the elevators were slow, but we did not find that to be the case until the last couple of days. Of course there was a big influx of people for the Labor Day weekend.
The pool is real nice, but there aren’t many chairs so if you want one get there early. If you tarry, you can carry in your own chair. Of course there is always the beach.
The beach was pretty nice, but you do get a lot of seaweed coming on shore and near shore in the water. It doesn’t bother me, but it doesn’t look real good. One guy we talked to wondered how they could claim “The World’s Most beautiful Beaches” with the seaweed. He probably has a point.
Again, the resort is a work in progress. They are putting up another building with a couple of restaurants, another pool and a lazy river as well as a fitness room in the buildings across the street. You get plenty of walking especially if you use your car a lot as the parking areas are across the street. I’d go back to the Emerald Beach Resort, but I’d wait a couple of years.
If you are looking for a relatively quiet time to head down this seemed to be it. Maybe it was the weather, but the entire town seemed quiet. We were on the west end of town which we heard was quieter anyway, but it was very relaxing.
You can check out the pictures of the trip at http://flickr.com/photos/mboxm/sets/72157607055541867/ if you wish.
We’re off! A quick stop at the CVS and we are on our way south. I do feel a little sad because I am going to miss the game tomorrow night at the new stadium, but it will be cool to see it on TV. Also, we know we are heading into the teeth of TS Fay. The bitch has just been sitting over the northern part of FL for days and shows no signs of leaving. From what I’ve seen on The Weather Channel the whole week is going to be a wash. I’m not in a particularly good mood about going because of that. Linda on the other hand is ready to get there and so we go.
We make pretty good time for the bulk of the trip. Before stopping for gas and lunch in Franklin, TN we were even getting nearly 26 mpg in the Escape. Eventually that would go down to nearly 24, but still more than a mile per gallon more than I was expecting.
We had a nice lunch at the Cracker Barrel and got some excellent peanut brittle. We’re stopping on the way back for more of that! I told Linda we had to do the Cracker Barrel and the Waffle House if nothing else on the trip. One down, one to go!
We stop for gas south of Birmingham and the rains have started. The farther south we drive, the worse it gets. By the time we hit Montgomery it is a full blown storm. Google’s directions suck and we take some twisty 2-laners from Troy, AL to Panama City Beach. Normally I wouldn’t mind but there was so much water on the road that I was hydroplaning all over the place and visibility sucked ass.
Finally we hit FL and the weather seemed to break a little. We listened to the NASCAR race and drove into PCB. That last 16 miles was grueling. I was so ready to get there and it just seemed to take forever.
Finally we arrived at about 8:30. We gained an hour so it took us about 14 hours to get here. With an hour for lunch, a couple of gas stops and the rain slowdown it wasn’t bad, but I was glad to be here!
We were here a day early and figured we could get a room somewhere for cheap and go to the Wyndham on Sunday. We stopped in the Wyndham Emerald Beach Resort and explained our situation to the girls at the desk. The checked and much to my surprise they let us check in right then and didn’t charge us for the night! We were tickled pink at this and I vowed to send a letter to the resort manager and the corporation telling them how much we appreciated their customer service.
The weather still sucked but we were here. We popped out to the beach for a second and came in, had a drink and watched the end of the race.
Let the vacation begin!
Day 2 (Sunday – Sales Day)
Yep, sales day. We knew it was coming and they said we could get a $75 Visa card if we listened to their pitch. Linda had her fixed week in Orlando and wanted to convert it to points so we thought what the hell, we’ll talk to them about it.
The first thing I did was head down to the Purple Haze and get some swim trunks. It was all downhill from there!! Just kidding.
Sunday was a nice day, but we had our appointment at 11:00 so we knew that was going to take a chunk of it. Fay was still around, but she wasn’t too mean today. Didn’t help us though. Frankly all I cared about today was the condo and catching the Colts game.
When we arrived for our appointment they were overbooked as some of the crew couldn’t get in from Destin due to the storm. They asked us if we could come back at 1:30 and they bumped the gift card to $100. We agreed and decided to run out to the store to get in our supplies for the week. Of course we found the Wal-Mart. We also looked around town a little. Found Pineapple Willy’s and saw what appeared to pretty much be a ghost town.
We got the supplies back and it was time to talk condos. Our sales guy Joey looked about 15, but was pretty knowledgeable and didn’t try to BS us too much. When we had a question he didn’t know the answer to he found someone who did. After much wrangling over the package we eventually bought. They played some games with us, but it wasn’t a deal breaker. Regardless, it’s a good deal. Me and Linda were up at the Blue Green offices a few months ago and except for price we would have loved to have taken advantage of it. For us it makes sense. We now have a myriad of vacation choices and the room prices don’t go up. Having her condo at Star Island was what allowed us to take advantage of Wyndham’s deal rather than the Blue Green deal earlier in the year.
