SUPER long time no talk.
Life gets in the way from time to time.
I did say to myself many times that I really needed to write one of these. I'd be like "Woah...I need to blog this." And then I didn't. And here we are. It's been months since a blog. I suck. I know.
I'm back.
WE are back.
Sit down. Grab a snack. Grab a beer. Let's take a shot and venture out on to this journey Christi and I call life.
So where did I leave off? I don't even remember.
How about I just start off with New Years and we go from there? Good? Good.
Well...then we get to the day after we had this little hotel room shindig. My other friend also had a birthday the same weekend as Christi. Her husband was planning a little surprise 30th thing for her. It was at this bar in the city for this dueling pianos show.
The day of the show, it ended up snowing pretty hard. Christi and I were going to take the train in to the city (the bar was literally right outside Penn Station), but we ended up tagging along with my neighbors. Naturally, we couldn't show up with out some pre gaming. We stopped for some Fireball, and then we were on our way. Now, when we bought the Fireball...it was decided that as long as the bottle could fit in a bag, we were bringing it in with us. It's New York City. Drinks are expensive.
So we get there, safely, through the snow. Perfect timing, too. We show up just after my friend and her husband had shown up. SURPRISE! More people show up after us...I think she was really surprised.
We get shown to our table. Beers are flowing. Good times are being had by all.
That bottle of Fireball? Finished off after a few trips to the bathroom.
The dueling pianos were awesome. They would play whatever you requested...for a tip. Higher tip? You can change the song. It was definitely a good time.
Everyone was up and dancing. My friend's husband danced so hard he started to fall...which had to fall into me (and I have no balance to begin with) which then made me fall into Christi. Annnnnd we had a domino effect of the three of us falling. It was quite hilarious.
I have no idea when we left, or when we made it home. I just know we made it home safe and sound.
We woke up the next morning, and were supposed to be going to wander our Letchworth for some daytime ghost adventures. Neither of us were feeling well, but we went anyway.
It was a rather uneventful trip. It was cold, and I was trying to keep the vomit inside my body.
I did, however, find what we thought was an old (full) colostomy bag. I kept squishing it with my shoe...and everyone kept yelling at me. No one ever let's me have any fun.
Nothing super exciting happened between then and February.
Beginning of February...we headed up to Saranac Lake for the Winter Carnival. If you haven't been up there, it's pretty awesome. The town cuts "bricks" out of the lake and builds a "castle" of some sort every year. There is always a theme. I forget what this year was. I want to say "The Great Outdoors". It wasn't as cold as it had been previous years. But, it was colder this year than last year. Last year it had been such a mild winter that they had a hard time even making the castle. The ice just wasn't thick enough.
We had a blast this year. We shared a hotel room with my sister. We got to watch some lumberjacks do lumberjack things. We got to sit on some ice chairs. Meet some ice bears. We got my Dad to ride a snow tub down a super sketchy hill at our property. It was overall just a fun weekend.
The week after that, Christi stumbled upon these cheapish tickets with meet and greet passes for a band I had, honestly, never heard of. If we have learned anything from all of these blogs...I am always up for anything. Along with always being up for anything, I always up for live music.
So...off we went to the city. The band is I Prevail. Upon meeting them, I realized that I was probably at least 5 years older than all of them...if not more. Not much, I know...but still made me feel old. They were super nice. The show was really awesome. I found a new band to rock out to.
We, then, did the Polar Bear Plunge down in Seaside. The Plunge benefits the NJ Special Olympics. i don't mind jumping in the freezing cold ocean for 30 seconds to raise some money for an awesome cause. We decided we would make a weekend out of it. A weekend away.
We booked the same motel we had stayed in 2 years ago...mainly because the last time we were they had karaoke on Friday night.
We got down there Friday night...and there was still karaoke on Fridays.
We sang a few...had people telling us we were awesome. It was a good evening.
We woke up early on Saturday to head over to Seaside. (Our motel was over the bridge from Seaside. We didn't want bedbugs or anything gross from those Seaside motels.) We found some free parking. Then headed over to check in and get out sweatshirts.
