In just a few weeks Toney and I will be DRIVING (ugh!) to Myrtle Beach, and staying at a so-called retro motel. In fact, it’s the one above. It was built in 1963, and over the past few years, somebody has poured millions o’ dollars into it to bring it back to like-new condition. All the rooms are completely refurbished and the outside is supposedly exactly like it was in ’63. Its grand re-opening was in September 2018, so it’s new. And old. You know what I’m saying… I love that kind of stuff, and we booked this trip on a whim. Possibly while drinking. Should be interesting.
The driving part concerns me. It’s a long, long ride. Longer than I feel comfortable with, to tell you the truth. But when you add airfare and a rental car… it starts to add up to a substantial number of dollars. The drive down will probably be OK because there will be a payoff at the end. But the ride back? Absolute, pure hell. I can already feel the Phantom Ass Syndrome settling in. But we’re going to look around the area while we’re down there, for a possible “retirement” location. So, we’ll have all that to discuss. Not sure we can wring eleven hours out of it, but we can give it a shot.
And in August we’re driving to Cincinnati for a Reds vs. Cardinals game. It’s Johnny Bench bobblehead night (ha!), and I sprang for the $20 add-on wristband which will entitle us to all-you-can-eat stadium food. Oh, it’s going to be a wonderful evening of baseball and high gluttony ‘neath the stars. I’ve never been to Great American Ballpark, and it opened in 2003. I still think of it as the “new” stadium. Oh well. I went to the “old” stadium many, many times. Looking forward to this one, big time!
Toney isn’t much of a baseball fan, but she loves tennis. And while we’re in Cincy we’ll also be attending the Western & Southern Open. It’s the same players who compete at the US Open, Wimbledon, etc. But it’s in Cincinnati. I’ve never been to a professional tennis tournament, so it’ll be cool. Hopefully, we’ll get to see Roger Federer, or Serena Williams, or somebody else I kinda-sorta recognize. Regardless, it’ll be interesting.
And, of course, we’ll be visiting Skyline Chili while we’re there, as well as the Reds Hall of Fame, and staying at a hotel in the heart of a million restaurants and bars. Should be fun! And unusual.
We’ve just begun talking about a semi-quick trip to Cleveland (more Ohio!?) with the boys to visit the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. Maybe in May. Those plans are still in their infancy, and I’m not sure if they’ll pan out. I’ve been there, but nobody else in the family has. Toney wants to do something that includes the younglings this summer, and they’re all about the rock n roll. We’ll see. I’m not so sure about that one yet. Is it worthy of the drive?
But speaking of rock music, the younger boy and I are going to Philadelphia on Sunday to see a fairly (and unfairly) obscure British band called The Monochrome Set. I’ve been a fan of them since the early 1980s, and they rarely come to the United States. I’m flipping out, man! They are one of those bands I thought I’d NEVER get to see. Here’s a short video of them performing just a couple of weeks ago. I was going to try to embed it here, but it caused me problems, so fukkit. And by the way, their third album is one of my favorites of all time. You know, in case you were wondering. Check out this on-the-money review of it.
There have also been some preliminary discussions about me and Steve seeing Nick Lowe perform near Philly in April, but it’s not settled law at this point. And I might be attending a show with the older boy: the Claypool Lennon Delirium. Also, not confirmed.
So, there you go. Those are our weird summer travel plans. What do you have for Summer ’19? We didn’t travel at all for ten years, so all this still makes me slightly uneasy. It feels like it’s going to come back and bite us somehow. I don’t know a carefree lifestyle. I’m not at all familiar with that concept… Anyway, if you have any plans, please share. Use the comments.
And I posted a new podcast episode yesterday, literally seconds before Monday turned into Tuesday. But I made it! You can check it out here, or wherever you get podcasts. Here’s the summary:
In this one I tell you about my one goal for the weekend and how it turned out, the older boy’s chance encounter with the member of a famous jam band, a controversial stand I took at Cracker Barrel on Saturday night, the younger boy’s utter disgust at my eating habits, my opinion of the new Sheetz taco 3 packs, my purchase of baseball tickets with a $20 all-you-can-eat add-on, and The Whistle Dick of the Week! I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for listening!
