We had a nice surprise this morning when our friend Andy called us to wish Ken a happy Father’s Day! We are so happy that he is back safely from his trip to Afghanistan for the company he works for! They had a mobile lab where they did problem-solving with equipment and devices (to put it simply), and he was there for six months. I know we weren’t the only ones who breathed a sigh of relief when he made it back home this past week! Wonderful to hear from him, and I chatted with him for a while and we had some laughs, then Andy and Ken chatted and had even more. We’re looking forward to seeing him this fall when he comes back for a couple of Notre Dame football games. We love you, Andy! Welcome home! Then we headed out to do some quick kitty care for Shane and Matt, who are visiting Matt’s family in Wisconsin. All the kitties are fine, and all ate heartily! THEN we were motorin’ to fabulous downtown South Bend, where we had tickets to see the South Bend Silver Hawks (single-A team for the Arizona Diamondbacks) play the Dayton Dragons at Coveleski Stadium, AKA the Cove. It was also a special promotion for Father’s Day: Bacon ‘n Brews. This was on the Upper Deck, an enclosed room behind home plate, and it was basically a beer tasting, with different local craft beers paired with appetizers, entrees, and desserts. There was a little initial confusion, with the front gate staff directing us to the picnic area where a lot of events are held; there were plenty of people who we asked along the way who directed us to the right place. We hadn’t been to the Upper Deck before, so we appreciated the help. There was a little more confusion when they weren’t serving the food when they said they would be. But we settled at the bar and paid for a couple of beers before we got the food and beers included in the package. We took the time to get to know Ken the Bartender, a super nice guy who recommended several local breweries. If you haven’t been paying attention, craft breweries are popping up everywhere, and there are quite a few in our area. We saw Drew, the guy renovating the State Theater. He was the one who posted about this special promotion, and I’m glad he did! I had messaged him and he said he was going to be there, and I finally saw him. We chatted with him a bit, and met his friend Mara (I hope I’m spelling that correctly), who is also helping with the renovation and promotion of the State. We talked with Ben (that’s him in the picture up there), who is a master chef and the head of food services at the Cove. This was the first event of this kind at the Cove, and he was asking people’s opinions. We were honest.
This is a GREAT idea, and we hope to see more such promotions at the Cove!
Since this was the first time they’ve done this, we understood the delay in the food. But that shouldn’t happen again.
The cheese soup on the appetizer station was yummy, but way too salty. Back off on the salt!
The chocolate covered bacon with jalapenos and sea salt on the dessert station was the BOMB. Holy crap, that was good! All the food was of a high quality.
Have the TV screens showing a live feed of the game rather than other sports feeds. That is beyond Ben’s control, but Coveleski needs to do that, both in the Upper Deck and in the concourse.
Better direction and promotion. There was much confusion as to where this was among the staff. It took us a bit to find where it was. And we only found out about it because Drew posted it on Facebook; I looked for it on the Silver Hawks website and couldn’t find it. (Thanks for the tip, Drew!)
LOVED it that they were promoting local breweries! More of that, please!
He seemed to appreciate the feedback, and was genuinely seeking suggestions. Overall, it was a really fun and positive experience, and we said we’d love to come to another one of these! I told Ken that this would be a great place to hold one of his bigger PMI meetings, so he made sure to ask Ben about that and get his card. It sounds like they can accommodate such things, and it would be cool to support our local ballpark! We also heard from Ken the Bartender that not only is the owner of the Silver Hawks planning on putting in more attractions (like a three-tier party pavilion), he is hoping to affiliate this farm team with either the Chicago Cubs or the Chicago White Sox! What-WHAT?! The Silver Hawks used to be affiliated with the Sox, but that changed a while back to the Diamondbacks. If they could get back an affiliation with one of the Chicago teams, that would be HUGE. We’re only an hour and a half away from Chicago, so having potential Cubs or Sox play here in South Bend would be a great local connection! Good things happening in South Bend! As for the game, we lost 2-0, but it was a beautiful day, and we got some good sun and enjoyed it thoroughly. We got to see the Vegetable Race, which never fails to crack me up. This time it was between Cauliflower, Broccoli, and Mushroom. We were cheering for the Shroom, but Broccoli won it. They came right up our aisle afterwards, and I got to high-five Broccoli and Shroom, but Ken got to high-five all of them! SCORE! But the best part of the day for me.... Ken went to get us a beer, and as I sat there, I saw the woman in front of me rubbing sunscreen on the neck of the elderly gentleman next to her. They were Dragons fans, and it looked like the woman was there with her husband and her Dad. It brought a tear to my eye, and I leaned over and asked, “Is that your Dad?” She said, “Yes.” I said, “I thought so. I lost mine three years ago. Cherish him.” She patted my hand and said, “I understand. I lost my Mom 11 months ago. He’s 90 years old!” I sat back and cried a little bit, missing my Dad. I think it was after the 7th-inning stretch singing of “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” that I decided to step down to the elderly gentleman and I told him, “I lost my Dad three years ago. Can I give you a hug?” He said, “Yes. I lost my wife a year ago.” He returned my hug. That one was for you, Dad. On the way home, we put down the top on the convertible and cranked up Foster the People and just enjoyed the beautiful day. This is where we live…this is us coming home.
