Today was very relaxing leading into one hell of a concert! We woke up casually, not forcing ourselves to get out of the luxuriously comfortable bed. We mosied down to the hotel breakfast where we enjoyed a full meal of eggs, bacon, potatoes, bagel, and hot coffee with caramel creamer.
Once finished we ran down to fhe car parked in the underground garage to get some of our waters and up we went back to the room.
He perused the internet, finding amusement in threads and posts from Reddit and the Twittersphere, while I read through more of Unbroken. We finally decided to take the risk of going down to the hotel pool, hoping that there weren't too many rambunctious kids (we just wanted to have a quiet relaxing morning). Luckily there was only a couple older kids with their dad and they weren't there for long. The pool was slightly colder than anticipated, brisk, yet refreshing. I swear I was a mermaid in another life! The hot tub was most welcomed and we sat and talked about random things.
Finally after about an hour we went back to the room, showered away the chlorine and chemicals, deciding to order one of our few cheat meals from this weekend; a delectable, ooeey, gooey, pizza from Tomicellis. Covered in crisp spicy pepperonies, drowning in a seductive savory pool of extra pizza sauce with an extra helping of ooey gooey creamy mozzarella cheese, we enjoyed this beauty in bed while we watched part of "Blended" on TV. Then we took a nap, preparing ourselves for the late night ahead.
The time had come to get ready for the concert. We got prepped, dressed, and pumped to see one of our favorite bands.
We headed out. The venue wasn't too difficult to find, parking however, was a nightmare. We didn't mind parking a good distance away, being in the last row of the lot, it would be easy to find our car at the end. We entered the center to find a large line assembled, a variety of people corralled like cattle waiting to be led through security. We started seeing people wearing necklaces made of pretzels, packaged string cheeses, and small packaged jerky sticks. I thought the snecklace was ingenious but was slightly confused. We probably waited in the line for about 20 minutes, making our way through the winding maze of fabric dividers before finally making it to have our tickets scanned. We entered a room where we were handed small shot glasses, etched with a "Booze Boys" logo. We exchanged confused glances but went along. As we turned the corner we were surprised to see a large variety of boots and vendor tents, each one offering a sample of their beer or ale. "Maybe it's a holding area before they open the doors to the concert arena."
Finally our confused state was too much and we asked a security guard where we were supposed to go for our assigned seats. His confused look said it all. How does one have assigned seats to a Beer Convention? Yes folks, we somehow managed to be in the wrong place, a terrible side affect of being sheep and following a herd of others. He helped us receive an "exit scan" of our tickets so we wouldn't have any difficulties with our ticket scanning at the concert entrance and we were on our way.
We arrived at a second security entry point, having to throw away the free beer sample shot glasses and the two bottles waters we had JUST purchased at $3.00 a pop. Finally we emerged through the other side to see a swarm of familiarity; Avenged Sevenfold, Breaking Benjamin, and Bullet for my Valentine fans meandering about looking a meechandise, buzzing with bated anticipation for the show soon to come.
We bought a couple t-shirts and a pack of guitar picks to remember and commemorate the event, making our way then to our amazing front row seats. We laughed and joked wildly about the confusion with the beerfest event, wondering how many other poor souls would end up walking around, enjoying beer samples before realizing no doors were opening to the show.
Finally, the show began, opening with Bullet for my Valentine. I have too many pictures to share, but had posted some on my Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook Page accounts if you would like to check them out. Breaking Benjamin was up next, putting on a fantastic show. They were a lot better than we had anticipated and definitely got us ready for the closer with Avenged. A7X rocked and we were lit with adrenaline. Can't put into words what great showmen the group is! After a final encore we snaked our way through stairs and people to exit quickly hoping to get out before the mass exodous of people flooded the parking area.
We were surprised to see that it had snowed a couple inches, traversing slick parking lot to our car parked at the back. When we got there I started the car while my amazing husband cleaned off the snow. We found a 24/7 fast food joint to fill our gargling bellies, bringing the late meal home to the hotel to enjoy while we talked about how awesome the concert was, and how utterly confusing the beer event was. We definitely thought they could have had signs or someone at least announcing clarification of what the line was for. After some episodes of Parks and Rec, we turned in, our hearts, bellies, and souls full and enriched.
Today we plan on going to the Butterfly house and Aquarium. I am really excited. Although I doubt my husbands selected activity for fun isn't a room of butterflies and sea creatures, he is playing the role of excited husband very well :-)
Check back later for more of this journey and follow me on Twitter and Instagram #ScrappyGidget @ScrappyGidget for live and in the moment updates!
Bye for now!
