Dec 28, 2016

We reluctantly got out of the bed with the cloud pillows and headed toward the water to try to catch a nice sunrise. Not too much happened in the sky and I couldn't get near the water, so I attempted to catch some shots of this church. Can't win them all, but it was nice to be up early anyway.

One thing I was looking forward to was Edge of the Woods in New Haven. We got there as they opened and went back to the cafe to order a reuben, a Monte Cristo, and the falafel sandwich. The reuben was amazing as always, but the others left something to be desired. Not bad, but nowhere near as good in my opinion.

After breakfast we headed to Park City DGC where I pulled out some new discs to replace my lost one from the other day. I found a few that I liked and tried to break them in and learn how they worked as we played. It was another really nice day to be outside, if a little chilly at times. We stayed warm even when a few snowflakes started to fall. We mostly had the course to ourselves so it went by quickly.

We found a coffee shop called Source to kill some time while we waited for the brewery to open and we sat inside the packed cafe sipping on a cold brew and a hot tea, listening to people chat and planning our day out. The coffee was okay and the tea was okay.

Two Roads is always a great stop when I can make it, and this time was no exception. Most all of the beers were noteworthy, but the best were the session IPA, the Espressway coffee stout, and the cranberry gose. We did three flights of 5 beers and ended up spending a couple of hours at the bar.

We were having a really good time so we didn't rush out. There's always time for selfies. And we left with some bottles and cans of our favorites.

Our next stop was Cranbury Park DGC, where we awkwardly drove by the toll house because it looked like the guy inside was an electrician or something and didn't even give us a second look. So we came in for free. The course is nice, but very wooded and a little repetitive. Definitely one I'd play again, but I prefer the one we played earlier. I'm glad we were able to get through two courses anyway. After that course we hit the road and promptly started hitting rush hour traffic.

After a seemingly long drive home through New York and North Jersey during rush hour we got back home and I dropped Becca off. I had a little time to change, eat, and relax just briefly before jumping back in the car to go to Philly for Valencia at the Fillmore. I stood in the back/middle for the whole show because no one was moving around or into it too much. The band sounded a little off for a while, but they picked up steam with the second half of the set. They played "Linoleum" by NOFX, which was a great surprise addition. Not a bad set, but definitely not my favorite. Finally headed home to sleep after!

Dec 28, 2011

I wanted to go for a run in the morning, but the wind was crazy. I went over to Parvin against my better judgement to run there. I wore warm clothes and it wasn't too bad, but the water was crashing in waves and splashing up on the path at some parts.

Not much to speak of for the rest of the day until we went to The Abbaye for Troegs U-Buy-the-Glass night. Kate, Shannon, Jeff, and I all started with the Pale Ale and worked our way up through the Java Head Stout and the Troegenator. All were good.

Tracy and Tina joined us a little later to hang out before the show. Kate won a bottle of beer during the raffle with a little Christmas tree on it. I couldn't even finish my vegan meatball sandwich. Tracy, Tina, and I left after the even to go to the Electric Factory, leaving the rest to drink.

Valencia's last show was a great show. They played plenty of songs off of each album, focusing mainly, it seemed, on We All Need a Reason to Believe, which was fine with me. I had a good time in the crowd singing along. I wish I had seen them more often.

After the show I walked back to The Abbaye to find Shannon, Kate, and Jeff pretty drunk and laughing at a back table. We paid the bill and dropped Jeff at the train station and then headed home listening to music loudly.

Jan 29, 2011

I picked up Shannon and we went to the Piazza in Northern Liberties to the 104.5 free winter concert something-or-other. We did have to pay for parking but for a free show that's not bad. We trekked through the muddy parking lot and over to the plaza just as Terrible Things was going on.

The band consists of Fred, previously of Taking Back Sunday, and Andy from Hot Rod Circuit. They played a really good set, with the exception of a Led Zeppelin cover which I wasn't really into.

It was great to see Andy Jackson in action again and some of the songs sounded like old Hot Rod Circuit. I definitely need to pick up their CD.

We went around the corner between bands to get lunch. I found a nice little bar with great southwestern food and a lot of vegetarian/vegan options. I just got a giant burrito but I'd like to go back and try some of the other things on the menu.

When we got back to the stage, Valencia was just starting their set. We moved up in the crowd to stay warm as it started snowing.

I always forget how good they are until I see them live. And I always know more of their songs than I expect to. They played a fun, energetic set and the crowd was into it.

We wandered around the plaza and I bought some merch after Valencia played, then we moved up to the front for Bayside.