Well, last night was just a stone cold blast, Daddy-O! (Click on any picture to embiggen.) First we headed to Shane and Matt’s groovy pad to exchange Christmas gifts. Better late than never, right? They seemed to enjoy their gifts, and they got us some fun and cool stuff. I just love the heavy glass squirrel bookends they got us! They are gorgeous...thanks, you guys! The squirrel is kind of the unofficial mascot of Nutwood, and we have quite a few squirrel things. These are by far the most beautiful! Then we headed to downtown South Bend to grab a bite to eat at CJ’s. It is just a few feet from the State Theater, so we walked down there to see if we could pick up our tickets a little early. As we walked in, Drew, the guy who is spearheading (I can’t believe I just got to use the word ‘spearheading’) the renovation of the State, was walking through the lobby towards the doors. He saw us and said, “Are you Beth? Beth!” and came up and gave me a hug, and shook Ken’s hand. Awww! How sweet! Dude is a tall drink of water, too. Hard for me to judge, since I’m so short, but he has to be at least 6’4”. Anyway, he was just heading for CJ’s to meet up with us, so the timing was great. As we headed back to CJ’s, we saw Shane and Matt outside, and there were introductions all around. We all enjoyed the beverages of our choice, and it was a great opportunity to talk with Drew about his plans for the State and why he decided to stay in the area after graduating from Notre Dame. He basically felt like there was a lot of potential for downtown South Bend, and we all agreed that there has definitely been a sort of renaissance downtown. Since Shane and I grew up here, I think he enjoyed our perspective on what downtown used to be like, including the Ethnic Festival, which used to be held downtown, but was moved to a city park. We all agreed that we’d love to see it move back downtown. There used to be a lot of cool little places downtown, like Vegetable Buddies, that hosted local bands. It was a great conversation, and he really impressed me with his vision and ambition to restore the State and make downtown a real destination again. You rock, Drew! He couldn’t linger for long, because they were doing a 9 pm showing of Rocky Horror, so he had to get back for that. After he left, the rest of us sat there and chatted a while longer, and then it was getting close to the midnight hour, so we headed out. There is a salvaged church pew at CJ’s, and Shane took my picture. Despite wearing a Mick t-shirt and fishnets, I managed to not burst into flames. What a relief! So wonderful to see the State marquee all lit up, and people in line! Everyone was in a great mood, and we were all having fun. We had a little bit of a scare when we got up to the table and they didn’t find our names on their list...then either me or Ken said, “Drew said he was going to reserve four tickets and...” and she was like, “Oh!” and checked another list. She found our names and said, “Okay!” and marked an “R” on all of our hands. Well, all righty then! I didn’t realize until later that no payment took place. Ken told me later, and I said, “What?” He said, “Yeah, I guess Drew comped us the tickets!” Drew, did I mention that you rock? Thank you! So sorry I didn’t get a good pic of me and Ken, but I forgot that my forward-facing camera on my phone doesn’t have a flash. Drat! I’ll see if I can doctor up the picture and get it a little brighter! We bought our “survivor packs” in the lobby, a large baggie filled with all the stuff you throw at the screen during the movie. Including toast! We found some seats, third row, and settled in to wait. After a brief warm-up from someone with the “shadow cast” (a troop that acts out what is happening onscreen), the movie began. I hadn’t seen the movie since college, it had been years since Shane had seen it, and Ken had never seen it before. I could be wrong about this, but I don’t think Matt had ever seen it before, either. (Hazy memory, sorry!) I had forgotten how much fun it is, how good the music is, and how poignant the ending is. It’s obviously a bizarre movie, but there is a lot to be seen there, on many levels, and I’m not ashamed to say that I got a little verklempt at the ending. The participatory portion of a Rocky Horror viewing is a blast, but I think the movie stands on its own as a campy and bizarre cult classic. It was a total blast! We really did all do the Time Warp, and it was so much fun! It was a raucous and enthusiastic crowd. I think my favorite part was “Great Scott!” and the throwing of the toilet paper. When was the last time you got to throw a roll of toilet paper with great abandon and joy? It’s been too long for this gal, I can tell you that! But the toast part was pretty fun, too. You can see the aftermath above (picture via the State Theater’s Facebook page). Yikes! Drew hopes to make it a regular feature at the State, and although I’m not going to be going every time it’s held there, I would definitely go again on occasion. I’m sorry to report that there was one casualty of the evening. My fishnets took a beating when my bracelet got stuck to them, and I had to tear a hole in them to get it unstuck. I’m not throwing them out, though...they’ll be my future Rocky Horror fishnets! The State has a ways to go on renovation, but good things are happening, and work is progressing. It is once again becoming a downtown destination and the “Pride of South Bend,” and it makes me happy to see this happening. A fun night! Of course, we had to end the evening with a Minion Flip-off! This might be a new tradition!
