My Florida trip - final recap (really)

[(Crazy)Dulce Lady]

Gayle and I got caught in ANOTHER fire on hwy 415 after we dropped Linda at the airport in Orlando at about 5pm that evening.. ridiculous!!!

Holy crap!

Looks like it, but way less severe than what we went though. Obviously you all were ahead of us before it got even worse. Wow! Thanks for posting that!

Perfect addition to this thread!

this last one was INSIDE the car--we couldn't see EACH OTHER much less the road!!

[Rockindeano]

AR, when you post your recap of the HOB gig and your journey home could you please post the set-list from HOB if you have it as no one has posted it as yet.

Someone posted it was similar to Pompano but I kinda want to know exactly what was played and if anything different to the other 2 gigs was played.

Off memory, and a drunken one at that....Not in order

Message of Love
Rubicon
Neal new solo..some UK shit thrown in here
Stone in Love
Wheel in the Sky
Ask the Lonely
Lights
Send Her My Love
Opened the Door
LTS
Frig Solo
Open Arms
Faithfully
Chain Reaction
Where Were You
Faith in the Heartland
I'll Be Alright Without You
DSB
AWYWI
SW

[SunshineTwilight]

Arrival in Orlando
The offday was just as much fun as the concert days.

AND I MISSED IT ALL!!


Still kicking myself in the ass for this one!

sorry, Pam. sheesh. what a dud

Tell me about it!!! I should have left HER at home!!!

[Rockindeano]

Well shit, if Debbie can say it, I will expound upon her....She was more boring than watching a combine till a Kansas praire. My God, she had me torqued at Norm and Gran's hotel...I wanted to strangle pam for doing this shit. Oh yeah Pam, because of her, you missed the events on the day off in Universal Studios....Hahahahahaa

[Natalie]

Well shit, if Debbie can say it, I will expound upon her....She was more boring than watching a combine till a Kansas praire. My God, she had me torqued at Norm and Gran's hotel...I wanted to strangle pam for doing this shit. Oh yeah Pam, because of her, you missed the events on the day off in Universal Studios....Hahahahahaa

Hey Deano, I heard that you hung out with a professional wrestler at Universal Stuidos. Is that true????

[Rockindeano]

Well shit, if Debbie can say it, I will expound upon her....She was more boring than watching a combine till a Kansas praire. My God, she had me torqued at Norm and Gran's hotel...I wanted to strangle pam for doing this shit. Oh yeah Pam, because of her, you missed the events on the day off in Universal Studios....Hahahahahaa

Hey Deano, I heard that you hung out with a professional wrestler at Universal Stuidos. Is that true????

Um, no. Enlighten me. WTF are you babbling about?

[StevePerryHair]

Well shit, if Debbie can say it, I will expound upon her....She was more boring than watching a combine till a Kansas praire. My God, she had me torqued at Norm and Gran's hotel...I wanted to strangle pam for doing this shit. Oh yeah Pam, because of her, you missed the events on the day off in Universal Studios....Hahahahahaa

Hey Deano, I heard that you hung out with a professional wrestler at Universal Stuidos. Is that true????

No wrestlers, just amateur basketball players

[SunshineTwilight]

Well shit, if Debbie can say it, I will expound upon her....She was more boring than watching a combine till a Kansas praire. My God, she had me torqued at Norm and Gran's hotel...I wanted to strangle pam for doing this shit. Oh yeah Pam, because of her, you missed the events on the day off in Universal Studios....Hahahahahaa

Dean,

Believe me, had I known I would have left her ass at home! I hadn't seen her in two years and couldn't believe what a mess she was when I saw her! I should have told her that I had better things to do and left her home. What a waste of my time!!

BTW-Rub it in why don't ya, I feel bad enough that I duffed "our" friend at Universal!