Finally after talking to the manager and closing the deal we were free! We ran upstairs and freshened up and headed to BW-3’s to watch the Colts suck again. Oh well! I enjoyed some wings and beers and we watched football from the new stadium. It looked beautiful on TV! Can’t wait until the Bears game!
Day 3 (Monday)
Fay was back, and with a vengeance. I popped down to the Starbuck’s to get a latte and to call my dad. While I was reading the paper and talking on the phone it was raining sideways. It eventually slowed down, but not much. Watching the radar it was clear that this day was not going to be very nice.
We decided we’d run out and look at the new Pier Park mall where the BW-3’s was and see if they had anything we couldn’t live without. Of course they did! We stopped at the Ron Jon’s and spent a quick $100. A lot of the stores were tourist traps and kind of expensive so we didn’t really buy anything else. We had thought about going to a movie, but I guess we kind of forgot about it.
We hit a few more stores, got some ice and decided to get a Hungry Howie’s pizza for lunch. It was tasty, but Linda felt a little bad after eating and eventually puked.
We just hung out the rest of the day in the room. I went walking around and got drenched by another storm. It was crazy and my mood was not improving. The bitch Fay it seemed was going to prove me right and not move all week.
Day 4 (Tuesday)
I was in full meltdown mode about 9:00 am. The skies had cleared and it looked like it finally was going to work out for us. We got ready to go for the pool and as we were doing our final packing for the day it started to rain. We flipped on the radar and it looked bad for PCB. I was pissed, Linda was mad at me for being pissed and I was ready to go home. I considered packing up the car and heading east to the beaches at Apalachicola.
We decided against it and we were eventually rewarded. We drove around the east end of town and had lunch at Pineapple Willy’s. I had some fish and Linda had the ribs. Both were very good. We also bought some souvenirs at the gift shop.
By the time we got back to the resort however the sun was peeking through so we headed down to the pool. We had purchased some cheapie chaise lounges at Wally World on Sunday and took them as it appeared there were no seats to be had.
We stayed out for a while and got a lot of sun in a few short hours. The week was looking up as the radar pretty showed the storm finally moving north and west!
That night we went down to Margaritaville for dinner. I had the conch fritters and a salad (not just a plain old salad, but a fancy schmancy one!) and of course a keeper glass drink and Linda had the Cheeseburger in Paradise which she really enjoyed. I had had a bit too much to drink by the end of dinner and went home and pretty much went to bed. I would live to fight another day!
Day 5 (Wednesday)
Wednesday dawned just as we had hoped for all week! Beautiful sunny skies, temperatures in the upper 80’s and no forecast of rain. Fay was still wreaking havoc just east of us, but her tail was the last remnant and it wasn’t coming to PCB!
We hit the pool deck around 8:15 and waited the requisite hour and 45 minutes for the sun to cover the area. It was well worth it even if we only did a 10 to 2 stint. We were both pretty fried so we didn’t want to ruin the rest of the week. We came in and laid around until we were hungry.
We went to a little joint called the Pasta Grill just west of town. I had a pizza that was okay, and a glass of pretty good Chianti as well as some calamari. Linda was wanting lasagna and wasn’t disappointed.
I was beat and pretty much crashed when we got in. The debauchery of Tuesday had caught up to me!
Day 6 (Thursday)
Another beautiful day and this time it was not going to be a four hour tour in the sun. This time I was out from 9 until 4. Linda made it to 3 and we both got a shitload of sun.
We really didn’t do much while we were out there other than listen to music, swim in the pool and the gulf and have a couple of cocktails, well I did anyway!
When I came in I got ready and I had been wanting to go to a place called Sharky’s. Despite the name I had a fantastic cheeseburger and one of their specialty fruity drinks. Linda had a sample platter, but looking at what she ate of it she must not have liked it very well. We picked up another T-shirt for me, that made about a dozen so far this week along with several pair of swim trunks and other sundry items.
When we got back we took some flashlights out to the beach and took a quick swim and a walk and checked out the crabs on the beach. As usual I was acting a fool and was flashing my light all over the place. When we got back to the Wyndham the guard gave us shit about shining our lights at the building. He was acting like a real dick and Linda wanted to call about it, but we decided just to let it go. Still he was an ass when a simple ask would have been fine.
Day 7 (Friday)
We got up this morning and went to the Waffle House for breakfast. It was really good. I had eggs, grits and a waffle. Linda had an omelet that was real good and hash browns.
When we got back to the resort we got ready to go to the pool. When we got down there we were informed that the pool was closed for at least an hour due to them spraying for ants. I’m not sure why they decided to do that on the Friday of Labor Day weekend, but they did. This gave us an extra hour of sun as we went to the beach. Linda took a walk while I swam and took a little nap until the pool opened.
