This is not directly related to our big trip, but it was cool and it was quite adventurous. Also, there are some good pictures to post up here, so I’m going to go with it.
A lot of people have been asking: Are you packed yet? And it’s a good question because at any given time in the past month some or all of us have been packing for something: a ski trip, a sleepover, a New Year’s sleepover that dovetailed into a ski trip. We’re good at packing.
As it currently stands — and this is subject to change — my big trip this year has been to New Jersey. I over-packed, because, even though it was only for a weekend, I was going with my pal Justin, and he’s a very stylish fellow. Now I know that when Justin goes to the Jersey shore he goes for blue jeans — at least that’s what he wears in January — but going into this trip I had to be prepared for anything.
At this time of year, we were not going swim or sunbathe. That leaves only a few other reasons to head to those parts: gambling, outlet stores and Springsteen. For this trip, we took on the latter two.
J-man and I pose for a “selfie”-style photo on the way out of the Stone Pony
Really, it was Bruce who brought us down. The blue jeans should have tipped you off. Outlet stores were just a time-killer. Though I did find some nice shorts in a store that I had believed was for skater kids. They’re water resistant, though they don’t look like a bathing suit. Just what I need for Central America. $45 for one pair; $50 for two. Credit the J-man for discovering them.
Other than that, we were in a Bruce Bubble: listening to E-Street Radio, walking where the Boss walked. We went to the famous Stone Pony club on a Friday night and saw some bands. We walked the streets of Asbury Park (which was actually a lot nicer than I expected — a nice mix of Portsmouth and Hampton Beach, if you know the Seacoast).
Madam Marie still telling fortunes on the boardwalk after her apparent parole.
And then the big event. Saturday night was the Light of Day concert at the grand, old Paramount Theater, part of a huge edifice that straddles the boardwalk and points to a time when several hundred people would flock out of the sun to a movie matinee. On this night, it was all about raising money for Parkinson’s research.
Southside Johnny on left in foreground, Bruce on right, La Bamba’s Big Band (from Conan O’Brien!) in the background.
Aw, hell. It was all about the Boss. He’s never on the official line-up for the concert, but he’s performed at 13 of the 15 Light of Day shows they’ve had, or something like that. There’s a buzz around town about: “Will he show up this year?” And people walk around on the beach during the day to see if the can hear the sound check. Then they post what they’ve heard to the Internet. Then at some point they change the order of bands in such a way that people know he’s going to be there. All day at the outlet mall Justin kept checking his phone for info. We were pretty confident when we walked in.
With good reason. What we saw was basically a Bruce Springsteen concert with about 14 opening acts. The theater was packed. Bruce apparently walked down the aisle a couple of times during the early hours of the event, but Justin and I didn’t notice. The music was good. We saw a variety of acts that were new to me, plus several names I recognized, such as Southside Johnny, Willie Nile, John Eddy, Vinny Lopez and — a special favorite for me — Pat DiNizio, lead singer for the Smithereens.
It was a truly entertaining and enjoyable night, and I owe Justin a huge thanks for pulling it together and for inviting me.
Bruce takes the mike to sing “This Little Girl is Mine.” Gary U.S. Bonds was sick that night.
Bruce hit the stage at around 11:30, and from then on it was his show. He would occasionally hand a song off to his backing band, Joe Grushecki and the Houserockers, but there were lots of Springsteen songs on parade. He got to “Thunder Road” and I looked at my phone, possibly to call someone who might want to listen. It was 1:45. Too late to call anyone on the East Coast, at least. That wasn’t even his last song.
The next day, Justin and I left our hotel at 11, only to find that all the bridges into Staten Island were closed. The bridges were iced up and there were more than 400 accidents in Jersey alone.
Given where we were, we made the best of it and went to a mall. They’re easy to find in this part of the world. By the time we shopped and ate lunch (alas, it was Sunday so the Chick-fila was closed, but we found a good place across the parking lot), the bridges were open again and we were able to head back to the island. From there I was only three states from home.
The Saturn got in the last major trip of its storied career (ending mileage 237,898) and I got to listen to both NFL conference championship games. It was a good end to a fine adventure.
Then I unpacked.