It's the day before The Rock Boat Niner. I was recovering from my fever, but I wasn't at 100%. I get up early to finish packing and pump in some Excedrin for what I thought was my migraine, but whatever. I was anxious and excited to get out of NYC and meet up with people I only see once a year (among the rest of my concert crew) and rock out to some pretty damn good artists, like Aslyn and Stephen Kellogg & The Sixers I get out the door around 9am to get on a yellow cab to LaGuardia Airport to catch my 12 noon flight.
I get to the airport, check-in and as I'm waiting on my friend Christi to arrive so we can get on the plane together, I was hoping and praying that my plane wouldn't fly into Canadian geese, thus taking the plane down on the Hudson River...
The day before, in the office, I was watching footage of a US Airways plane on the Hudson River. The plane left LaGuardia, took the usual route over Northern Manhattan only for the plane to fly through (literally through) Canadian geese, thus shutting both its engines down and forcing the pilot to make the most heroic move in bringing the plane down on Hudson safely. One of my co-workers wished me luck in getting out the city.
Christi arrives not too long after I check in and we go through security together, as we got all excited about TRB and everything that went with it. And even though we were on different seats on the plane, it was really good to be around another Rock Boater at the airport before the fun begins!
Just before I get on the plane, one of my co-workers decides to IM me on my BlackBerry Messenger to try to get some work-related stuff out of me, and of course, I shut that down instantly.
Anyway, the plane takes off a bit after 12, and it takes the same course as that US Airways flight from the day before. We fly over the Hudson River and I'm hoping and praying we get out of the NYC airspace with both our engines still intact. A couple of minutes after we took off, we got out of the NYC airspace in one piece. It was gonna be a smooth flight down to Miami.
I get to Miami a bit after 3pm, and Christi and I are waiting endlessly for luggage to arrive. Meanwhile, my friend Kirsten is circling around the airport in her Mini Cooper with my other Rock Boat buddies Marianne and Sam, all waiting for me to get out w/ my luggage. It probably took a good 30 minutes to get my luggage and then get Kirsten to finally come back around and get me. And when she did come around, it was the greatest feeling ever. The adrenaline kicked in and it was like I never had that fever. I was just fricken excited to see the Rock Boat crew again!
All four of us leave the airport in a crammed Mini Cooper (it was so crammed, I had to put my heavy luggage ON MY LAP), drop Sam off at her hotel, and then headed over to the TRB Host Hotel, the Marriott Biscayne Bay. And the reuniting kept going!
Just as I was checking in, Lindsay sneaks up from behind to give me a big hug. I love her and her parents. That's really all I can say. Lindsay and I catch up for a bit while the hotel staff give us complimentary glasses of champagne (props to the Marriott for knowing what Rock Boaters like...FREE ALCOHOL).
Once I was done checking in, my cabinmate Miriam arrives and her, Sam, Kirsten, and I head up to the hotel room to get ready for the Pre-Party fesitivities!
A bit after 6pm, we all head downstairs to where the Pre-Party was taking place. When I got there, I saw so many people I hadn't seen since the last Rock Boat, along with my local concert crew and the concert crew I've come to know and love over the years...including the newbies that met me at recent shows. For those that hadn't seen me in so long, they actually had no idea who I was until they noticed my Red Hat. At one point, when one of my Rock Boat buddies introduced me to their crew, he told them "This is Riz...or whatever's left of Riz." Though my favorite reaction of the night came from my friend Rebecca W., who couldn't believe how different I looked from a year ago with the weight loss and all. Fun times. The remainder of the night was spent making the rounds, catching up with the folks from Sixthman and some of my favorite Rock Boaters ever, including Rachel....
Later in the evening, as the Pre-Party moved from the outdoor area to one of the ballrooms on the 3rd floor for the hotel, I was making the rounds saying hi to more people and waiting on Claire who drives up in a rented SUV that might as well have been a getaway car. Claire and I grab dinner, and afterwards we walk around for a bit to see who was around before I called it a night at 11pm. I wanted to continue partying, but I still wasn't at 100% strength from the fever earlier in the week and figured I needed to rest up anyway, since we had an early start to Boarding Day.
TO BE CONTINUED...
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