We had time to kill so we decided to wander the Boardwalk. We ended up in a bar having a few drinks before we ran into the ocean.
As we were sitting at the bar, I was looking at the ocean sort of regretting my decision. It was so foggy that I couldn't see the water. There was a storm coming in, so the water was sounding pretty rough...and there were rip tides. But...the show must go on.
It ended up being fairly warm that day, so the plunge was not bad at all. We were in and out, like usual. We changed on the Boardwalk...then walked around for a bit before finding a bar to have a drink or 2 in before we headed back to the motel.
Well, a drink or 2 ended up for be 3 or 4. We stopped on the way back for some beers to bring back to the room. We figured we would go and hang in the pool for a bit...order some food..and just chill out the rest of the night.
Well...we did that. But we drank a little more than we anticipated. We were back in the room, from the pool, around like 5:30. I ordered pizza. We both showered...and Christi fell asleep. Pizza came. I had a piece...and then I fell asleep. At some point, the storm rolled in and there was super loud thunder. A lot happened....and I woke up the next morning thinking everything happened at like 2 am. Nope...everything happened before 7pm. We really party late in to the night...it's impressive.
The weekend after the Plunge...we were driving up to Albany to see Garth Brooks on Saturday. Sunday would be spent on Long Island seeing the Dropkick Murphys. An epic weekend if you ask me. My 2 favorite musicals acts in 24 hours.
We got a hotel room (2 rooms actually, my aunt and mom were coming too) up near Albany so we didn't have to drive home after the show. Christi and I got up there first. She paid for the room (my aunt or parents always pay when we go places, and she didn't want anyone to this time), so she wanted to get there to check in and be sure no one else paid for it.
We walked in to the lobby and it reeked of gas...like when you leave a burner on, on the stove gas...and so I said something and the lady (named Vanessa) said it was fine. As we were checking in, she looked at Christi and told her she liked her earrings. Christi answered back with that she liked hers as well. Vanessa then grabbed at her ears...stared at Christi...and just goes "Oh...I forgot I had them pierced." Now mind you...she had about 4 or 5 holes in each ear. Her lobes were stretched about as much as Christi's. I don't know what she was on, but jesus it was good shit. Either that or she had been sitting in the gas for so long she was losing it. She checked us in. Just as we were finishing, my mom and aunt showed up. Vanessa said she was putting us in rooms next to each other. They were not. They were down the hall from each other. We parted ways to just put our stuff in the rooms. When we got in to the room...it was like Antarctica. I love the cold, but jeez we were inside, it didn't need to be THAT cold. We dropped our stuff an wandered over by my mom and aunt. Now...mind you...this was all about only 10 minutes after we checked in. We got to their room and the phone rang. My mom answered it and said "It's been great, thanks" She hangs up and starts laughing. Apparently, Vanessa was calling to ask how our stay was. We had been there for 10 minutes.
Anyway...we all got ready and we headed out for some dinner.
We got to the show...and got to our seats. Christi and I then wandered to the merch booth for some tshirts. It was like a war zone. It was so unorganized it was crazy. I am in love with Garth Brooks. Head over heels...love him. I was not letting some unorganized chaos keep me away from a tshirt. I told Christi to hold on and I squeezed my way to the front one person at a time. We both got what we needed, and headed back to the seats.
Now...this is my second time seeing him. I believe I touched on my first time earlier in a blog post. Christi has never seen him. I was unsure of what to full expect because when I saw him it was not a normal stop on the tour. Well...it didn't matter. He was epic. He was amazing. The show kicked ass. I cannot wait to see him again. And Christi had a blast. The chick who listens to metal...had a blast at a Garth Brooks show. Epic.
The next morning, we all went to get breakfast together...and then we parted ways. Christi and I were heading over to Long Island for a Dropkick show later that evening. We decided since we were going to on Long Island...we needed to make a pit stop at the Amityville House.
