Welcome to Winnipeg
I woke up to the gentle Winnipeg morning light shining in through the front windows of Chad's house. Dylan and I had slept on a mattress in the living room that was SO comfortable I completely drifted away and forgot all about last night's troubles.
Dorothy came to pick up AJ and Laura (Red had stayed at her place overnight) so they could go to Mother's Music to rent guitars, bass, and to buy drum sticks. She also had Canadian cash for us so we could exchange our money. I gave Laura some cash to get me a tambourine if they had one for rent.
Dylan and I watched Canadian TV and were surprised to see their version of 'Cash Cab' which we often watch when we get home from work on the rare days we have nothing else to do.
Soon, Dorothy and the girls came back and we decided to walk over to Perkins for brunch. Most everyone ordered breakfast stuff, but as usual I was feeling more like lunch so I got a french dip sandwich. After that, Dorothy drove Dylan, Red and I to this thrift store called Value Village. I was looking for clothes but didn't find any; I ended up getting some books and a pair of earrings. One of the books was an unauthorized Spice Girls biography and the other, "Secrets from the Vinyl Cafe" was one that Dylan spotted and recognized that it was part of a series of which I had already read the book "Home From the Vinyl Cafe." The series is actually from a Canadian Radio show, so it wasn't that surprising that it would be there, but it was interesting because when I read the other book, we were on vacation in Mexico (the Yucatan peninsula) at the time.
We were wanting to get to the hotel finally so after that we went back to Chad's and switched Red out for Laura. We took Portage Avenue, the main drag of Winnipeg, across the city until we reached downtown and found the Delta Winnipeg, the hotel that Pride had booked the performers in. It was a pretty nice place with a cool pub in the front called Elephant and Castle. I went to check in, and of course they didn't have any rooms booked under our name. Par for the course, I thought. We tried looking up several different names - the band members, the Pride committee members, but couldn't find anything. We had to call Barb for the third time in like 20 minutes to see if she could sort it out, but she was at a loss too. Finally, the front desk girl discovered that we had been booked for the night before and so we were down as a no show! I really didn't care because she said they had the rooms for us, and it was really nice to stay at Chad's last night anyway.
We got our room keys and went up to unload; Laura and Red had an adjoining room to us, and Amy and AJ got a room right down the hall. The good news was that the rooms were booked for the next 2 nights. On the contract, it said we only had the room one night, which was why we didn't know that we could have checked in last night. It was very nice to not have to move again.
Dorothy went back and got the rest of the girls and soon we were all enjoying drinks together down in the Elephant and Castle; except for Red who has not been feeling well the whole trip so far. She did come down and had a hot toddy with us but she didn't seem to enjoy it.
We all decided to walk around downtown together which was really fun. Winnipeg has a cute little downtown that feels like a small town and a city all at the same time. We stumbled upon the Exchange District, which we had been wanting to see anyway, and then we accidentally found the Royal Albert, a hotel/bar that I had read about online and tried to book a show at for our first night but since we had decided against bringing our instruments it didn't work out. All for the best since we wouldn't have made it after our customs kerfuffle anyway. Amy was really into the vibe there and wished that we could have made it work, when suddenly she discovered that it seemed to be some sort of open mic. Upon further inspection, it was actually a blues jam, so Amy asked if we wanted to sign up and play. I was dubious but said sure; she said we could play "Mustache Rides." The more I thought about it, the more I thought we'd either get laughed out of there, or get our asses kicked. We ended up not doing it which again was probably for the best.
After that, we took a few pictures outside and then went back to the hotel. Dylan and I really wanted to go swimming. The hotel had both an indoor an outdoor pool as well as a jacuzzi. We spent quite a bit of time in the jacuzzi and indoor pool before we decided to venture out to the outdoor pool. It was actually not too bad out there although it was cloudy and a little cool by that time. We ran back inside after awhile; AJ and Amy told us later that they just happened to be getting out of the elevator at that exact moment and saw me running after Dylan out of the pool.
Dylan and I decided to go out on a "date" to a nice restaurant. Dylan wanted to look around the city for somewhere fancy but I had already seen the place down in the back of the lobby which looked really nice, and I had read a good review of it in this magazine in the room. So I convinced him and we got dressed up and went downstairs for dinner.
