What a Weekend

Wow. Where did the weekend go? I don't know about you all, but my weekend flew by! I left work at 5:00 on Friday evening so that Wilson and I could make the drive to Hartford, CT for the first of two Pearl Jam shows we would attend over the weekend. We arrived in crap-tastic Hartford around 7:45, parked (for free!) and made our way to pick up our tickets. Since we had ordered them through Pearl Jam's fan club (Ten Club), we had to pick them up at will-call (I guess they don't want people scalping the "good seats"--so all Ten Club members have to pick their tickets up with a valid ID at the venue). We made our way over to the Ten Club will call area, and our jaws dropped as we realized the line was (literally) a half-mile long. We were beyond bummed, but what else could we do but get on line?

An hour and a half passed--about ten thousand obnoxious people with general ticketmaster tix walked past us snickering--and before we knew it Pearl Jam apparently took the stage. I say "apparently" because those of us on line for Ten Club tickets couldn't hear anything beyond some muffled noise out where we were waiting. It was just ridiculous--all of the real fans were helplessly stuck outside while Pearl Jam played one of their best sets ever! We all just kept wondering what went wrong--as nobody near us on the line had EVER encountered an issue with 10-Club ticket pick-up in the hundreds of combined shows we'd seen! Finally, after the first four or five songs had been played, the line started to move a bit. Apparently the Dodge Music Center folks got a little smarter and opened up FIVE windows to hand out tickets (as opposed to the TWO lines they had been using for the previous two hours).

FINALLY, Wilson and I got our tix and rushed in, just as Pearl Jam finished "In Hiding" (the 10th song of the main set). YEAH. It was THAT bad. I have to say, though, as much of a fiasco as it was, the fan club members stuck outside were pretty darn agreeable. I had visions of an all out riot breaking out. But people just kind of commiserated and laughed it off, figuring there was not much we could do. Once inside, the show was great . . . but it was a bit difficult to be quite as excited, knowing we'd missed almost half of it! When the concert ended, Hartford apparently decided it wasn't done attempting to ruin the night--apparently a flimsy fence outside the venue got knocked over as people made their way to the parking lot. The Hartford Police figured that was as good a reason as any to bust out the pepper spray. Wilson and I must have just barely missed the spray-action . . . thank goodness! But seriously, the city of Hartford? It's definitely on my sh*t-list. I'm going to have to go ahead and insist that you NEVER bother attending a concert at the Dodge Music Center in Hartford.

After the show, we had a bit of a drive to Wilson's mother's house in Westerly, Rhode Island. We got home super late (okay, it was only 2 a.m., but that IS super late for me!) and headed straight to bed. When we woke up, Wilson's mother whipped up some delicious blueberry pancakes for breakfast . . . yesssss!! We lounged around and chatted for WAY too long, and then finally attempted to head out for a long run of ten miles--unfortunately, it was already pushing 2 p.m. And it was HOT. Oh lawdy. It was only in the low-80s, but it felt SO much hotter. We ran near the beach, which was really nice . . . but seriously . . . did I mention it was HOT? We completed a 5.5-mile loop around the area, and felt find leg- and fitness-wise. But the sun beaming down on us was practically too much to handle. We debated quitting for a few minutes, and then finally decided to add on a 1.5-mile out-and-back along the beach to wrap up with 8.5 miles total at a 10:30/mile pace. We devoured some well-deserved ice cream afterwards (I had a delicious banana cone!), and then headed back to Wilson's mom's house where I proceeded to pass out for over an hour.

Wilson woke me up, I showered, we scarfed down some dinner with the fam, and then off we went to Mansfield, MA for yet another Pear Jam show! This one went off without a hitch . . . we literally walked right up to the 10-club ticket counter--there was NO LINE whatsoever. We got to see Ted Leo & the Pharmacists open while enjoying a nice big beer :) Then Pearl Jam was GREAT as always. I swear, even after having seen something like 7-8 of their concerts, I'm still in awe after every show I am lucky enough to witness. What an amazing band!!!

On Sunday, we woke up and grabbed breakfast with Wilson's mother before heading back into NYC for my soccer game. When I arrived at the fields, I was oh-so-pleased (or not) to learn that we would have NO SUBS at our game. Seriously? If I can run a long run on Saturday and make it to the game on Sunday, I'm pretty sure everyone should be able to show up . . . but whatever. We lost the game, thanks to our lack of troops, but I did score a goal--which is always exciting--especially in a co-ed league! After the game, Wilson and I stopped at Whole Foods before heading home to watch the Germany v. Spain game, which we'd tivo'd. We made dinner (lamb burgers and roasted potatoes--yum!), and headed to bed, exhausted as a result of our crazy weekend.

And there you have it, folks! I guess THAT is where my weekend went. Thank goodness for the upcoming 3-day weekend! I seriously need it! Until next time . . .