[Melissa]

Well shit, if Debbie can say it, I will expound upon her....She was more boring than watching a combine till a Kansas praire. My God, she had me torqued at Norm and Gran's hotel...I wanted to strangle pam for doing this shit. Oh yeah Pam, because of her, you missed the events on the day off in Universal Studios....Hahahahahaa

Hey Deano, I heard that you hung out with a professional wrestler at Universal Stuidos. Is that true????

No wrestlers, just amateur basketball players

lol- super good too, very TALL

[StevePerryHair]

Well shit, if Debbie can say it, I will expound upon her....She was more boring than watching a combine till a Kansas praire. My God, she had me torqued at Norm and Gran's hotel...I wanted to strangle pam for doing this shit. Oh yeah Pam, because of her, you missed the events on the day off in Universal Studios....Hahahahahaa

Hey Deano, I heard that you hung out with a professional wrestler at Universal Stuidos. Is that true????

No wrestlers, just amateur basketball players

lol- super good too, very TALL

I'm not sure about "super good", I think there were a lot of missed baskets

[SunshineTwilight]

Well shit, if Debbie can say it, I will expound upon her....She was more boring than watching a combine till a Kansas praire. My God, she had me torqued at Norm and Gran's hotel...I wanted to strangle pam for doing this shit. Oh yeah Pam, because of her, you missed the events on the day off in Universal Studios....Hahahahahaa

Hey Deano, I heard that you hung out with a professional wrestler at Universal Stuidos. Is that true????

No wrestlers, just amateur basketball players

lol- super good too, very TALL

I'm not sure about "super good", I think there were a lot of missed baskets

Naw...there were a few made. I have it on film!!

[StevePerryHair]

Well shit, if Debbie can say it, I will expound upon her....She was more boring than watching a combine till a Kansas praire. My God, she had me torqued at Norm and Gran's hotel...I wanted to strangle pam for doing this shit. Oh yeah Pam, because of her, you missed the events on the day off in Universal Studios....Hahahahahaa

Hey Deano, I heard that you hung out with a professional wrestler at Universal Stuidos. Is that true????

No wrestlers, just amateur basketball players

lol- super good too, very TALL

I'm not sure about "super good", I think there were a lot of missed baskets

Naw...there were a few made. I have it on film!!

I meant the ones at Universal! Although, I'm sure they made SOME there too We didn't get that on film though! See, we did need you there

[AR]

Final installments coming tonight.

[Clasicrockldy]

Final installments coming tonight.

Yay!

[ohsherrie]

Well then start typing dammit!!

[Moon Beam]

Final installments coming tonight.

Go ahead AR, take your fuckin time about it.
You know a woman would have had it done
by early this morning though.......sheesh

[RedWingFan]

Final installments coming tonight.

Never mind that AR. You better start saving your pennies. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/f ... index.html

[AR]

Final installments coming tonight.

Never mind that AR. You better start saving your pennies. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/f ... index.html

I do have an autographed Johnny U mini helmet. Don't think it's worth quite as much.

[Rockindeano]

Final installments coming tonight.

Never mind that AR. You better start saving your pennies. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/f ... index.html

As good as Johnny U was, fuck that, I want that red jersey hanging from your avatar. THAT is golden.

[AR]

Monday: Final Day - House of Blues

Monday morning has come and it is our final official day of the trip with Tuesday being a travel day. duke22 mentions that he will abstain from drinking so we can take off after the show and get a couple of hours on the road behind us. This should make the Tuesday trip a little easier to deal with since we are all back at work on Wednesday.

We start off with an 11am breakfast at Shoneys. Not half bad, but Granny and Norm have an appointment at noon. We are staying at a beautiful time share that they got on the cheap. However, they now have to attend an annoying sales meeting as penance. While they are sitting through the sales pitch, we are enjoying the beautiful room and having a few or course. I almost felt guilty that we did that - almost. duke22 worked the phones with Dean and others and set up a pre-show dinner at Bahama Breeze restaurant, not to far from the House of Blues. We had a momentary hiccup wondering if there were 2 Bahama Breeze's in the area. However, Dean, Stu, Pam and everyone managed to find the place. Coincidentally, our waitress was from my hometown of Baltimore and questioned my choice of the Yankees hat as a fashion statement (it matches the Annex t-shirts). We had a pretty decent meal and headed over towards Disney and the House of Blues.

