MG AT PENN’S PEAK, JIM THORPE, PA
Amy scored us some prime seats through ticketmaster. Two single seats, same section, two different rows, but we would be
right next to each other. We just needed Mother Nature to cut the Northeast a break so that we could travel to the Pocono
Mountains for the show.
From the start, I had decided to work the day of the show until 11AM and then take the following day off. According to
Mapquest, Jim Thorpe is only 3 ½ hours away. I was confident that as long as I didn’t hit too much traffic while getting
off my Island, that I could make it there in three hours.
When the day finally arrived, I didn’t leave work until 11:45 am, already 45 minutes behind schedule. That didn’t
upset me, since I really had until 3 PM to get there. I sailed all the way to the New York City limits and continued sailing right
through to Jersey. 30 miles into Jersey, I hit some traffic. It was at this time that I noticed that I didn’t top off my gas tank
before departing my Island, and I was now at ¼ tank. This was not a good thing; especially looking at the traffic that was just
about crawling right in front of me. Apparently not only was I in need of some gas, but I could use a restroom and some food
as well. It was after this realization that I noticed an upcoming exit. I was quite excited that there was an exit right there, that
was until I started descending down the exit ramp. The town had a run down look to it, but unfortunately, I was already
committed to my exit.
So the fun begins. The first two places I stop at, which appeared to be gas stations, didn’t have any gas. Then I came
across a Wendy’s where just to find the entrance, I had to turn around twice. After finally getting into the parking lot, I saw
the huge line for the drive-thru, but that didn’t bother me too much since I was in need of a pitstop also. Once inside, I saw
the line inside was twice as long as the line outside. So, I did the only thing I could, I used their facilities. I could wait for
another place to eat. Now if I could only find a gas station with gas. Now I headed back, somewhat towards where I came from,
while trying to keep the highway in my sights. Finally after driving around for almost 25 minutes in this lovely New Jersey
town, I finally found a working gas station.
While paying the gas attendant, I asked him how to get back on the highway. I was truly quite lost at this moment. It really
stinks when your co-pilot has to work and can’t join you on all of your excursions. As I said, I was quite lost, even though
I could see the highway. I just couldn’t find the entrance to it or a sign to point me in the right direction. Anyhow this nice
man tells me in his broken English to go that way as he pointed. But where did he point? Now, this so-called-SHARPIE heads
in the direction she thought he pointed in. After driving about 10 minutes in that direction, I came across and entrance to the
Garden State Parkway, not the highway I needed. Naturally, I turned around and headed back to the gas station I was just at,
and tried a different direction, which looking back now, I guess is the way he said to go. Especially since the entrance to I-80
was only ½ mile up this hill right by the gas station.
Not so surprisingly, the traffic jam that had sent me scurrying almost an hour ago, was no where to be seen now. It was
smooth sailing straight through to Pennsylvania. Once I was in Pennsylvania I need to be looking for S.R. 209S to take me into
the town of Jim Thorpe. One of the first exits was exit 309, which also said S.R. 209. So here I am, heading North on 209.
Luckily I only did this for about five minutes when I realized that I needed to be going south. Quickly I turned around to head
back towards the highway, thinking that I would be heading south on 209.
Before I got back to the highway, I came across a carwash. My car was covered in salt and sand, which is commonly used to
treat snow and ice-covered roads. A quick stop to wash my car was a definite must and it only took me 20 minutes. Now with
a cleaner car, I headed back towards I-80 where I was expecting to just cross over and be where I needed to be, on 209S. Not
true, I found myself back on 80 traveling west. Convinced that I just missed the turn for 209S, I turned around and headed back
to exit 309. Before I got headed in the right direction, I stopped at a Wal-Mart, in search of a gold sharpie and at a Burger King,
to feed my now screaming stomach. Now maybe with some food in me, maybe I could finally read these directions correctly.
As it turns out, the exit for 209s was exit number 305. You see, you can only go north on 209 from exit 309 and you can only
go south on 209 from exit 305. What a difference food makes.
