i keep a diary

April 07, 2007

Taking Back Atlantic City

After Matt put us on the guest list to see his band play at Great Adventure, we didn't think he'd be able to top himself!

But, sho'nuff, ten months after our trip to Great Adventure, Matt called us up and told us that the last date on their tour was going to be at the House of Blues in Atlantic City and that we were all invited down to see the show and crash in the huge-ass suite the venue had put him up in! So a bunch of us decided to rent a car head down to AC so we could wish Matt a happy "end of tour" (and to give him a ride back to NYC!).

Saturday, April 7th

eva, jenny penny
We met up on Saturday afternoon at a car rental place in the Village. Here's Jenny and Eva excited about roadtrippin.
eva ˆ jenny penny
jenny penny, meredith
And we're off!
rental car ˆ sunglasses ˆ jenny penny ˆ meredith
eva, jenny penny, me
We'd just left NYC and were heading south on a NJ highway when suddenly...
rental car ˆ eva ˆ jenny penny ˆ me
me
...our rental car's hood started lifting up! Scary! I the hood wasn't latched down and as we picked up speed going down the highway, the wind started trying to flip it up!
highway ˆ me
me
Thankfully, there was a place to pull over and I managed to get off the road and latch it down without incident.
highway ˆ me
me
Eva and Jenny brought along a bunch of the 90s CDs and we spent the drive down signing...
driving ˆ me
meredith
...while Meredith spent the drive gluing on the package of Lee Press-On Nails that she'd just bought! Hahaha.
nails ˆ meredith
meredith
Ooooh-la-la!
nails ˆ meredith
A little before 6pm, we hit the Atlantic City Expressway...
atlantic city ˆ driving
...and then a couple of miles later, we'd arrived!
atlantic city ˆ driving
We drove past Caesar's and Trump's...
atlantic city ˆ driving
jenny penny
...and Jenny was so excited that she nearly lost her mind in the backseat. Haha.
excited ˆ jenny penny
Centurion on the roof of Caesar's Palace.
atlantic city ˆ driving ˆ rome
Atlantic City is like the 90% discount-version of Vegas. All the casinos are lumped together right next to one another with hundreds of pawn shops interspersed between them.
atlantic city ˆ driving
Matt's band was playing at the House of Blues which is part of the Showboat Hotel.
atlantic city ˆ driving
We parked the rental and hit the hotel which was plastered with...
...fliers promoting the show.
flyer ˆ taking back sunday
matt
We took the elevator up to one of the fancy floors and located Matt in his totally free fancy room! The place had arbitrarily-placed flatsreen TVs on pretty much every surface.
hotel ˆ matt
Check out this one on the wall in the bathroom. I can almost hear the conversation between the two guys installing it. Guy number 1: "Hey, it almost fits here between these two mirrors." Guy number 2: "Works for me. Get the screw gun."
hotel ˆ mirror ˆ tv
eva, jenny penny, matt, meredith, piper
There were even all sorts of special "rock star" amenities. Like the raised "fuck me" stage that the bed was on!
hotel ˆ eva ˆ jenny penny ˆ matt ˆ meredith ˆ piper
meredith
At the foot of the bed there was even a convenient body-sized box. (Just in case any sluts end up partying themselves to death in your room, you can use this box to temporarily hide their bodes until you're able to slip out of town on your tour bus!)
box ˆ meredith
eva
Of course everyone needed to take turns making sexy poses on the big swanky bed. Here's Eva.
bed ˆ eva
matt
And here's Matt!
bed ˆ matt
matt
Rowr, tiger! (PS - is that a mohair jacket you're wearing? WTF?)
bed ˆ best ˆ matt
jenny penny, piper
Jenny and Piper both did their sexy tiger poses too! (Look how Piper's putting her little tiger paw in the air! Hahaha)
bed ˆ jenny penny ˆ piper
jenny penny, meredith, piper
And then Meredith threw her keyster into the mix!
bed ˆ jenny penny ˆ meredith ˆ piper
meredith, piper
Nom! Nom! Dog ear!
bite ˆ meredith ˆ piper
According to the itinerary, Matt's band didn't go on until 9:30. We hung out in the room until around 8:30...
jenny penny, meredith
...and then decided to head down to the venue. Here's Jenny and Meredith posing with the exquisite, electric-blue, metallic Buddha near our elevator. Classy!
buddha ˆ jenny penny ˆ meredith
adrian, bev, meredith
Downstairs we met up with Bev Chase (Roxbury High School "Class Wit" 1995!) and her boyfriend, Adrian! She'd mentioned that they were thinking about coming down to AC for the weekend, so Matt put them on the guest list and hooked them up with passes!
adrian ˆ bev ˆ meredith
The crowd from backstage right before the band came out.
backstage ˆ taking back sunday
The band came out and the place went nizzuts.
backstage ˆ crowd ˆ taking back sunday
me, meredith, quinn
Mer and me (and Quinn peeking out in the back!)
backstage ˆ us ˆ me ˆ meredith ˆ quinn
eva, jenny penny, quinn
Quinn, Jenny and Eva. Haha.
backstage ˆ eva ˆ jenny penny ˆ quinn
adrian, bev
Bev and Adrian (making quite the sassy face!).
backstage ˆ adrian ˆ bev
The show was great. And it's really interesting to watch the show from the wings of the stage and get the same vantage point of the crowd that the band has. I can't even imagine what it feels like to have a crowd cheer you on when you're doing your job. Haha.
backstage ˆ taking back sunday
matt, sean m
Sean congratulating Matt after the show.
backstage ˆ matt ˆ sean m
ellen, piper
Piper wasn't very happy about the placement of her backstage pass...
backstage ˆ dogs ˆ ellen ˆ piper
piper
...until Ellen turned it into a little VIP hat!
backstage ˆ dogs ˆ piper
eva
As we were navigating the maze of hallways behind the auditorium, Eva was keen enough to spot this!
sluts ˆ eva
eva
The "Sluts Training Room!" Hahahaha.
best ˆ sluts ˆ eva
After getting lost in the backstage labyrinth of hallways (shit was like Spinal Tap, no joke!), we finally emerged back into the hotel and made a beeline for the elevator.
hotel
We all piled into the elevator and headed back up to Matt's suite...
best ˆ elevator
...for a "Congrats on the end of your tour" champagne toast!
hotel ˆ party
matt, meredith
Meredith and Matt putting some tunes on the stereo.
matt ˆ meredith
eva, me
Me acting like a jackass and playing air guitar (I love how Eva is totally giving me the "You're a jackass" look).
air guitar ˆ eva ˆ me
ellen, quinn
Quinn and Ellen
ellen ˆ quinn
eva, jenny penny
Eva and Jenny.
eva ˆ jenny penny
Around 2am, Ellen, Matt and I headed down to the casino to play.
atm
I love how they put these posters on the side of the ATM all the way near the back so that you'd never see it if you were actually using the machine to withdrawal money. You stay classy, Harrahs!
atm ˆ sign
Two hundy was my limit and it lasted me all of fifteen minutes at one of the higher-limit blackjack tables. (It's poker-only for me from now on!).
money
meredith
Meredith wasn't feeling well and had gone to bed early. I woke her up a little past four when I got back to the room to give her a delicious pizza snack!
bed ˆ pizza ˆ meredith

