Mid-week Weekend (Part 1)
Oct. 2nd, 2003 09:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jackofallgeeksOk, right, I owe a post about this past weekend, or something... I wrote notes about it, just for this occasion, now lets see if I can remember how it went...
(Warning, this got really long really quick...)
(Addendum -- I spent most of yesterday, on and off, trying to write this up. I'm posting what I have now, and I'll get the rest up as soon as I find time to breathe.)
I think I've done this before...
It started out as most of my trips do:
The Next Day...
Saturday, of course, was the centerpiece of the weekend. Mostly because it was in the center of the weekend. But also because that's when everything happened.
We started out by having breakfast outside of the park with Jenny and Shawn at McDonalds. The only think I will ever eat at McDonalds is it's breakfast, and even then it's limited to Sausage Biscuits and Steak Bagels. Shawn had Biscuits and Gravy, and that looked edible, but... McDonalds all-around disagrees with Josh, and he was complaining mildly for the rest of the day. On the plus side, he wasn't hungry all day, so we saved some on food.
Shawn had to be in earlier than Jenny, so he took their van from McDonalds, and I drove Jenny in through the Emplyees' Entrance. She told me how to get back out, but I must've turned left when she said right, because I found myself lost.
Look, Shinies!
*cleverly looks at his notes while no one is paying attention*
Something odd that I noticed was that there were quite a number of people walking around in Logoed shirts emblazoned with 'Independant.' And so, I'm sitting here thinking, "Isn't that just the pinacle of Commercialism -- there's now a logo for independant!" I've since been informed it's some kind of skateboard paraphenelia manufacturer or something, but at the time it was quite amusing, and even still, what a name for a company, ne?
All things being equal, they're not. The gods of fortune (fittingly) thought it best to even the playing field after our free parking. At lunch we met up with Jenny to eat. She can get us 30% off of our meals, but she was on her lunch break, and so she had an Employees' Cafeteria where she had to stand in line to get her food. Her solution was simple enough -- we'd stand in our line, get our food, and then I'd call her as we got the the Register so she could stop by and get our discount. Unfortunately, just as we were abouit to call her, my phone mysteriously and very solidly decided to die, and it would not turn back on, even though I KNEW it had more than half a battery left. We ended up paying full price for the food (some $25 for the three of us, I think), and as we were sitting down to eat, my phone came back on. Damnable thing. On the plus side, Jenny stopped with my at one of the shops where I picked up a few CDs by a group called "The Midnight Syndicate", and I got 30% off that. The music's really cool, a dark, almost-haunting sort of orchestral music. Each of the CDs I got are nicely done, though my favorite would have to be Realm of Shadows. There's a 5th CD that Busch Gardens didn't carry, which I'm very strongly considering ordering.
Hey, do I know you?
As I'd mentioned, being that it was Catholic Youth Day, I was pretty sure that my old youth group, YOA, was going to be there. Seeing, though, that everyone I knew there is now in College, though, I didn't really expect to see anyone. Walking around to one of the rides, though, I saw a familiar face heading the other way. He and I kept eye contact the whole way, and as we met in the middle, I said, "Tommy?" And, of course, it was. Tommy was a kid in Boy Scouts with me, a really small kid who couldn't have ever weighed more than 85lbs. Now he's quite a bit taller, but I still don't think he weighs more than 85lbs. We chatted for a bit there, and he said how he was with his group from Richmond (apparently he'd moved) and not with YOA. We parted soon afterwards, as we both had places we were going.
Later on, we were heading to mass, as that's one of the things they do at Catholic Youth Day, and because it would mean sleeping in a bit later before heading home in the morning. Of course, we saw YOA, but I was surprised to see my old grade-school History teacher, Mr. Bond, with them. My brothers and I sat a few rows behind them and to the left -- I didn't see any other familiar faces. Just then, though, a Familiar Face sat down next to me -- Mario. Mario was one of the music ministers at a sister church, but he'd done a number of things with YOA when I was there, and was doing music at the retreat where I first encountered YOA (and Katrina, and Sarah, and arguably the Ladies Croft). He didn't recognize me. At the sign of peace, however, I shook his hand and said "Peace, Mario." As we sat down, he leaned over and said "How is it that you know my name?" So I told him who I was and that I'd been in YOA, and he kind of laughed to himself. After mass we chatted for a few moments.
