Sunday was a day of drastically changing plans and dramatic surprises...and roughly 8 hours riding in the mini-van.
Breakfast downstairs at the Hilton consisted of a buffet spread and custom made omelets compliments of our new friend Carlos. After relaxing back in the room and catching up with our respective wives and girlfriends, we headed out of Maryland toward our show in Brooklyn.
If you are following the band tour online, you may have noticed that we are scheduled to play in the New York City area twice. Sunday in Brooklyn and Tuesday in Manhattan with Philadelphia nestled in between on Monday. You may ask, 'Why would they play Philadelphia in between gigs NYC?' I'll tell you...I have no idea. But I digress.
Before we leave Maryland, Eric and Nic determine that they would like to swim in the Atlantic Ocean. A state park on the way charges $6 for admission, but they are determined to see the ocean for free. Instead, we head down a road marked 'Private Drive', park in an open area, and walk down to a private beach for the citizens of the small neighborhood we have invaded. I say we, and I mean Eric and Nic. I stayed in the van in case someone called the police. Turns out Nic and Eric were so nonchalant that everyone virtually ignored them. Eric and Nic got to swim in the Atlantic Ocean, and we didn't have to pay to park.
Then we get on the New Jersey Turnpike to Brooklyn. We have since learned that driving into New York on Sunday evening is one of the worst times to drive because everyone who left the city for the weekend is now coming back in. We are crawling down the expressway which is also under construction I might add, moving about 5 miles per hour, mile after mile. No more mountains but over six lanes of bumper to bumper traffic. It is clear that we are not going to make the gig on time, but do we want to play later? Start playing at 10pm or 11pm when we arrive after driving for nine hours?
Ultimately we decide to skip the gig and hang out with Eric's wife Tammy who happened to be in Atlantic City, New Jersey for a medical conference. I should mentioned that this was a very laborious decision that was not made quickly.
Atlantic City for me is like Pleasure Island in Pinocchio where all of the boys are smoking cigars and tempting Pinocchio to do the same before they all turn into donkeys. It is all of the high production values and hospitality you would expect from Walt Disney with none of the class or behavioral expectations for its guests. Not that Disney has the most well behaved guests, but here, bad behavior is expected and encouraged especially since everything can be charged back to your hotel room.
We eat a late dinner at Johnny Rocket's and Eric dances with the servers to 'Staying Alive'. After that, I head back to the hotel room and sleep while Nic, Eric, Tammy, and Tammy's roommate Jenny have some more fun. Sadly, neither Eric or Nic win the $5,000 needed to finance the rest of our tour at the Blackjack table, but we do get a night off from performing, sleeping on the floor of a hotel at Cesar's Palace.
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| Just like Rome |
