When we got to St Paul on Friday, it was too early to go to our hotel, so we went to see A and her husband. We got a chance to see the new kitten that she is fostering--that little baby is only about 3 weeks old! A got her more than a week ago--the eyes weren't even open yet. She is so small that I could hold her in the palm of my hand. Of course, she needs to be fed with a bottle--EVERY THREE HOURS! That little bundle of fur snuggled into my neck and purred louder than my 16+ pound cat does--she is just so very sweet. A hopes she can pick the person to adopt the kitten--that way it will be easier for her to give it up.
After we got to our room, I looked out the window and saw the Xcel Center right across the street from us. We were able to see the entrance we were to take to get into the concert the following night. I guess the only way we could have been closer is if there were rooms available INSIDE the Center.
That evening we went for a ride to pick up some water and snacks for the room. When we got back to the parking ramp, we noticed the signs about parking prices. From what we could figure out, the parking ramp WASN'T only for hotel guests, but it was open to whoever paid! Once we figured THAT out--and asked around--we realized that we were pretty much stuck at the hotel for most of the day of the concert. Otherwise, there would be no guarantee that we would have a place to park for the evening of the concert! We sure know how to pick places that have screwy parking situations!
All night long there were people camped out on the sidewalk next to the Xcel Center so they could be there when hockey tickets went on sale--for the Minnesota Wild. We were going to look into buying tickets for one of the games they will play with the Red Wings, but wanted to see the inside of the Xcel Center so that we would have an idea where we would want to sit. Tickets went on sale at 9:00am Saturday and, just for shits and giggles, I looked online around 2:00pm and THERE WERE NO TICKETS AVAILABLE! For either game! I was a bit bummed. We might try to get to Detroit this year--with a group--but if we don't make it this year, maybe we will try again next year.
Sitting inside the Xcel Center was an experience for me, in itself. You have to understand, I'm a small town girl. (Read that as 'hick.' :)) Sitting and looking around, I realized that the entire population of the town I live in could fit inside the place--and the population of the town I grew up in could have fit in there over TWENTY times! I almost had a panic attack! (But I didn't.)
The next thing that occurred to me was: how would they ever evacuate the place if it was needed. This came from an honest place: we were under a tornado WARNING for the entire evening. (There actually was a tornado in Rogers, just north of where we were, and a 10-year-old girl was killed.) I told K that the place would be utter chaos if they tried to do an evacuation--can't understand how they could control 20,000 people! A bit of a scary thought--especially since we have never experienced a tornado.
There is a perfect reason that the seats farthest from the stage are called the nose-bleed section--they are so high up that I don't think I would have been able to GET there, much less sit there for any length of time. The people looked like they were literally hanging from the rafters. And they were so far away from us that I couldn't distinguish men from women! A bit too high for me.
We witnessed only one almost-incident during the concert: a man came close to decking a woman! This guy was sitting a few seats down from K and there was a man and woman sitting in front of him--and the couple decided to stand up for a song. Well, the guy didn't take too kindly to not being able to see and asked them to sit down. They didn't. He asked again. They didn't. Then some words were exchanged and finally the guy just gave up--thankfully. But, the look on his face made me believe that he REALLY wanted to deck the broad--he was not a happy camper.
Talking about happy campers: K asked me after we left the Center if I smelled the guy in front of me. I didn't know WHAT the hell he was talking about until he said the guy was smoking pot off and on through the whole concert! This is how much I was in my own little world: I didn't notice the idiot smoking pot and I failed to get a contact high! So went my night. ;)
After going for breakfast with A and her husband on Sunday, we got on the road and made it home in about 7 hours. Not bad--but still too fast of a trip. I think when we do the trip again, I will insist on staying three nights like we did the first time--it keeps us from getting too overtired! And besides, there were things I would have liked to have done, but we just didn't have the time.
The Weekend Redux