Finally about 10 the pool opened and we headed up. We hung out until around 3:00 and decided to head in as we had maxed out on sun for the day.
It was Linda’s turn to pick the dinner place. She had talked about Breaker’s most of the day as she wanted a steak. She had a change of heart later in the day though and we went to a place called Angelo’s. It was a big place and the parking lot was nearly full when we got there so we figured that was a good sign. Not sure if it was, but the food was very good. Linda opted for a New York that wasn’t really done enough for her, but she seemed to like it. I had the steak and shrimp which consisted of five large shrimp battered and deep fried and an 8 oz. filet. It came with a baked potato, a very good salad and hush puppies that were excellent. It was kind of pricey, but I’d say it was worth it.
We topped off the evening with ice cream at Kitchen’s. I had the pineapple coconut which was superb. Linda had something and butter pecan. By this time we were both stuffed and pretty sleepy. No beach walking tonight!
One last day tomorrow :(
Day 7 (Saturday, the last full day)
It was going to be another great day, but it looked like we were going to get out just in time as Hurricane Gustav was bearing down on the Gulf Coast. By all indications it would be a busy day at the pool so I ran the towels down about 8:30 and by 9:00 there were no more chairs.
We went down about 9:30 for the day. It was another hot one. Temperatures were at 90 by now so it meant a lot of time in the pool. They were serving hot dogs and chips at the pool so we had our lunch there.
Later we took our last tour of the gulf. It was sad, but all in all we had had a really good run at the weather!
There were some drunk hillbillies who came down to the pool about 3. They had a cooler which was a no-no. They tried to hide it but I guess the chugging of the vodka got the best of them and they left it uncovered! One of them was so drunk she crashed into a table and just about fell over the fence. Her girlfriend wasn’t paying much attention to her and I thought she might drown, but the pool seemed to help her. It was pretty funny.
They also had a beer special on Friday at the Tiki bar. A couple of draft Bud’s for 2.50!
By the time we were heading out for dinner a storm blew up and dumped a shitload of rain on the beach. We went for a drive and ended up getting Hungry Howie’s pizza again. No one got sick this time! Unfortunately I had one too many and tripped and fell into a rack at one of the beach stores. I’m sure my wife thinks I’m an idiot. The store owner stuck some band-aid’s on me, but hell they were nicks. I felt pretty stupid myself!
At least I got some pizza for the last night!!
Day 8 (Homeward Bound)
We weren’t going to be in any hurry to get out today, but as it turns out we hit the road about 8:00. The clouds were pretty thick and it looked like a good day to get out of town. We checked out and loaded the car. Unbelievable how much shit just the two of us had!
We returned the chaises we bought at Wally World earlier. We only used them once and only at the pool. With that accomplished we blew town. We came back a little different route. It was a more direct route, but maybe just a little longer in distance. We had cloudy weather the early part of the day and finally around Birmingham the sun broke through.
We had lunch at MacAllister’s Deli in Prattville, AL and some ice cream in Decatur. Other than that we stopped for gas just beyond Nashville and we made it home about 10:15. I already miss the beach, but it’s always nice to be home!
Conclusion
In general this was a really nice place although it doesn’t have the amenities of the Ocean Walk we were at last year, but this is a work in progress. They do have a bar but it’s only open from 5 until 11. They also have a tiki bar by the pool. Draft beer was $2.79, but the frozen Pina Colada’s and other frozen drinks were $8.50!
We used the valet service all week and for the first 4 days it was great. Unfortunately the service slowed way down by Wednesday. Linda was pretty put out by it. It didn’t really bother me, but it was a noticeable difference.
I had read that the elevators were slow, but we did not find that to be the case until the last couple of days. Of course there was a big influx of people for the Labor Day weekend.
The pool is real nice, but there aren’t many chairs so if you want one get there early. If you tarry, you can carry in your own chair. Of course there is always the beach.
The beach was pretty nice, but you do get a lot of seaweed coming on shore and near shore in the water. It doesn’t bother me, but it doesn’t look real good. One guy we talked to wondered how they could claim “The World’s Most beautiful Beaches” with the seaweed. He probably has a point.
Again, the resort is a work in progress. They are putting up another building with a couple of restaurants, another pool and a lazy river as well as a fitness room in the buildings across the street. You get plenty of walking especially if you use your car a lot as the parking areas are across the street. I’d go back to the Emerald Beach Resort, but I’d wait a couple of years.
If you are looking for a relatively quiet time to head down this seemed to be it. Maybe it was the weather, but the entire town seemed quiet. We were on the west end of town which we heard was quieter anyway, but it was very relaxing.
You can check out the pictures of the trip at http://flickr.com/photos/mboxm/sets/72157607055541867/ if you wish.
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