Well now that I’m finally headed in the right direction on 209, I should only be about 45 minutes away from the hotel. As
I’m traveling south on 209 it’s also called Route 33. There were many signs stating this. All the while I’m talking to
Amy, or Jen or Nikki. Eventually the 209 signs were gone, and it just showed 33. After my track record for this trip so far, I
grabbed my printed directions and read them, while driving and saw that it said both 209s/33. That led me to believe that I was
still headed in the right direction.
Well, when I came across I-78, I knew I made a big mistake. I’ve taken both of these highways, many times and there are
many miles in between the two of them. I had traveled so much farther south than I needed to go and apparently was headed
back east a bit too. I only had my printed mapquest directions; I never grabbed a map of Pennsylvania. I called the hotel to find
out how to get there from 78, but I wasn’t sure if I was East or West of where I needed to be. The lady giving me directions
had me believing that I was West of Jim Thorpe, but in actuality, I was East of it. She almost had me turn around and head back
towards New York, but instead I stopped at a gas station to get a map. I needed to see on a map where I was at the moment
and then find where I needed to get to, so that I would know whether to head east or West. If I would have just turned around
and headed East, I would have totally missed the show, and Amy, and the Wildbunch, and…
Finally, I know where I am and which way I need to go. I will never leave home again with just printed directions, no matter
how easy they seem. Never again. I made it to the hotel by 5pm, 2-3 hours later than I should have. The first thing I do when I
get into the room was have a shot of beam. Boy did I need that. The whole time I was lost a friend who was already at the
venue kept calling Amy to tell her that we needed to be there now. It didn’t take me long to shower and change and head
out the door to the venue.
There’s a reason they call it Penn’s Peak. It’s at the top of a mountain. The view was beautiful. I would love to
share my pictures, but unfortunately I cannot. As I was taking a picture of the awesome view, my flash went off just fine, but
my film didn’t advance. So I tried taking another picture, same thing. Then I tried once more, this time pressing the button a
bit more firmly, like that would help. Then I thought maybe I loaded the film wrong, so I open the camera. The film appeared
to be loaded just fine. So, I yank that roll out and try a new one. The same thing happened. All I could think about was
previous week when I went to see Phil Vassar; those pics came out great. What could be wrong now? Who knew. I gave up and
decided I had a hard enough day as it was. It was now time to drink. And drink I did.
Amy and I kept venturing outside, so that she could smoke a cigarette. Each time we went out, it was colder than the time
before. Must have something to do with the disappearing sunlight. One time when we went out, there was this tall, lean almost
pyramid shaped thing that had smoke coming out of it. Now me being the sharpie that I am assume right away that it’s
some sort of heater that they put outside for those who were brave enough to go out in the cold. As I put my hands by the
opening of this thing, I realize that there’s no heat emanating from it, only smoke. It was too late though; Amy heard and
witnessed everything.
With the ShowTime closely approaching, we decide to head to our seats and check out our great view. It was at this time that
we get the most devastating news of the day, you thought being lost twice and confusing a tall ashtray for a heater were bad
enough, we just found out that our seats weren’t on the floor like we had thought. Nope, they were on the side, in the
shadows. Then again, at this point who cares, it’s Montgomery Gentry and it’s always a great show with these guys.
The show itself was great. They opened with a song from the new album and not with All Night Long like I have gotten
accustomed to hearing. In all, I believe they did four songs from the new album. Although I’m not 100% on that since there
was too much Beam involved. I couldn’t wait for them do their new single. I just love that song. It was most definitely
worth the anticipation. They sure were loud and proud.
They now have a new stage. They did away with the MY TOWN fences and such. The new stage was really cool, but
somewhat familiar, sort of like something out of a Kenny Chesney concert. Some of the band guys are now in different places
and there appears to be more lighting, not that I got to take advantage of that since my camera wasn’t working, but maybe
next time with my new digital camera. I wish next time would be at the Huntsville show on Friday, since Jen was able to get us
second row seats. Huntsville is too long of a drive from Lafayette, so we won’t be going. I will have to wait until Sunday,
March 21 at Seaworld, Orlando.
**just had to add this, I was good and didn’t complain about how the audience sat down through the show.. even the
peeps on the floor up front by the stage.. and hey.. I even got yelled at by security for standing.. absolutely beautiful venue,
but.. I won’t be back..