Before we made our way to Long Island...we decided to see if we could get in to this creepy little abandoned house that was next to our hotel. You know we love that shit. Ended up we could get in, but the floor wasn't looking too sturdy. We went in as far as we could...got some pictures...and left.
No idea anything about the house. We found some dated checks sitting on a table that were dated in the '80s. So who knows how long it has been abandoned.
The ride to Amityville was actually pretty nice. It wasn't a main highway we were on. We ended up seeing signs for Donald J. Trump state park. Of course we had to find it. The first exit we got off on sent us to this deserted area that didn't look like a state park. We got back on the highway and ended up seeing another sign a few exits down so we got off on that one. This "park" still didn't seem like any park I had seen, but at least there was a sign this time telling us we had found the right place.
(Yes...my finger is in Christi's picture.)
After our park adventure...we put Amityville into the GPS and off we went. We found the house without issue. There were 2 other guys there taking pictures when we got there. We waited in the car until they left to get out. We ran across..took some pictures, and then got back in the truck. Judging by the political signs on the front yard, I'd assume whoever bought it is actually living there. But who knows. There were no cars in the driveway.
Cool to say we had been there at least. And yes...my face is hilarious in the picture. We both couldn't see shit because of the sun...so that's how the picture came out. Oh well.
Anyways...we stopped at this irish pub we passed for some dinner before heading over to the show.
Once we got to the show...it was quickly realized that the seller on StubHub had not sent the tickets. We still had 2ish hours before the show, so waited a bit until panic set in. But it quickly set in. I called Stubhub. They told me they had it on their end that they were sent...they were not. They also told me they couldn't refund me, I had to go through Paypal for that. They did say that they would give me a "credit" to use on a future purchase. Yeah well no. That wasn't how it should be.
We decided we had to get in. We were getting in no matter what. We went to another bad seeing if people were selling tickets. I asked at the box office. We then stood in front asking if people were selling. It was getting to be almost 9 at this point. Show was at 7...we knew Dropkick would go on around 9/930. Just as I was starting to give up hope...one dude was selling...and another dude walking by happened to be selling. We got them for half the price of what I paid on Stubhub...and we got in. We literally walked in just as the last opening band was playing their last song. It was perfect.
We pushed our way to the front...because it's a Dropkick show. You have to be up front. You have to get on the stage.
The show was epic. The venue was awesome. We got on stage. What could have been a super shitty night...ended amazingly.
(Stubhub ended up refunding me all of my money. I went from never wanting to use Stubhub again...to being okay with them. They fixed their fuck up. Thanks Stubhub.)
The next week was quiet...buuuut that next weekend was St. Patrick's Day. We were spending our St. Patrick's Day in Boston seeing the Dropkick Murphys. We both took off that day. We headed up Thursday night. We chilled out and rested up once we got to the hotel.
We spent the next day running around. Hitting some stores near by and eating some food.
We found out that taking the train was our best bet to get in to Boston. So...we got ourselves all green and headed to the train.
We headed over to McGreevy's when we got to Boston. Where else would you go before a Dropkick Murphys show on St. Patrick's Day in Boston? No where. McGreevy's is where you go.
We made friends with a group. They were drunk and hilarious and fun. We had a few drinks there...and then decided it was time to trek ourselves over to the House of Blues for the show. I'm glad we made friends...because then we weren't walking alone.
We got to the HOB with no issues. Got in with no issues this time, haha.
The show was epic, as always. The openers were pretty awesome. I have found some pretty awesome bands from Dropkick shows. Christi was sneaky and got me a tshirt and a hat from the show. She's the best...but we all know that.
The show was awesome...as usual. We ended up not getting on stage this time. SUPER bummed. But they were being pretty asshole-y about it this time. Oh well...we still had a blast.
We also stuck around a bit after the show ended and being able to meet the singer. So yeah...worth it.
Idk what my crazy eyes are about.