But just before the end of mass, I'd seen another familiar face in with YOA -- Ms. Becky Croft. After my chat with Mario, I went over to say Hi, and give her a hug. It was really good to see her. I was also intercepted by another face, a kid named Andrew (I believe it was) who I'd known in YOA, and he recognized me right off and was excited to see me around. That was cool. And THEN, I was cornered by ANOTHER face, Geoffrey Bond, Mr. Bond's kid, who was also in Boy Scouts with us. He, too, had been small, not as small at Tommy, but now he was huge! He was almost as tall as me, and definitely broader than even Gene! He would have been a football player, if only a reciever, without much trouble, I think. So, yeah, familiar faces all around.
Continue...
(Warning, this got really long really quick...)
(Addendum -- I spent most of yesterday, on and off, trying to write this up. I'm posting what I have now, and I'll get the rest up as soon as I find time to breathe.)
I think I've done this before...
It started out as most of my trips do:
Jenny: Hey, you should visit.OK, there might have a been a little more to it than that, but not much. Jenny and her husband, Shawn, work at Busch Gardens, and so they get free tickets to give out to friends and family. Jenny said she had a few, and I should grab a brother or two and make a visit -- sleep on her couch Friday, go to the Park on Saturday, and then home again on Sunday. She also said that that Saturday was Catholic Youth Day, which Busch Gardens hosts once a year, and so that'd be a neat little thing, too -- particularly because my old Youth Group goes to it, and I might see someone I know. So, Friday night I grabbed my brothers, Josh and Tim, and we headed down. We actually got away several hours than I wanted to, but I've always enjoyed night driving, and we didn't get in too late. We chatted with Jenny some, watched The Late Show, and then went to bed.
Me: OK, I'll be down this Friday.
The Next Day...
Saturday, of course, was the centerpiece of the weekend. Mostly because it was in the center of the weekend. But also because that's when everything happened.
We started out by having breakfast outside of the park with Jenny and Shawn at McDonalds. The only think I will ever eat at McDonalds is it's breakfast, and even then it's limited to Sausage Biscuits and Steak Bagels. Shawn had Biscuits and Gravy, and that looked edible, but... McDonalds all-around disagrees with Josh, and he was complaining mildly for the rest of the day. On the plus side, he wasn't hungry all day, so we saved some on food.
Shawn had to be in earlier than Jenny, so he took their van from McDonalds, and I drove Jenny in through the Emplyees' Entrance. She told me how to get back out, but I must've turned left when she said right, because I found myself lost.
Parking Attendant 1: Hey, where are you headed?So I did. Except, I still wasn't sure where I was going, and by the time I'd gotten very far, another attendant flagged me down.
Me: Actually, I don't know; I just dropped my sister off for work, and I'm lost.
Parking Attendant 1: Oh, you must've turned left when she said right. Just turn around here and go back out the way you came in.
Parking Attendant B: Hey, where are you headed?So it ended up that, because we got lost, we got into the Preferred Parking (meaning we had a shorter distance to the Gate and an easier way out) for free. That's $12 saved right there. We got out, got through the Gate, and we sneaking around the edge of the Fountain hoping not to get caught by one of the camera-toting emplyees -- I'd really rather not have my picture taken everytime I enter a Theme Park. But, one of them caught us trying to sneak away:
Me: Actually, I don't know; I just dropped my sister off for work, and I'm lost.
Parking Attendant B: Oh. Well, do you have a Parking Pass?
Me: No, I don't.
Parking Attendant B: Oh. Well, uhm... Just... park anywhere over here on the right...