Amy scored us some prime seats through ticketmaster. Two single seats, same section, two different rows, but we would be
right next to each other. We just needed Mother Nature to cut the Northeast a break so that we could travel to the Pocono
Mountains for the show.
From the start, I had decided to work the day of the show until 11AM and then take the following day off. According to
Mapquest, Jim Thorpe is only 3 ½ hours away. I was confident that as long as I didn’t hit too much traffic while getting
off my Island, that I could make it there in three hours.
When the day finally arrived, I didn’t leave work until 11:45 am, already 45 minutes behind schedule. That didn’t
upset me, since I really had until 3 PM to get there. I sailed all the way to the New York City limits and continued sailing right
through to Jersey. 30 miles into Jersey, I hit some traffic. It was at this time that I noticed that I didn’t top off my gas tank
before departing my Island, and I was now at ¼ tank. This was not a good thing; especially looking at the traffic that was just
about crawling right in front of me. Apparently not only was I in need of some gas, but I could use a restroom and some food
as well. It was after this realization that I noticed an upcoming exit. I was quite excited that there was an exit right there, that
was until I started descending down the exit ramp. The town had a run down look to it, but unfortunately, I was already
committed to my exit.
So the fun begins. The first two places I stop at, which appeared to be gas stations, didn’t have any gas. Then I came
across a Wendy’s where just to find the entrance, I had to turn around twice. After finally getting into the parking lot, I saw
the huge line for the drive-thru, but that didn’t bother me too much since I was in need of a pitstop also. Once inside, I saw
the line inside was twice as long as the line outside. So, I did the only thing I could, I used their facilities. I could wait for
another place to eat. Now if I could only find a gas station with gas. Now I headed back, somewhat towards where I came from,
while trying to keep the highway in my sights. Finally after driving around for almost 25 minutes in this lovely New Jersey
town, I finally found a working gas station.
While paying the gas attendant, I asked him how to get back on the highway. I was truly quite lost at this moment. It really
stinks when your co-pilot has to work and can’t join you on all of your excursions. As I said, I was quite lost, even though
I could see the highway. I just couldn’t find the entrance to it or a sign to point me in the right direction. Anyhow this nice
man tells me in his broken English to go that way as he pointed. But where did he point? Now, this so-called-SHARPIE heads
in the direction she thought he pointed in. After driving about 10 minutes in that direction, I came across and entrance to the
Garden State Parkway, not the highway I needed. Naturally, I turned around and headed back to the gas station I was just at,
and tried a different direction, which looking back now, I guess is the way he said to go. Especially since the entrance to I-80
was only ½ mile up this hill right by the gas station.
Not so surprisingly, the traffic jam that had sent me scurrying almost an hour ago, was no where to be seen now. It was
smooth sailing straight through to Pennsylvania. Once I was in Pennsylvania I need to be looking for S.R. 209S to take me into
the town of Jim Thorpe. One of the first exits was exit 309, which also said S.R. 209. So here I am, heading North on 209.
Luckily I only did this for about five minutes when I realized that I needed to be going south. Quickly I turned around to head
back towards the highway, thinking that I would be heading south on 209.
Before I got back to the highway, I came across a carwash. My car was covered in salt and sand, which is commonly used to
treat snow and ice-covered roads. A quick stop to wash my car was a definite must and it only took me 20 minutes. Now with
a cleaner car, I headed back towards I-80 where I was expecting to just cross over and be where I needed to be, on 209S. Not
true, I found myself back on 80 traveling west. Convinced that I just missed the turn for 209S, I turned around and headed back
to exit 309. Before I got headed in the right direction, I stopped at a Wal-Mart, in search of a gold sharpie and at a Burger King,
to feed my now screaming stomach. Now maybe with some food in me, maybe I could finally read these directions correctly.
As it turns out, the exit for 209s was exit number 305. You see, you can only go north on 209 from exit 309 and you can only
go south on 209 from exit 305. What a difference food makes.
