Wednesday, February 08, 2006

The Adventure


the mister and i left our house at 6pm last night in order to make it to dinkytown in time for the BRMC/Elefant show. well, things didn't work out as planned.

we've been going over the bus routes and schedules at least once a day since we've been here. we thought we had it down when we left here. we took the 23 to uptown and then transferred to the 6 to get us to dinkytown. while we were on the 6, the driver said her last stop was in downtown. panic-ing, we got off the bus. we asked some dude what bus to take to dinkytown, and he said "you can take any 6".

"but we were just on the 6!"

"yeah, but that 6 is different".

so we get on the next 6 and end up in the suburbs somewhere! i was not dressed for standing in the freezing minnesota cold for 20 minute stretches while we hoped and prayed for another bus to come by. we had to take the next 6 that came by in the opposite direction, where the driver let us off at some remote spot that smelled like someone was brewing a crapload of tea. thankfully there was a convenience store on the corner, so i waited inside to try and get feeling back in my legs and feet. we were advised to take the number 2 bus, and that will surely get us to dinkytown. the wait for that bus was another 20 minutes. by this time it was after 8pm and i was convinced we'd miss Elefant. i was also totally starving and when i'm hungry i get really grumpy. and since i was grumpy, i blamed the entire two hours we tried to get to dinkytown plus the fact that i wasn't sure if my legs and feet would come back to life, on my husband. that wasn't nice of me, i know.

we made it there by 8:15 and only missed two or three Elefant songs. have i mentioned how much i love Elefant? well, i do. we were too far back to get any good photos, but here's one i could salvage:
i really enjoyed their new songs. they seem heavier and edgier than their old stuff. not as pop-y, if you know what i mean. i look forward to their new album release, and seeing them again in may.

when Elefant was finished, phillip and i went outside and debated if i should get something to eat so i would stop being so crabby. but with only 15 minutes before BRMC took the stage, paired with the fact that i didn't want to wolf something down, i said i'd like to eat after the show. so we got a beer and went back inside. i hate beer, but i had to get something in my stomach. what's better than grain alcohol on an empty stomach? nothin'!

i thought BRMC put on a good show. i'm not super into their music, but they sounded really good and they were entertaining. through the whole set, though, i kept thinking that whoever is working the smoke machine needs to lay off. it was overkill!

we left before they finished in order to beat the crowd out the door. we found where to pick up the bus (IT WAS A NUMBER SIX AFTER ALL!) and we went back to uptown (aahhh...familiar relief) where i stupidly decided in my slightly tipsy/extremely hungry way that McDonalds would be a good choice for "dinner". ever since phillip and i saw super size me, we've sworn off McDonalds. well, i just fucked that up. i guess i shouldn't beat myself up over it, but i really regret eating a hamburger there last night. stupid, drunken decisions.

we took a taxi home from uptown because i was numb from the waist down (note to self: don't wear skirts in the minnesota winter ever again!). i was so cold that i put on my sweatpants and sweatshirt and heavy socks and bundled up in a blanket. after the daily show i prompltly passed out.

i really like the varsity club as a venue for rock shows. it's well lit and spacious and the sound is great. it won't take the place of my beloved TTs, (even though TTs is about 1/4 the size) but it'll do. it was still a fun night, but i can't help but feel like yesterday was one of the longest days i've had in a long time. i was bored most of the day so time dragged, and then it took us 2 hours to get to the other side of town! we decided we're just going to trust our instincts the next time we get on a bus. if we had just stayed on that #6, we would have been golden. in the spirit of the x-files, i say trust no one. especially when it comes to public transit.

*edit*

after phillip read this, he remembered we were on a #4 at some point during the night, too. ARGH! i feel like i'll never learn the bus system in this town.

2 comments:

Lucas said...

First, your pictures were great! Nice job. Second, have you been on the Metro Transit website? They have trip planners that can help take the guess work out of reading bus schedules. The other thing is they have a phone number where you can actually talk to a live person and the live person can answer your questions and help you out. It's really a great system. Try that next time before you go out. And get yourself some legwarmers! :)
http://www.metrotransit.org/

Honey Bunny said...

hi lucas-
yep, we have been to the site. and the irony is that phillip entered the trip planner and he was confident on where we were going and what buses to take to get there. but when the driver of the #6 we were on said her route was ending before we expected, all hell broke loose.

i'll be putting that number in my phone for the next time we end up in the 'burbs! thank you!