Great Escape - Florida Guster Tour 2023

 I'm hoping I can capture the fun I had. 

Linda and I had an uneventful travel day on Wednesday, as noted. Thursday we got up, got pedicures at a very nice salon with super nice employees. We called a couple places in the area who were booked or could take us at 2 or 3pm. That was way too late. So we got taken care of, got shiny toes and clean feet. Florida feet! And we walked down the road to a brewery with a full bar for lunch.

Linz doesn't drink beer so we need a place that at least has wine. This place checked the boxes: beer, wine, cocktails, food, yes. We had a great time hanging out talking with the bartender and this guy at the bar about 90s rock, Guster being in town, the venue where we were headed, all our favorite bands, and what shows we went to that didn't turn out great. I left her a giant tip, Linda left her secret money, and the guy picked up our drink tab even though I told the bartender I'd pick up his. We took up a lot of her real estate, and time, but there was only one other person at the bar and he was thoroughly entertained by us. A slow Thursday in Orlando shouldn't have to make for a piss poor money day for her. 

We headed up the street, a little day drinking drunk, and my friend Peri had mentioned to me that a friend of hers owns a Cat Café in town. Well. Sure! Why not. Let's go pet CATS! Something I can't do with Doug! 

We got coffee, and petted cats. Sobered up a little bit while having fun. I met this sweet little tortie who let me love on her, but reminded me of her murder mittens when I got a little too adoring. 

Back to the hotel, Ginger met us there and while she and Linda got caught up, I went out to dinner with Peri and her husband Keith. They had free tickets to see the Gusters and were happy to come with us. 

While on line for the bathroom at the pizza joint, I noticed the Guster poster on the bulletin board. Sold out show, that night, "Steal it!" says Peri. "I should ask for permission!" I replied. She dissuaded me - and rebel that I am, I did. 

When I bought the tickets, I got them for myself, Linda, Ginger, Sara, Sean and Henry. I read on their website that it was a GA floor with balcony seating. So I thought hell yeah - Ginger (with MS) and Sara (with probably a very tired Henry) could hit the balcony. We could go to the floor. 

No. 

You had to buy the balcony seats and they were extra money. 

Damn. 

Here we are with an 8 yr old, on the floor. I'm such a bad auntie!! Sara and Sean weathered it well, as did Henry. 

We had room to dance and Hen could go over to the wall, and sit down with his book and color - and we all took turns staying focused on him. And we were down front. And it could have been so much worse. Kind of a win overall, but, I know it could have been better. News you can use for the future, kids.

Peri and Keith had to leave before the end of the show because she had to be up at stupid thirty, but they got to see Brian kill the bongos on Come Downstairs and Say Hello, and Ryan put on his backpack with the light, and went out into the crowd to sing "Doin' it by myself." They missed the ping pong balls at the end, and Ryan caught one in his mouth which sent the crowd into hysterics. 

They've been digging out "Lost Classics" on this tour and so we got treated to the song Great Escape during the encore. Not a lot of people in the audience seemed to know it, but one guy with huge long curly hair was dancing like crazy, so I ran over to him and we busted it out, his girlfriend and his two friends were laughing hysterically at us as we just went bananas.  

All told, a super friendly fun crowd, great show. 

We got back to the hotel and I think we didn't get to sleep before 2. 

Friday morning, I was supposed to go over to one of my stations for a site visit. I woke up to pee at 8, and I was partly tempted to go back to bed, and go to his location maybe while Ginger and Linda were getting dressed and ready. But I sucked it up and said ... alright. You are up. You are awake. Do this. I picked up my laptop to email the guy with an ETA and he literally emailed me right that second to say he wasn't going to be in office. I could meet the GM and station manager. Nah son, I was coming here to see YOU. So we extended our regrets, and I went downstairs for coffee with Linda. We sat out on the patio in our jammies, no one there, 9am, slightly too cold to hit the pool. Not enough coffee to be ready to jump in on it just to do it. 

Another vacation where I brought my bathing suit, and did not use it. Ha. 

We were on the road at noon, driving down to our friends in the Palm Beach area. Linda and I would stay there Friday and Saturday nights, and Ginger's apartment is about 2 miles from where they live. 

First, here is their dog Cooper and he is my new Best Friend Ever. 

M&J came to see Guster with us in Ft. Lauderdale, the club is a tiny cramped little space, and we opted to not go get first in line, but sit at the bar next door, order pizza, and chillax. I kind of wish we'd gotten on line early. We were in the corner by the bathroom, the space is weird, and the show, while great, was kind of bizarre. M&J had never seen Guster so it was fun to bring them with. 