I’ll see you guys again on Thursday.
Have a great week!
Now playing in the bunker
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I’ve only been to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame once. It was almost 20 years ago. I am sure they will be into it.
did you ever visit the now defunct “Hard Rock Park” at Myrtle Beach, Jeff? I think it lasted all of one summer before going under- saw a good article about how it failed. looks like it would have been fun.
R&R Hall of Fame is definitely worth it, and your boys will really enjoy it. It’s also not very expensive in my opinion, about $25 I think.
Great American is one of the best ballparks in the country. Every seat is a good seat.
I took a bunch of foreigners to see the Reds and Giants play there about 10 years ago, none of whom had ever seen baseball before. The game was a great intro for newbies – the Giants went up 5-0 early and the Reds chipped away to 5-3. In the 8th inning a Red hit a 3-run homer to go up 6-5, which is how it ended. The home run came within about 5 feet of our seats in the left field bleachers, which was exciting.
I saw the Giants play last year and I agree that it looked liked they’d never seen baseball before. Can’t vouch for the Reds.
jtb
I went to the ‘new’ park in Cincy last summer with my son. It was very inexpensive to obtain great seats as I recall. I also visited Cleveland on the same trip and went to a ballgame there. Paid much more, as you would imagine. This summer’s ballpark trip with the boy will entail KC Royals and SL Cardinals ballpark visits. Seems like I am always visiting oddball parts of the country on these trips (Ohio and Missouri; who goes out of their way to travel to these places?)
Busch and Kauffman are both nice stadiums. Only downside of Busch is that it’s in St. Louis and the Cards play there. Other than that, it’s nice! If you’re a baseball guy, you definitely have to go to the Negro Leagues museum in KC. It’s really great.
Doing SF -> Yosemite -> LA -> Las Vegas -> Grand Canyon. Will be interesting, haven’t been to CA since we moved out of the state in 2005. Hopefully the traffic’s improved.
Oh yeah, the traffic’s much better. You can buzz right out to Venice Beach at rush hour, engage in a little freeform body building, and be home by dinner. Don’t forget the architecture.
John
Well that’s good to hear! Spending 3 hours a day in traffic was one of the issues that drove us out of CA in the first place.
And as a sort of a trans-Atlantic bonus, no more hooligans at Premier League or Champions League matches and no more old Bolsheviks bellowing in Hyde Park. Also, Trump now likes darkies.
John
Uh, Trump always did like blacks, sport. It wasn’t till he had an R behind his name that he “suddenly” became racist to you.
https://dailycaller.com/2016/08/29/1999-jesse-jackson-praises-trumps-commitment-to-minorities-under-served-communities-video/
Facts are hard.
And apparently malleable.
jtb
Jussie Smollett?
I did have plans for late summer to go to England and walk Hadrian’s Wall (or at least part of it). But, Mr. Q and I have since found out that we’re potentially being RIF’d (Reduction In Force) from our long-time employer because the company is being acquired. So, any and all such plans are currently on hold.
It’s a serious bummer.
I feel ya. My hubby’s shop was recently “merged” with another company. More or less taken over. New company’s being dicks, and the union voted to strike on Saturday. Started today. No clue how long it might last, so any and all plans are on hold indefinitely. :-/
re: Rock & Roll HOF — I think I heard on Sirius that they are remodeling and one floor is closed? Check that out first.
Instead just go to Cedar Point!!!
That is correct, entire second floor is closed. I live 10 min from the place and finally went for the first time this past weekend. It was cool and all but I’d have been angry if we had to pay when a big chunk was closed. (Cleveland residents get in free)
I’m heading to Juneau Alaska this summer. My brother called me a couple of weeks ago telling me he had a business trip to Juneau this summer and if I paid for my airfare he could expense the rest of it. So I’m meeting him in Juneau for a 5 day fly-in fishing trip and a couple of days sight seeing. Pretty stoked.
That. Is. Awesome! I, too, would be stoked for a trip like that!
