Somewhere out in America, it's starting to rain…

 

July 21, 2022

 

Somewhere out in America, it's starting to rain…

The second Counting Crows show at Rock the Ruins at Holiday Park was almost a washout. A steady rain threatened to cancel the show as it rained almost right up until the scheduled showtime and then almost on cue stopped completely, allowing the show to go on as planned, the crowd was only slightly damp by the time Stephen Kellogg took the stage to open the show.

I had been busy most of the day prior to that, first meeting my friend Henk and his niece Holland at Café Patachou which is located in the very location at 49^th and Pennsylvania where Henk and I once worked together some 35 years ago when it was Hamaker Pharmacy. Now it is a very popular restaurant and we were once again hanging out in the same place before he headed back to Cincinnati.

After breakfast it was straight to a lunch engagement with a group of friends at the newly reopened Bulldog Lounge. My friends Kevin, Mark and Terry and a bunch of their friends were gathering for Sunday lunch to try out the new format of the old favorite establishment. The lunch was nothing special but it was great hanging out with old friends who I have known most of my life. 

My next stop was a quick walk across 54^th Street to Twenty Tap, one of my favorite establishments anywhere and one that is both owned by and frequented by more long-time friends. My good friends Kevin and Tracy own the place and one of their key employees is one of my best friends, Mike Rizzo, so visiting there is like going home. It is a must stop, generally on multiple occasions place when I am in Indianapolis.

The rain was still coming down pretty hard when I made my way to Holiday Park. I arrived early in order to secure a decent spot up front for myself and my guests. The Counting Crows diehard faithful were on-hand as well to get their spots and braving the rain. I had invited one of my all-time favorite people, my friend Shannon and her daughter Savannah to attend the show and they arrived just in time for the rain to stop.

Having seen Counting Crows now 107 times, you would have thought that I would have dragged most of the important people in my life to see them at least once, but somehow Shannon had managed to avoid that until now. The show was pretty good, average by my standards, but I hoped they enjoyed it. I know I really liked getting to hang out with them, the most fun was to watch their special bond as they interacted. I am so fortunate to have such amazing friends.

I was back on board a flight home to Key West early, very early the following morning, but the good news is that I was joined by my sister Michele, who I had cajoled into coming to Key West for a short week as a mini-vacation. She hasn’t been to visit on her own, just to hang out in many years, always coming at the same time as my mother or some other specific reason, so I thought this would be a good break for her and a chance to just hang out.

It also gave Kathy and I a chance to play tourist a little bit and do some fun stuff that we might otherwise not be so inclined to do. In addition to frequent visits to some nice Key West restaurants, we took a great snorkel trip/ sunset sail on the Fury Catamaran. The weather conditions were a bit bumpy, so the snorkeling was not optimal, but the ride and the sunset were spectacular.

We spent a great afternoon at the beach at Ft. Zachary Taylor State Park and I even took Michele to the world famous Vibrator races at Mary Ellen’s. Thanks to Chris and Livi at Mary Ellen’s for delivering us a table right up front where Michele could experience the fun and mania of what I am sure is a once in a lifetime experience for her.

It also happened to be the start of the annual Hemingway Days here in Key West, so we went by Sloppy Joe’s to catch a gathering of Papa Hemingway lookalike competitors getting ready for the annual contest. All in all it was a great visit with Michele. Hopefully she will return soon.