Camera-Toter: Ha! You were trying to sneak away, but I caught you. Now you're obligated to pose for a picture.So, we had our picture taken, and that, generally, started our day.
Yes, she actually said that, almost word-for-word.
Look, Shinies!
*cleverly looks at his notes while no one is paying attention*
Something odd that I noticed was that there were quite a number of people walking around in Logoed shirts emblazoned with 'Independant.' And so, I'm sitting here thinking, "Isn't that just the pinacle of Commercialism -- there's now a logo for independant!" I've since been informed it's some kind of skateboard paraphenelia manufacturer or something, but at the time it was quite amusing, and even still, what a name for a company, ne?
All things being equal, they're not. The gods of fortune (fittingly) thought it best to even the playing field after our free parking. At lunch we met up with Jenny to eat. She can get us 30% off of our meals, but she was on her lunch break, and so she had an Employees' Cafeteria where she had to stand in line to get her food. Her solution was simple enough -- we'd stand in our line, get our food, and then I'd call her as we got the the Register so she could stop by and get our discount. Unfortunately, just as we were abouit to call her, my phone mysteriously and very solidly decided to die, and it would not turn back on, even though I KNEW it had more than half a battery left. We ended up paying full price for the food (some $25 for the three of us, I think), and as we were sitting down to eat, my phone came back on. Damnable thing. On the plus side, Jenny stopped with my at one of the shops where I picked up a few CDs by a group called "The Midnight Syndicate", and I got 30% off that. The music's really cool, a dark, almost-haunting sort of orchestral music. Each of the CDs I got are nicely done, though my favorite would have to be Realm of Shadows. There's a 5th CD that Busch Gardens didn't carry, which I'm very strongly considering ordering.
Hey, do I know you?
As I'd mentioned, being that it was Catholic Youth Day, I was pretty sure that my old youth group, YOA, was going to be there. Seeing, though, that everyone I knew there is now in College, though, I didn't really expect to see anyone. Walking around to one of the rides, though, I saw a familiar face heading the other way. He and I kept eye contact the whole way, and as we met in the middle, I said, "Tommy?" And, of course, it was. Tommy was a kid in Boy Scouts with me, a really small kid who couldn't have ever weighed more than 85lbs. Now he's quite a bit taller, but I still don't think he weighs more than 85lbs. We chatted for a bit there, and he said how he was with his group from Richmond (apparently he'd moved) and not with YOA. We parted soon afterwards, as we both had places we were going.
Later on, we were heading to mass, as that's one of the things they do at Catholic Youth Day, and because it would mean sleeping in a bit later before heading home in the morning. Of course, we saw YOA, but I was surprised to see my old grade-school History teacher, Mr. Bond, with them. My brothers and I sat a few rows behind them and to the left -- I didn't see any other familiar faces. Just then, though, a Familiar Face sat down next to me -- Mario. Mario was one of the music ministers at a sister church, but he'd done a number of things with YOA when I was there, and was doing music at the retreat where I first encountered YOA (and Katrina, and Sarah, and arguably the Ladies Croft). He didn't recognize me. At the sign of peace, however, I shook his hand and said "Peace, Mario." As we sat down, he leaned over and said "How is it that you know my name?" So I told him who I was and that I'd been in YOA, and he kind of laughed to himself. After mass we chatted for a few moments.
But just before the end of mass, I'd seen another familiar face in with YOA -- Ms. Becky Croft. After my chat with Mario, I went over to say Hi, and give her a hug. It was really good to see her. I was also intercepted by another face, a kid named Andrew (I believe it was) who I'd known in YOA, and he recognized me right off and was excited to see me around. That was cool. And THEN, I was cornered by ANOTHER face, Geoffrey Bond, Mr. Bond's kid, who was also in Boy Scouts with us. He, too, had been small, not as small at Tommy, but now he was huge! He was almost as tall as me, and definitely broader than even Gene! He would have been a football player, if only a reciever, without much trouble, I think. So, yeah, familiar faces all around.
Continue...