That is very cool. I have friends who recently did this and they had a hundred grizzlies on the left and right banks of the river while they fished in the middle. Brown pants all around but the bears are apparently way more interested in the fish (in particular salmon roe) than you.
There was a story on the news the other night (I live near Myrtle Beach) about Frontier starting service from Philadelphia in April. Something like $35 each way.
On the R&R HOF: yes, yes, yes!
Also on the waterfront: a restored Great Lakes freighter. Definitely worth seeing:
http://greatscience.com/explore/exhibits/william-g-mather-steamship
Also: the West Side Market. Go hungry before you go home, and bring a cooler.
http://westsidemarket.org/
Across the street from the West Side Market is the Farkas Pastry Shop.
It’s small and everything is made right in front of you.
https://www.farkaspastries.com/
If you want a nice meal out with a GREAT view of the lake and the city:
Pier W
http://pierw.com/about/
Less than 10 minutes from downtown.
You won’t be sorry about ANY of these things.
Great suggestions, thank you. I live less than 2 hrs away so now I have some motivation to head northeast for a weekend.
Been to the R&R 2 weeks after it opened was cool then went 2 yes ago and was even better
I still have the third album by The Monochrome Set based on your strong recommendation. Nicely done, Mr. Surf Report.
Well I am heading to denver memorial day weekend to see the stones. One of my oldest, dearest friends snagged some primo seats.
After that? Oh hahaha I’m giddy with fucking excitement as I get to lay out $10 grand for oral surgery. 2extractions, 2 bone grafts and for more shits and giggles, an implant. I’m kissing ever seeing Italy in this lifetime.
Oral surgery! I’m jealous. Just kidding. I don’t have a regular dentist, but I do have a regular oral surgeon. I see that he’s advertising on TV these days.
Dog will hunt! I am down for anything that has Les Claypool involved.
Probably a family reunion, probably in the wretchedly hot part of summer. It’s only about half the distance of Jeff’s upcoming trip, but it still pretty much kills a day each direction.
Other than that, I just started a job that “requires travel.” Tomorrow I have to “travel” 35 miles, about 60 degrees around the Beltway.
Flying down to LA in May for my brother’s high school graduation, then driving from Portland, OR down to LA then across to Connecticut to see him off for college in late August. I’ve never done a true coast to coast road trip and I’m super excited. I’m also stopping off in Cleveland since my uncle just moved there and I want to check it out, since my partner and I are sick of the west coast and are considering moving there. I want to check out Skyline, get a lobster roll in New England and visit a Sheetz and Wegman’s (never been to either.)
We have a family reunion in NY state in July. I think we will go up from MO through Canada which about 18 hours then come back home through Ohio. It’s up near Niagara Falls which is one of my favorite places. Pretty stoked about taking the fam for the first time.
We were supposed to go to Europe this summer, but alas, my kid got put on a national karate team so we’ll be doing that instead. We’ve got Alabama in May, Atlanta in June, and Tennessee in August. We’re skipping Orlando in July.
You should plan lunch at DiCarlos pizza at the beach. http://dicarlospizzamb.com
Cincy Tennis Tips
If you go to a day session drink plenty of water and have SPF 50 on hand. I’ve been 5 or 6 times and it’s always the hottest part of summer.
I like the Grandstand court. You can get closer to the players and still see big names. Center Court is assigned sitting and my usual nosebleed seats ain’t that great.
Players also carbo load breakfast at the nearby Waffle House before matches which seems way cool to me..
Probably a few weekends in Vegas since I get all my rooms comped between MGM and Cosmo… I have two trips that I have to use before May already. Other than that I’ll be in Cincy and Pittsburgh with some work projects. I may squeeze in some Cancun beach time and am thinking about a trip back to Tuscany and maybe Japan once it’s August and I have to escape the heat in Texas. Likely also a trip to Aspen if it gets too hot. MLife keeps sending me free trips to Biloxi, too… so I may accept one of those.
No real plans yet. But since we have a permanent camp site at a KOA campground, that’s like a mini vaca every weekend. Especially with all of our “camp family” we spend time with while there. It’s a blast!