Tomorrow is going to be a good time, because we’re getting together with Shane and Matt. And that’s always a good time! FIrst, we’re heading to their place to have our Christmas exchange. YES, I know it’s June! We didn’t quite make it to the point where we could say it was Christmas in July, but it was pretty damn close! Based on everyone’s schedules and activities, we just haven’t managed to do this before now. We’ve seen them a couple of times since Christmas, but it was going out and to a show where we couldn’t exchange gifts. It will be fun! Merry effin’ Christmas! Then we’ll head to fabulous downtown South Bend and grab a bite to eat at CJ’s Pub (great burgers!) and hang out there until it’s time for the midnight showing of “Rocky Horror Picture Show” at the equally fabulous State Theater. It’s been about thirty years since I last saw Rocky Horror, guys. I saw it in college at a midnight movie with my friends Barb and Babes. It’s going to be fun to see it at the renovated beauty (work in progress) State Theater! Thanks to Drew for reserving four tickets for us! You can count on pictures! I’m breaking out the fishnets!
Seriously...just stop being so fun already! Stop tickling me! hahahaha Not one, but TWO more things to add to the calendar. I mentioned “Ghost Brothers of Darkland County” coming in November. I was able to obtain some VERY IMPORTANT insider information (okay, it’s available to anyone who is paying attention to this), and I will be getting tickets in the presale tomorrow morning. In fact, I need to get to bed soon so I can get up and get the password and get the tickets. I also learned tonight that the fabulous State Theater in downtown South Bend will be showing “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” on June 8th, doing an earlier show for teens and young adults, and then a midnight showing for the rest of us depraved individuals. We had heard rumors of this, and we (Ken, Shane, Matt, and I) agreed that we wanted to go. To give a little background, the State was built in 1919. It was the premiere theater in downtown South Bend, and when downtown sort of dried up and died, it entered a period of decline. It operated as a nightclub for a while, then was sold to some religious group who didn’t have the funds to rehabilitate it, and...finally! A Notre Dame graduate, Andrew Elegante, saw the potential there, and has been working like a bastard to develop it, renovate it, and once again make it a happening place. Downtown has been experiencing a bit of a renaissance lately, with lots of great restaurants and nightspots opening. The Morris is doing great business, and people seem really interested in seeing the State once again being a downtown destination. We are proud supporters! I haven’t seen Rocky Horror since college, and Ken has never seen it, so this should be a blast. Look out...I’m breaking out the fishnets!
We had a nice surprise this morning when our friend Andy called us to wish Ken a happy Father’s Day! We are so happy that he is back safely from his trip to Afghanistan for the company he works for! They had a mobile lab where they did problem-solving with equipment and devices (to put it simply), and he was there for six months. I know we weren’t the only ones who breathed a sigh of relief when he made it back home this past week! Wonderful to hear from him, and I chatted with him for a while and we had some laughs, then Andy and Ken chatted and had even more. We’re looking forward to seeing him this fall when he comes back for a couple of Notre Dame football games. We love you, Andy! Welcome home!
There was a little more confusion when they weren’t serving the food when they said they would be. But we settled at the bar and paid for a couple of beers before we got the food and beers included in the package. We took the time to get to know Ken the Bartender, a super nice guy who recommended several local breweries. If you haven’t been paying attention, craft breweries are popping up everywhere, and there are quite a few in our area. 
We also heard from Ken the Bartender that not only is the owner of the Silver Hawks planning on putting in more attractions (like a three-tier party pavilion), he is hoping to affiliate this farm team with either the Chicago Cubs or the Chicago White Sox! What-WHAT?! The Silver Hawks used to be affiliated with the Sox, but that changed a while back to the Diamondbacks. If they could get back an affiliation with one of the Chicago teams, that would be HUGE. We’re only an hour and a half away from Chicago, so having potential Cubs or Sox play here in South Bend would be a great local connection! Good things happening in South Bend!
