The long awaited trip to Huntington is winding down. Tonight I'm smiling thinking on all the fun. Here's the recap.
We got here Thursday night, checked into the hotel had some wine and relaxed for a bit while Sara looked for door dash options. I told her I didn't want any, but she always orders extra and I ended up with a soft taco.
To be honest, I was indeed hungry. It was good.
Up the next morning, Sara needed something from Walmart so we took a drive out there, traffic was stupid and we spent a lot of time goofing around in the store.
We got back in time to run over to have lunch with my cousin Teri and her husband who were also here on Long Island but not for Guster. They were here to see Carl's grandkids and go to a play. They live in South Carolina. So we both basically came north and accidentally found out we were in the same place via a passing comment from her on FB. We had a lovely little visit!
Then it was time to go over to the meet and greet with Guster fans.
We had a nice turnout, not as big as I'd hoped. The spot we picked (Linda recommended it to me as a possibility, and it was a good choice) was a little loud, not well lit, but the drinks were good and the bar snacks were nice.
If more people came I would have ordered pizzas and other food, but this worked out well.
A few of these folks I didn't anticipate seeing, and I'm so happy they made it. My friend Ken brought his husband, and we'd only met once forever ago so it was fun to catch up. Great fun and a few too many cocktails, but, very happy overall with having some pre-show time with good people!
We headed over to the venue at 7ish. The show was assigned seating, which is good, rather than GA stupidity where you have to get to the rail or swim in the middle of the crowd. Seats are great. GA seats are okay. Assigned seats re the best. Linda got us 6th row on the floor. Which was outstanding.
I didn't want to miss my girl Karina Rykman because she's a monster. In the best way.
We got in and Karina and band were melting the place. She's so good, so fun, and her guitar player Adam November is just a jam band king. Great show, great job. She runs her own merch table, so in between their sets I went over to say hi. She's so gracious, and fun.
Pictured, Karina and me, at the merch.
My sister had bought 8 tickets for this show, I had 3.
I sold mine to Sara and Sean and so they were back behind us by a few rows. Linda had herself, me, Ronnie and our friend Angela covered with 4. She has friends that she goes sailing with, so she "forced" them to come. They were fun, and they had fun, they knew one or two songs, but all told they're hooked and want to come to more Guster shows.
At one point I was missing Henry so I went to see if he wanted to dance and he did. We went down front on Luke's side of the stage, but then he didn't want to dance, he wanted to sit. Have to admit, so did I. These were assigned seats and the entire front row was empty. So we settled in and had a cuddle for a bit while Guster played.
When they did "Satellite" he held my hand and snuggled up into my armpit. I could see Luke smiling down at us during the song. Sara was missing him after a bit, so she came to get him.
The show was loud, energetic, wild, fun. Everything you could hope for. Some folks sat, but we stood and danced most of the show. It was a lot of fun. Today, Saturday, I'm very sore. Very. Sorry legs, sorry back. Hang in there, we have one more show in Philly next weekend, and we'll do good. We'll make it. I promise.
On the way out I stopped at the soundboard and asked if they had a set list. The audio engineer handed me his with a smile. I usually strike out, but dang if I don't have one now. From my hometown. Would be nice to get it signed by the gusters, but, I've got the set list.
We walked down the street to a bar called Crabtrees because we knew their kitchen was still open. I remember years ago being up there, watching the traffic at the corner of NY Avenue and Main Street, looking down on the scene, the busyness of it all. It was so loud in there, it was hard to talk and listen. But I did get to spend time with photographer Justin Goodhart, who shot a lot of really good pictures of the show. Check them out here!
I wasn't hungry but everyone else was. We got to hang out with other Guster fans we know, and eventually poured our way to the hotel about 1am. Angela stayed in our room, her plan was to drive home to Massachusetts (note: we are not the only crazy Guster fans in the world, she was going to drive 4 hours home at 1am. No.) I was out cold at 1:30.
Today was a no bones day for me. Linda was up early, once she's awake she can't go back to sleep. Around 9, I got up, met her downstairs for breakfast, and we chilled in the lobby lounge.
Sara, Sean and Henry hit the road a little after noon. I came up to the room and had a big nap. We connected with my cousin Joey (the only cousin free to come out for a visit) late in the afternoon and went to the same restaurant I took our other cousin to yesterday. It was a good choice. I love this place.
We're back in the room, it is storming out, and I'm happy to be here just relaxing wondering how many people are on this floor for the wedding party/guests who checked in this morning. I hope they are quiet!
My flight is tomorrow afternoon at 6pm ish. We have some time to drive around Huntington and look at the greatest hits before we have to peel out. I'll relish that. Sometimes when I'm here I am happy for how fun a place this is, I don't remember it being this fun. I have a lot of baggage about this town, but this weekend was nothing but joy.
Enjoy some pictures I took (in addition to Justin's set up above). All of them are here, but I'll share a couple faves.
Friday digits
exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps; several dedicated 10s, lots of dancing. Lots.
blood glucose:
9am: 175
4pm: 205
xpm: forgot to take before bed, also, took the medication after getting back from the concert so the reading would have sucked
food:
coffee, water
9am: 2 hotel eggs (done like egg mcmuffin style, but no mcmuffin) 2 pieces of sausage and i think it was turkey. hot sauce
11am: baby bell cheeses; metformin
2pm: corned beef egg rolls, 3 beers
5-7: cocktails, chicken nuggets
12am: metformin+jardiance
1am: taco bell soft taco w/ground beef
Saturday digits:
exercise: 10/12 hours of 250 steps; 2 long walks in town
blood glucose:
9am: 174
4pm: 133
9:45pm: 186
food:
coffee, water
9:30am: one egg "omelet" with cheese in it, and 4 sausage patties (small)
11:30am: metformin
2pm: nuts
4pm: nuts
6pm: metformin+jardiance
7pm: cheesesteak egg rolls, pig in blanket, 1 stuffed clam, large chopped salad w/steak and hardboiled egg, 3 glasses of wine
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