Bayside came out to songs from The Walking Wounded and kept the pace up for a few songs until "Masterpiece" when people started a pit and we got into it. It was swiftly broken up by security but it was fun while it lasted.

They played a bunch of great songs, old and new. People kept opening it up and it kept getting shut down by security but the set was great, the crowd was good and it was a lot of fun.

I went back to Shannon's to get ready and then went to pick up Katie* for our date at Kokopelli's Tequila Bar in Philly. We had some great drinks, the blood orange martini and the margarita. Both were really good.

We were seated and then got to ordering the tapas-style food. We got a corn bisque, sweet potato fries and crab cakes for dinner. They were all amazing. We had a trifle thing for dessert, which came in a little shot glass. Good thing because I could have eaten a lot of it. After sitting and talking for a while and finishing our drinks, we decided to head out to find a bar.

After a little bit of walking around in the cold, we went to Good Dog, where we stood awkwardly for a while with our drinks until some people left and we got a seat at the bar. The Stone beer I had was the best of the evening.

We had a few drinks and met an interesting guy that we hung out with and talked to while we watched Ace Ventura and Cheaters with the closed captioning on. It was really quite amusing. After a few drinks and a lot of laughing I took Katie* home for the night and headed back to Jersey.

I stopped at Shannon's on the way back at her house party, where I was just in time to see a window get smashed, a table get broken and a bunch of people being rude and getting kicked out. When things calmed down and everything was in order, I finally headed home.

I had a really great day. It was a lot of fun being in the city in the snow and having a good night out with good people.

Dec 29, 2009

I went up to the train station in Trenton in the morning to pick up Joanna. I got there early, so I got a bagel and sat in the parking lot of Dunkin' Donuts reading my book for a while until the train came in. We first went to America's Best so she could get her eye exam for contacts. Too many opportunities to break her glasses with the things we end up doing.

After she was set up with her lenses we went over to Tyler to play some golf. It was cold and pretty windy. I started to sympathize with Ryan for not wanting to play in this weather.

The wind didn't really affect us much at all, my discs just wouldn't do what I wanted. On a hole by the water it curved way to the right and then rolled slowly from one level to the next down a big hill and then hopped into the river. We looked for a while but to no avail.

It got a little warmer as we walked and played. When there was no wind it was fine. We finished all 27 holes with a few really nice shots and quite a few tree shots for me.

We went looking for something to eat after the course. I used my handy GPS but ended up at a few places we didn't really want to eat at but passed a Domino's so we stopped there. We got some bread bowls (it was much better than it looks in the photo). I also got to open my birthday gifts there in the car. Side note: it was so cold out! We were sitting in the car eating because Domino's has no seating and it was just damn cold. Ok, anyway, the first thing I opened was a Charlie Brown Christmas LP. Pretty sweet, I just need to set up my turntable again. Somehow Joanna felt this was "not a Christmas-y gift".... haha.. Next was a bag with a candle (all of my rooms should smell fantastic with all of these candles) and two books. One I had read but didn't own yet and the other was by the author of Trainspotting and looks good.

We didn't really have a plan to kill the next two or three hours until the show so we went to Philly, parked on South Street and walked around looking for dessert. The plan was to stop eating so much sweet stuff but it was my birthday so.... We tried a few places. Gianna's had closed the bakery for this week, the ice cream place was expensive and we couldn't find the Ihop. It wasn't looking good until I remembered the crepe place on Sixth. We walked swiftly back there and ordered a crepe with bananas and ice cream. It was delicious. If only it had Nutella... Chuck and Katie met us there and once we finished eating, we got the car and re-parked right in front of the TLA.

The Starting Line reunion show! I have missed their holiday show... even though it's only been one year that they didn't have it.

We got there in time to see Valencia open. They played really well. There were definitely a good amount of their fans there and they played a good amount of stuff from the newer cd that I like a lot.

The Starting Line came out playing the first few songs on all of their albums and then cut into some fan favorites. The place didn't seem sold out even though it has been for quite a while. The crowd was good though and that is always helpful.

Kenny seemed really excited to be playing like always and he involved the crowd as well. It was great to see them play again and sing along to songs I haven't seen played live in a while.

It was a long day of awesomeness and I was pretty tired once we got back home. Happy birthday to me!

Dec 27, 2008

After doing not much but a game of disc golf in the afternoon with Nate, the night time came and I went to the Bayside show at Hangar 84. Valencia opened and they were pretty darn good. Their new cd is worth checking out.

Bayside played a great mix of new and old songs.

Anthony was passionate as always.

They slowed it down a few times and even played their cover of Megan.

Twas a good night for music.