When we got there a line was already fully formed but none of us where concerned. Tickets were distributed from will call and we settled down outside at some tables and ordered a few rounds before going into the venue. Once inside we found some new friends we met up with in Clearwater - jrnyjunky and her husband known as Dubrow, Heather and Gen, Susan and a few others. It seems that a few people did the Clearwater & HOB shows and took a pass on Pompano. No matter, as the group is now back at full strength.

The House of Blues in Orlando is a terrific place to see a show. It is intimate to say the least. Basically it is like seeing one of your favorite bands in a club. Had that pleasure with Journey at Rams Head Live in Baltimore on 9/9/05 except that it really wasn't the real deal. This time however, IT WAS! One thing I haven't mentioned is before each show the final song you hear before the show starts is "Won't Get Fooled Again" by The Who. Nice touch guys!

Most of us ended up on the right side on the terrace level which is slightly elevated over the main floor. Great sightlines and perfect sound. Dave and I were also pleased that we had easy access to the tub girl who was selling beer away from the main bar. Very easy access to get rounds, and we took advantage of that. Dean got recognized quite a bit and I'm not sure he had a moments peace at this show.

The show itself was on fire! Maybe it was just seeing them in a club, I don't really know. This show to me, was by far the best of the bunch. There was a younger crowd and everyone was fired up. My apologies to anyone that stood near Stu and I because we were belting each song out at the top of our lungs. No one complained though, so I guess it was ok. Someone asked about the setlist. It was the same as Pompano as best as I can recall. I don't remember any changes.

To be continued...............

[GlitterGlamGirl]

Stu was quite funny. I enjoyed his singing...

[AR]

House of Blues continued.........

After an incredible show, we all gathered on the parking lot to say some goodbyes. I had some live DVD's that I had promised people so I took care of getting those discs to their new owners. Although this has already been posted, here is the final group picture in full size. It is photoshopped a bit to take out the red eye and make a few of us look a little bit more human.



The trip was officially drawing to a close. I almost wish we had some more time, but the real world was calling again. duke22, dcvader and myself said our farewells and jumped out on the road north. We got about 2 hours away near Jacksonville and decided to pack it in for the night. Even though we didn't get too far away, it would be a major help on the Tuesday trip. Little did we know how eventful that would be..............

Next up: South of the Border, a radiator cap, and a major winter storm.

[Clasicrockldy]

Great diary, AR ! I can't wait to hear more !

[StevePerryHair]

House of Blues continued.........

After an incredible show, we all gathered on the parking lot to say some goodbyes. I had some live DVD's that I had promised people so I took care of getting those discs to their new owners. Although this has already been posted, here is the final group picture in full size. It is photoshopped a bit to take out the red eye and make a few of us look a little bit more human.



The trip was officially drawing to a close. I almost wish we had some more time, but the real world was calling again. duke22, dcvader and myself said our farewells and jumped out on the road north. We got about 2 hours away near Jacksonville and decided to pack it in for the night. Even though we didn't get too far away, it would be a major help on the Tuesday trip. Little did we know how eventful that would be..............

Next up: South of the Border, a radiator cap, and a major winter storm.

Melissa and I were left out of this picture because we were trying to get to the car to run our errands so we would be able to meet up with Carol and Norm later

[AR]

Melissa and I were left out of this picture because we were trying to get to the car to run our errands so we would be able to meet up with Carol and Norm later

That's right, I forgot you two weren't there. Bummer. Well, we are still waiting on Pam's pics........

[Granny]

Melissa and I were left out of this picture because we were trying to get to the car to run our errands so we would be able to meet up with Carol and Norm later

That's right, I forgot you two weren't there. Bummer. Well, we are still waiting on Pam's pics........