After the show...we figured we would catch a cab back to the train station. Yeah...well..catching a cab in Boston is not like catching a cab in NYC. We also only had a limited amount of time to get back to the train station to catch the last train back. We started walking...but once we realized we weren't going to see any cabs we panicked a bit. We walked for like half a mile then decided we should just call a Lyft. We weren't sure if the were allowed in the city, but fuck it. Well..ends up they are. We got a Lyft back tot he train station. We now had plenty of time to spare. Turns out, though, that the train station decides to close everything down super early. All we wanted was some kind of nonalcoholic beverage, but apparently that was too much to ask. So...we just waited for the train.
We made it back to the station by our hotel. Thankfully, there were functioning vending machines there to satisfy our thirst. We took a Lyft back to the hotel.
Also...on a side note...do NOT put fake tattoos on your face. I learned the hard way that they will mess with your face. I had red marks that turned in to scabs on my face for a week after the fact.
We woke up and decided that we were going to hit Salem on our way home. We were already in Massachusetts...why not. We really wanted to go to the Witch House.
Salem ended up being a pretty awesome town. We did end up at the Witch House. Pretty cool little house. Creepy and old...ya know the usual when you think of something that could be haunted. The guy that was running it wasn't really enthused about people thinking it's haunted. He said he hasn't personally had any experiences...so who knows.
After we explored the house...we explored the town. There are lots of cool little shops. We ventured to the place where all the people accused of being witches are buried. Christi dragged me through this creepy wax museum full of all horror movie people. (It honestly wasn't that bad. I'm just a big baby.) We met a creepy dude in a store who told us about how we can go to the Satanic Temple. We were both pretty intrigued by this. We finishing being tourists, and put the Satanic Temple into the GPS and off we went.
It was pretty close to where we were. I really know nothing about Satanism...so I had zero clue about anything. You go inside, pay, and then you get to wander around the "temple" and read some stuff and watch some videos. It all really wasn't my thing, but was still cool to see. After you are done walking around, they take you outside to this locked shed to so the Baphomet. Since I really don't know what it is...and I don't want to claim to...here is what I have copied from Wikipedia
Since 1856, the name Baphomet has been associated with a "Sabbatic Goat" image drawn by Eliphas Levi[3] which contains binary elements representing the "sum total of the universe" (e.g. male and female, good and evil, etc.).[4]
So, yeah...that. I'm still not 100% sure what it is, or what it respresents. I just know that from talking to the guy who was showing us...that all they want is to be included. If you are going to represent other religions, why can they not be represented. Which...I can respect. He said we could sit on it and take pictures. Christi did, I did not.
After that...it was time to venture home. The ride wasn't bad going home. We relaxed the rest of that day because the next day was the St. Patrick's Day parade in Pearl River.
The next day began early. We were at the train station, with a beer cracked, by 10am. A short train ride brings us up to Pearl River.
There is usually only 1 or 2 bars open at that time...so we always end up in the train station bar until the brewery across the train tracks opens. We had a few drinks there, and then wandered to the brewery. We got there early enough that we took over a table...and there we were for the rest of the day. Now...the funniest part of all of this is that we don't ever actually watch the parade. It's really just a day to go drink some beers and be green. We always end up at this brewery because once the parade is over...some of the bagpipers come in and play. It's always awesome. I love bagpipes.
So we stayed there for a few hours, and then headed home.
That was a Sunday...so it was Walking Dead night. We had to be home and sobered up by then.
Well...that's all I have for now. A bunch of other shit has gone on since then, but this blog is already a mile and a half long. I don't want to sit here typing any more than you want to sit here reading.
We will be back with a post. No more super long gaps. We already have some fun summer shit planned. We are in the process of trying to plan a little getaway for our 30th birthdays at the end of the year.
2017 is awesome so far...and it's going to stay awesome.
Every time I go...phew we are going to have some down to relax...it doesn't happen.
And you know what? I'm not mad about it.
We are having a blast.
Not sure where I'd be...or what I'd be doing... if Norman Reedus hadn't brought me together with my best friend.
On that note...cheers!
Let The Good Times Roll.
-Amy