Well now that I’m finally headed in the right direction on 209, I should only be about 45 minutes away from the hotel. As
I’m traveling south on 209 it’s also called Route 33. There were many signs stating this. All the while I’m talking to
Amy, or Jen or Nikki. Eventually the 209 signs were gone, and it just showed 33. After my track record for this trip so far, I
grabbed my printed directions and read them, while driving and saw that it said both 209s/33. That led me to believe that I was
still headed in the right direction.
Well, when I came across I-78, I knew I made a big mistake. I’ve taken both of these highways, many times and there are
many miles in between the two of them. I had traveled so much farther south than I needed to go and apparently was headed
back east a bit too. I only had my printed mapquest directions; I never grabbed a map of Pennsylvania. I called the hotel to find
out how to get there from 78, but I wasn’t sure if I was East or West of where I needed to be. The lady giving me directions
had me believing that I was West of Jim Thorpe, but in actuality, I was East of it. She almost had me turn around and head back
towards New York, but instead I stopped at a gas station to get a map. I needed to see on a map where I was at the moment
and then find where I needed to get to, so that I would know whether to head east or West. If I would have just turned around
and headed East, I would have totally missed the show, and Amy, and the Wildbunch, and…
Finally, I know where I am and which way I need to go. I will never leave home again with just printed directions, no matter
how easy they seem. Never again. I made it to the hotel by 5pm, 2-3 hours later than I should have. The first thing I do when I
get into the room was have a shot of beam. Boy did I need that. The whole time I was lost a friend who was already at the
venue kept calling Amy to tell her that we needed to be there now. It didn’t take me long to shower and change and head
out the door to the venue.
There’s a reason they call it Penn’s Peak. It’s at the top of a mountain. The view was beautiful. I would love to
share my pictures, but unfortunately I cannot. As I was taking a picture of the awesome view, my flash went off just fine, but
my film didn’t advance. So I tried taking another picture, same thing. Then I tried once more, this time pressing the button a
bit more firmly, like that would help. Then I thought maybe I loaded the film wrong, so I open the camera. The film appeared
to be loaded just fine. So, I yank that roll out and try a new one. The same thing happened. All I could think about was
previous week when I went to see Phil Vassar; those pics came out great. What could be wrong now? Who knew. I gave up and
decided I had a hard enough day as it was. It was now time to drink. And drink I did.
Amy and I kept venturing outside, so that she could smoke a cigarette. Each time we went out, it was colder than the time
before. Must have something to do with the disappearing sunlight. One time when we went out, there was this tall, lean almost
pyramid shaped thing that had smoke coming out of it. Now me being the sharpie that I am assume right away that it’s
some sort of heater that they put outside for those who were brave enough to go out in the cold. As I put my hands by the
opening of this thing, I realize that there’s no heat emanating from it, only smoke. It was too late though; Amy heard and
witnessed everything.
With the ShowTime closely approaching, we decide to head to our seats and check out our great view. It was at this time that
we get the most devastating news of the day, you thought being lost twice and confusing a tall ashtray for a heater were bad
enough, we just found out that our seats weren’t on the floor like we had thought. Nope, they were on the side, in the
shadows. Then again, at this point who cares, it’s Montgomery Gentry and it’s always a great show with these guys.
The show itself was great. They opened with a song from the new album and not with All Night Long like I have gotten
accustomed to hearing. In all, I believe they did four songs from the new album. Although I’m not 100% on that since there
was too much Beam involved. I couldn’t wait for them do their new single. I just love that song. It was most definitely
worth the anticipation. They sure were loud and proud.
They now have a new stage. They did away with the MY TOWN fences and such. The new stage was really cool, but
somewhat familiar, sort of like something out of a Kenny Chesney concert. Some of the band guys are now in different places
and there appears to be more lighting, not that I got to take advantage of that since my camera wasn’t working, but maybe
next time with my new digital camera. I wish next time would be at the Huntsville show on Friday, since Jen was able to get us
second row seats. Huntsville is too long of a drive from Lafayette, so we won’t be going. I will have to wait until Sunday,
March 21 at Seaworld, Orlando.
**just had to add this, I was good and didn’t complain about how the audience sat down through the show.. even the
peeps on the floor up front by the stage.. and hey.. I even got yelled at by security for standing.. absolutely beautiful venue,
but.. I won’t be back..
oh and
was looking fine