phish summer 04
Our vacation was a blast! We made the drive on Saturday to Sandusky, OH in about 18 hours. On Sunday, we got to Cedar Point just after it opened. This place was incredible. Not only did they have a dozen or so of the biggest, fastest roller coasters I've ever ridden, but the park was nice in several unexpected ways as well. They seem to have crowd management and pedestrian traffic down to a science.
By far the highlight of all of the incredible coasters was the Top Thrill Dragster. This daunting beast is the kind of thing eight-year-olds have nightmares about. It launches the riders forward from a standstill to 120-mph in 2 seconds. The force was incredible as the track turns 90° into the air and rises a whopping 420-ft above the park. You approach 100-mph while rolling in a vertical dive on the way down. All in all, the most intense 30 seconds anyone could ever hope for in a roller coaster. Pure adrenaline.
Monday was my 25th birthday and Corinne and I spent the day making our way through Ohio to Cincinnati. We stopped along the way at the Neil Armstrong Air & Space Museum and saw relics from the early days of the space program. I picked up some interesting post cards. We got to Cincinnati and I visited with my good friend Mitchell and his sister. The took us out to a section of town called Mt. Adams that overlooked the river and the city. We had a great meal and remembered old times.
Josh met up with us at Mitchell's and it started to feel like we were about to see Phish again soon. It wasn't until Mitchell's sister mentioned it that I knew Keller Williams was playing at Deer Creek the next night with Dark Star Orchestra. We called and they said we could camp at the venue and stay 3 nights through Phish, so we headed out to Indiana the next day. We got into the show for $20 just in time to hear Keller singing Gate Crashers Suck. Everyone was going nuts when he was singing about Deer Creek. DSO was awesome and then Keller came out and played a set with DSO.
I won't bore everyone with my usual set-lists, but suffice to say each of my last 4 shows were great. Highlights from Deer Creek include a Crosseyed and Painless and on the second night a Tube > Antelope > Wedge > Timber Ho! We had a lot of fun camping out and we also got to see our friends Miles and Laura for the first time in a year.
Josh decided not to come to Wisconsin, so he gave us his tickets and off we went. We camped at the place where he had stayed last summer, Jellystone Campground about 45 minutes from the venue. My friends Pat and Bob from Chicago ended up camping there too. Alpine Valley is in the middle of nowhere and is quite a strange venue. The lawn there is steeper than one can easily imagine. I am so glad we had seats for both nights. We got to meet up with some of our New Orleans friends Steven and Ann and we had no problem whatsoever getting rid of Josh's tickets.
Both shows were awesome. Our seats each night were some of the best I've had in an amphitheater. I was excited for Glide and the second set Mike's Groove > YEM > 2001 was possibly the highlight these shows. The last Phish show I'll probably ever see wound down with an epic Harry Hood and ended with a Possum closer. I am still sad they are disbanding, but I am content with the memories I will have of my last show.
Pat was nice enough to let us stay at his new house in Chicago after the show on Saturday. The whole time we were camping he hadn't mentioned his new chocolate lab puppy, Runaway Jim, at home. He was extremely cute and Rinne fell in love with him instantly. We left early in the morning and drove all the way back to New Orleans by about midnight.
In the end this was a great vacation. I love taking road trips with Corinne and I know this is one we will remember fondly forever.
By far the highlight of all of the incredible coasters was the Top Thrill Dragster. This daunting beast is the kind of thing eight-year-olds have nightmares about. It launches the riders forward from a standstill to 120-mph in 2 seconds. The force was incredible as the track turns 90° into the air and rises a whopping 420-ft above the park. You approach 100-mph while rolling in a vertical dive on the way down. All in all, the most intense 30 seconds anyone could ever hope for in a roller coaster. Pure adrenaline.
Monday was my 25th birthday and Corinne and I spent the day making our way through Ohio to Cincinnati. We stopped along the way at the Neil Armstrong Air & Space Museum and saw relics from the early days of the space program. I picked up some interesting post cards. We got to Cincinnati and I visited with my good friend Mitchell and his sister. The took us out to a section of town called Mt. Adams that overlooked the river and the city. We had a great meal and remembered old times.
Josh met up with us at Mitchell's and it started to feel like we were about to see Phish again soon. It wasn't until Mitchell's sister mentioned it that I knew Keller Williams was playing at Deer Creek the next night with Dark Star Orchestra. We called and they said we could camp at the venue and stay 3 nights through Phish, so we headed out to Indiana the next day. We got into the show for $20 just in time to hear Keller singing Gate Crashers Suck. Everyone was going nuts when he was singing about Deer Creek. DSO was awesome and then Keller came out and played a set with DSO.
I won't bore everyone with my usual set-lists, but suffice to say each of my last 4 shows were great. Highlights from Deer Creek include a Crosseyed and Painless and on the second night a Tube > Antelope > Wedge > Timber Ho! We had a lot of fun camping out and we also got to see our friends Miles and Laura for the first time in a year.
Josh decided not to come to Wisconsin, so he gave us his tickets and off we went. We camped at the place where he had stayed last summer, Jellystone Campground about 45 minutes from the venue. My friends Pat and Bob from Chicago ended up camping there too. Alpine Valley is in the middle of nowhere and is quite a strange venue. The lawn there is steeper than one can easily imagine. I am so glad we had seats for both nights. We got to meet up with some of our New Orleans friends Steven and Ann and we had no problem whatsoever getting rid of Josh's tickets.
Both shows were awesome. Our seats each night were some of the best I've had in an amphitheater. I was excited for Glide and the second set Mike's Groove > YEM > 2001 was possibly the highlight these shows. The last Phish show I'll probably ever see wound down with an epic Harry Hood and ended with a Possum closer. I am still sad they are disbanding, but I am content with the memories I will have of my last show.
Pat was nice enough to let us stay at his new house in Chicago after the show on Saturday. The whole time we were camping he hadn't mentioned his new chocolate lab puppy, Runaway Jim, at home. He was extremely cute and Rinne fell in love with him instantly. We left early in the morning and drove all the way back to New Orleans by about midnight.
In the end this was a great vacation. I love taking road trips with Corinne and I know this is one we will remember fondly forever.
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