I think M wasn't really into it. He said he liked it okay entertainment wise, and getting to see Brian play the bongos was probably the best part of it for him. I know this style music isn't his thing. J is more of a jam band kind of guy and I think he truly enjoyed it. We heard a rumors that the band was going to come hang out at the bar after the show, but we were very ready to leave until Brian (the drummer) came out to see folks, and we weren't getting rushed out like the last time we were there in 2018 (or 2019?) so we got to say hi to him. 

Remarkably so, he says to me "so hey, what's going on with your job? Are you laid off or are you safe?"

So let's just stop there for a minute and realize that this famous rock star who did a huge rock and roll show just now asked about my life, my job, my colleagues, and how I was doing. I let him know I was safe, but things were weird and wrong. He asked what exactly happened, and I told him I'd love to talk more about it with him,  but right then wasn't the time - he had adoring fans lined up to see him. What a mensch.

We didn't keep him long - lots of adoring fans lined up to see him. But super sweet to have him come out and greet us. We headed back to M&J's place, and the following morning we went out to brunch. 

Fancy and nice brunch. 

Lots of horse ridey people just waltzing into fancy nice restaurant in their filthy horse pants and dirty clothes. J told me "no one on earth likes to be seen more than an equestrian." Too true. 

We hung around the house with Cooper dog and chilled. M made us some wonderful Mai Tais with the original recipe - or one of them. Delightful way to segue into dinner. We stopped at a brewery nearby for a pint (or two) and then went to fancy dinner. 

We had a wonderful time talking about our first concerts, and what we grew up with music-wise in our families. Bedtime came thankfully, we were wiped out! 

Sunday morning, we knew we were going to be headed to the airport. Our flight was scheduled to start boarding at like 4 something, and so M&J made plans to go see a neighbor family who just got brand new puppies, and we had a huge playdate. 

The owners are getting ready to socialize them with more people and dogs, as they get a little bigger, and we were the perfect assemblage of humans to have over! And what a time we had! 

This is Jon with Linus, and E, the owner's youngest, with her new baby!

The little black one is Lucy, They are littermates, and the family would have brought all the puppies home together if they could. 

Cooper was very very confused by the puppies. He's only ever met big dogs. He weathered it well, and was gentle. But ran upstairs a couple of times to get away. I love their vicious biting play they did with each other. 

We had to get to the airport, so Ginger came over to get us. We went out to lunch to spend a little extra time with her. My only regret was we didn't get a chance to connect with her son and say hi. I was looking forward to that but he went to work. 

Mimosas. Smiles. Friendship. Joy. 

After a lovely brekkie lunch, we started to head for the airport and learned our flight was delayed, so we had even more time to spend together. We went back to Ginger's new apartment, which is super cute and I loved it. Had a sit out on the patio (in the heat!) and a great chat. 

We got to the airport with time to spare, and discovered our flight was more delayed. 

And again delayed. And. again.

We were supposed to board at 4 something and didn't get on the plane until almost 8pm. I kind of was hoping they'd just cancel us, and we'd get a hotel, and I wouldn't care how much it was, and we'd use our bathing suits... ha. 

But we made it home, Doug picked us up at 10:30. We were happy to get back home. 

That's our first big Guster adventure. They did two more shows in Florida, but we passed on them. Logistics and getting from point A and B to C and D were going to be a challenge. And hotels in Key West were stupid expensive. We missed a couple fun gigs, but we had fun friend, puppy, family time. And that's as valuable. 

This weekend, Huntington NY. Can't wait. 

Digits for Monday below this picture of us with M&J and Cooper Dog.

digits

lost track of everything while in Florida.
I will say I tried. 

Monday digits:

exercise: 12/12 hours 250 steps; dedicated 10 pokemon walk

blood glucose:
8:30am: 160 (vacation blood sugar, always over 200! get home, first morning, 160). 
4:30pm: 165
11pm: 205

food:
coffee, water
8:30am: protein shake
10am: celery and peanut butter
11:30am: some chicken salad (probably 2 or 3 forkfuls?) 
noon: metformin
4:45pm: 2 baby bell cheeses
6:30pm: metformin+jardiance
7pm: burrito w/ steak, guac, sour cream, some rice, some chorizo sausage dip w/some chips. Vodka tonics