Sunday, April 8th

The view from the suite the next morning. Scenic!
atlantic city
There's Matt's tour bus over there on the right!
bus
meredith
A little after 1pm, we decided to pack up and head back to NYC (it was Easter Sunday and we were worried about getting stuck in traffic if we waited until later).
hotel ˆ meredith
ellen, piper
Ellen and Piper.
ellen ˆ piper
Goodbye, Casino! Spend my $200 wisely!
casino
eva, jenny penny
We loaded up our rental car...
rental car ˆ eva ˆ jenny penny
matt, meredith
...threw all of Matt's tour-luggage in the back, and hit the road!
rental car ˆ matt ˆ meredith
eva, jenny penny, matt
Before leaving town, we decided to stop off and get ourselves a huge brunch at some chain restaurant (TGIF? Chili's? Ruby Tuesday? Applebee's? Anyone remember?). Here's Eva and Jenny totally excited about brunch while Matt works on waking up / recovering from almost a year on the road.
eva ˆ jenny penny ˆ matt
meredith
Officer Silverman.
sunglasses ˆ meredith
quinn
After eating way too much food for brunch, we decided to continue our overindulgence and double-down with some desserts! Here's Quinn's apple pie with EXTRA ice cream! Hahaha.
excited ˆ food ˆ quinn
After stuffing our faces, we hopped in the rental car and headed north on the parkway! We got back to NYC a little before 7pm! Thanks so much for inviting us out, Matt!
driving ˆ nyc

6 comments

  • guestjanuary 12, 2012

    I can't be the only one who noticed that Gurj somehow went from being cute/pretty to straight out hot in late 2009...? how'd that happen? Go, girl.

  • style trendsjanuary 25, 2012

    The hemline of dresses can be as high as the upper thigh or as low as the ground, depending on the whims of fashion and the modesty or personal taste of the wearer.

  • khatoonnosratijanuary 30, 2012

    hi my name is khatoon and i am from Iran i read your dairy about your trip to Dubai it is amazing!!me and my husband have plan for going to dubai too and your dairy specillay about wild bady help me alot! tnk you.and please if you think you have some exprience that could help me in dubai please share whit me. I need your help! have good time and be happy.bye
    my Email: khatoonnosrati@yahoo.com

  • bsfebruary 12, 2012

    Saw this on si.com of all places: Grant interview gone wrong meme!

    http://www.youtube.com/watc...

  • guestfebruary 18, 2012

    i think this is you! http://thecobrasnake.com/pa...

    • brian battjerfebruary 18, 2012

      Yes, that is me! ;)