Some Weekends just don't go as Planned.....
Let me start by saying how much I was looking forward to North Coast Music Festival. It is one of my favorite festivals of the year. I look forward to this festival and any other Chicago festival due to its close proximity to my sister's residence (I live in Louisville.) Chicago trips make for a nice combination of family reunion and fun, and business for me. The original plan was to leave Friday morning and stay the weekend with my sister, however her finance's grandmother had passed and she would be out of town. Due to the extra expense a hotel would bring we decided to leave EARLY Saturday morning, get up there around 2, and shoot the 3 day festival in 2 days. This is where only things that would happen to me take over.
My weekend starts on Saturday morning to a call from mom saying grandma is in the hospital. Apparently she got real dizzy the night prior and asked mom to take her in. Her final diagnosis was vertigo. She is super healthy otherwise. Only downside to the trip is that it took the doctor two days to read the echo, cat scan, x-rays, blood work, and every other test she had done, which I am pretty sure was every machine in the hospital. I can't wait to see the bill. She had her two day hospital stay and is home now, no problems what so ever.
After the dust from the 2nd family emergency in a week settled we get in the car and leave around 6pm. I had an event I had previously declined to shoot in Indianapolis, so instead of driving all the way up, i decided to stay in Indianapolis, attend the event, and make the trip in two different sessions. I meet up with some friends from Louisville at a mutual friends house in Indianapolis and we all decide to go out to eat. We go out, get food, go to a rooftop party. It was a good time.
Fast forward to Sunday morning. I wake up and i have no keys on my belt loop. I hadn't driven all night, so I didn't check for them. Let me say that I have worn my keys like this my entire life and never had an issue. I figured I had just emptied my pockets as always before sleeping and the had fallen under the couch or something. We search the house and can't find them. I look up the restaurant info, closed on Sunday AND Monday (due to the holiday.) FAWK. My friends calm me down, let me know that there really isn't anything we can do at the moment and luckily for me my Louisville friends were planning on going up to Chicago anyway. One problem with that, they drive a Volvo s90. SIX of use squeeze into the Volvo and make the trip up. It was tight, but it worked. They were also not on the same schedule I was to get up there and given my current situation I was in no position to rush their time schedule. After the (very my appreciated) ride I end up in Chicago around 5, jump in the shower, Jump on the L, and get to the festival.
When I arrive at the festival the press check in was done. Luckily i am pointed to a guy a few feet away that has the credentials. He hands me my credentials and i jump into the gate. I have given up all hopes of covering the event at this point, so I decide to just shoot for fun, see if there is decent lighting (there wasn't) and meet up with some people I hadn't seen in a while. I take some pictures, jump in some photo pits (Big Boi, Aoki, and Pretty Lights to be exact), talk to some friends, and make the most of it.
I then leave the festival and go to meet up with my friends. I have never had an issue in Chicago, ever, but walking through the city with my entire kit at midnight was a bit unsettling. I think I would feel this way walking around Louisville as well. I make it, go inside, meet up with friends, go to an after-party or 2, and had an all around good night.
I remember on the way back that I have a spare key in the car. Finally I say! My problems are over I say! nope. I had a check engine light on the car earlier in the year. They replaced the ECU. Now anyone that has a new car knows that the keys are programmed to the ECU. They didn't reprogram my spare. I could unlock the car, I could turn the ignition over in the car, but the car would not start.
I find a local dealer, find a hotel near it, and decide to post up for the night. If you are ever stuck in Indianapolis DO NOT go to Broad Ripple. At least not on a Labor Day. The street was dead, people were not friendly, and it made me feel like the city had no soul. I am pretty convinced it doesn't. In addition, nothing in Indianapolis is near anything else. At least not in the areas outside of downtown. The bars, food, hotels, etc. are all a $20.00 cab ride from one another. I get to the hotel and crash after dropping about $60.00 on cabs.
I wake up to a call from the restaurant. GREAT NEWS! They have my keys. Only problem is that they didn't open until 5pm. The lady on the phone said to head on down there and ask for them, there would be people in the building. Another $20.00 cab ride later I am at the building knocking on a locked door. We decided to use the back entrance we used the night prior and get in the building. We walk up some stairs, get on the roof (rooftop seating) and try to walk down, denied, the door was locked.
Walking back down the stairs security yells at us and asks what we are doing. We tell him, he asks us to sit outside and he will call "Connie" and get them for us. He does, but the process was quite long, so we sit in the parking lot and wait. While in the parking lot we notice that the area is heavily Latino. Not really understanding why we walk around the building. Holy Shit! We had just broken into the Mexican Embassy in Indianapolis. I guess the two buildings share some staff because that is where my keys were. The security guy walks into the embassy, gets the keys, and walks out. Another $20.00 cab ride and we are in the car.
Drive home was uneventful besides the fact that the person house sitting for me had taken my key thinking it was a spare. It wasn't. It was my only key to the house. Luckily there was a window open. I crawl into the house through the window and made my way to the couch, where I have sat for the last 4 hours.
Not far from the Myrtle Beach condos you’ll be staying at if you take my advice, the 29th Annual Grand Strand Boat and Sportsman Expo will be held at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, January 11; 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, January 12 and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, January 13 at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center. This year will feature The Swampmonster, Jeff Quattrocchi, who will wrestle a 200 pound alligator. The Myrtle Beach Convention Center will be home to boats, boating accessories, ATVs, hunting, biking and more. Don't miss the informative seminars on a variety of subjects. Tickets are $5 for Seniors, $7 for Adults, $3 for children ages 3-18 and free for children under 3. Parking is complimentary.
There are 2 and 3 bedroom Sunset Beach NC condo rentals where you can stay and have your own golf course right outside your door. It’s like you can roll out of bed and onto the courses…almost. Sure beats driving there anyhow.
Summer Soundfest at the House of Blues featuring Porch Crickets will take place on October 19 at 8 p.m. Soundfest continues on Oct. 20th at 8 p.m. with School of Rock and on Oct. 26 & 27 with Death of Paris. All are free events and open only to age 18+. Doors open at 4 p.m.
Don’t miss the Blues-a-Palooza Concert Series! Come check out some of the Carolina's best local and regional bands. Every Saturday night on the House of Blues Gator Bar Stage from 9-11 p.m.! The event is free and for all ages! On November 10, 2012, North Myrtle Beach High Skoolhouse Rock performs. On November 17 Dan Lavoie will be performing and on November 24 Sushi for Breakfast will entertain you. 4640 Highway 17 S., North Myrtle Beach, SC. For info call (843) 272-3000.
Adam Hankey (15)