Where the hell werewe..????did we go shopping? for beer?

[AR]

Melissa and I were left out of this picture because we were trying to get to the car to run our errands so we would be able to meet up with Carol and Norm later

That's right, I forgot you two weren't there. Bummer. Well, we are still waiting on Pam's pics........

Where the hell werewe..????did we go shopping? for beer?

I'm not sure. I think the pic was done spur of the moment. Fortuantely we have plenty of pics of you and the hall of famer and everyone else. Would have been great to have everyone in the final shot though for sure!

[GlitterGlamGirl]

[quote="AR"][quote="bufordt9"][quote="AR"][quote]Melissa and I were left out of this picture because we were trying to get to the car to run our errands so we would be able to meet up with Carol and Norm later [/quote]

That's right, I forgot you two weren't there. Bummer. Well, we are still waiting on Pam's pics........[/quote]

Where the hell werewe..????did we go shopping? for beer?[/quote]

I'm not sure. I think the pic was done spur of the moment. Fortuantely we have plenty of pics of you and the hall of famer and everyone else. Would have been great to have everyone in the final shot though for sure![/quote]

If anyone wants the pics I have PM me - and I'll gladly send them along. I just need an email address : )

[AR]

Tuesday: Going Home

We crashed at some hotel in Jacksonville right off I-95 and got some needed sleep. The trip home started around 9am I think and we already know we are in for it. A major winter storm will be hitting the east coast and we will be heading right into it. Fortunately we won't be dealing with it until the last 2 hours or so of our trip. Most of the drive should be easy enough...... Or so we thought.

The drive through Georgia and the Carolina's was routine enough. Most of it was spent listening to sports talk radio and speculation of who would be replacing Marty Schottenheimer as the new coach of the San Diego Chargers. Funny stuff as the callers choices were bad and got progressively worse. Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka's name almost made me spit out my Diet Pepsi when I heard it.

We made an obligatory stop at "Pedro's South of the Border" which is legendary if you have ever driven I-95 in the Carolinas. The cell phones were ringing fairly frequently as we kept in touch with our families and monitored Granny and Norm's progress home as well. It was shocking pulling into a rest stop in southern Virginia to feel how much the temperature had dropped.

3 quarters of the way into our trip, the car's onboard computer started flashing warning signs of overheating. We pull over and notice that the coolant had almst completely leaked out. We had hit a construction cone the night before, but thought nothing of it. We exited in Emporia, VA to assess the damage. Joe removed the radiator cap and the pressure shot the cap so far away we had no idea where it went. This was not good. We drove a bit, knowing that we couldn't continue much farther. A stop at a hick Napa auto parts store did not help a bit. Finally another auto shop had a compatible cap that would suffice.

Back on the road, the trip starts getting dicey just north of Richmond. Ice, freezing rain and snow would plague us the rest of the way. We make it to dcvader's and the roads are getting dangerous. We say goodbye to him and make the trek to Baltimore. Fortunately, the drive is all Interstate roads. They were in decent condition, but visibility was awful. We made it to my house around 11pm. Mrs. AR had Maryland crab soup and pita pizzas waiting for us. Also, a few frosty beverages as well. duke22 and I have our final beverages of the trip, and it is decided that he spend the night rather than tackling the trip north in these conditions. He leaves the next morning, and he has said that it was still quite the adventure.

I know that Joe is going to weigh in with some more information that vader and I do not know about concerning the car, and his trip home on Tuesday.

In conclusion, I just wanted to thank my road warrior buds, and everyone who shared the Florida experience with us. Too many names to mention and I do not want to leave anyone out. Also a major thank you to my friend who took care of getting us the tickets and went out of his way to do so when they were in short supply. The entire trip was so much fun and I'm glad that we did this. Great to renew some friendships and make some new friends along the way. That's what it's really all about.

Thanks for reading.

Ed

[larryfromnextdoor]

ed,, that pic looked better with the red eyes,, looks like dean and your eyes were drawn in,, little dots..