The hostess seated us right next to a window at Dylan's request because it was raining outside and it was very romantic. She asked us what we were doing in Winnipeg and we told her that our band was performing at the Pride festival. A short while later our server came to the table and we both thought he was so cute. I asked Dylan if he thought he was gay or not, but we couldn't quite tell. The next time he came back, he mentioned something about the pride festival - the hostess had told him we were playing there - so then we knew.
The meal was amazing. We had these delicious mushrooms in a bubbling hot white wine garlic sauce for an appetizer with delicious bread, and then I had pickerel (the magazine had said it was a standout) and Dylan got stuffed chicken. The server, R, would come over to the table from time to time and each time we would talk for longer and longer. I wanted him to just pull up a chair and eat with us!
Finally we were stuffed but R insisted that we "couldn't leave without something sweet" so he brought us some chocolate truffles and white chocolate bark with cranberries. We asked him about Gio's, the gay club that Barb had told us we should check out, so he gave us directions on a map but also drew instructions on how to get to another bar where he said he would be later (he worked there too) as well as his phone number in case we had any other questions about what to do while we were in Winnipeg. He was so friendly.
We went back up to the room to freshen up before going out. None of the girls wanted to go with us, but Amy and AJ said they would meet us there later. We checked out an umbrella from the front desk even though it was just barely sprinkling and we walked the few blocks down to Gio's. There were having a drag night and it was pretty packed and festive inside. Some of the drag queens - mainly the host, Simone - were really good. Simone did this number that I had seen years ago in LA and forgotten about that I loved. Something about a chair she was trying to sell in her second hand store - "If I can't sell it, I'm gonna sit down on it, I ain't gonna just give it away."
Amy and AJ did show up soon and they had gotten in free by saying they were playing at Pride! I had tried that but it didn't work - Dylan and I had paid $5 each to get in. The lady must have been hot for Amy and AJ. We watched the second part of the drag show together and then hung out over in a window box and met some of the locals including a really nice girl from Regina (until she told me where she was from, I never realized that city's name rhymed with Vagina).
The girls were getting tired and wanted to go back to the hotel and I was getting sort of bored too and wondered about the other bar that R (the server) had mentioned, so I texted him to see if he was there and how it was. He texted back saying it wasn't bad but that he had been thinking of leaving to come to Gio's. So, I told the girls to stay and texted him to come on over.
We were hanging out with the girl from Regina when I looked over and noticed R; he looked so different out of the restaurant and in street clothes rather than server attire. I introduced him to the girls, who finally left shortly thereafter, and he introduced Dylan and I to several of his friends. So, then I got a second wind and we ended up staying there really late. We ended up hanging out with him really late and decided to continue the party after the bar and I can't say I got much sleep that night, but it was worth it.
Hello 2010, goodbye junk!
NEW YEARS RESOLUTION LOG ENTRY 155
This cute little rhinestone salamander that used to be part of a ring. It broke off the ring and I guess I saved it either because I thought I would fix it someday (although I don't have the ring part anymore) or maybe I just couldn't part with it at the time.
Dorothy came to pick up AJ and Laura (Red had stayed at her place overnight) so they could go to Mother's Music to rent guitars, bass, and to buy drum sticks. She also had Canadian cash for us so we could exchange our money. I gave Laura some cash to get me a tambourine if they had one for rent.
Dylan and I watched Canadian TV and were surprised to see their version of 'Cash Cab' which we often watch when we get home from work on the rare days we have nothing else to do.
Soon, Dorothy and the girls came back and we decided to walk over to Perkins for brunch. Most everyone ordered breakfast stuff, but as usual I was feeling more like lunch so I got a french dip sandwich. After that, Dorothy drove Dylan, Red and I to this thrift store called Value Village. I was looking for clothes but didn't find any; I ended up getting some books and a pair of earrings. One of the books was an unauthorized Spice Girls biography and the other, "Secrets from the Vinyl Cafe" was one that Dylan spotted and recognized that it was part of a series of which I had already read the book "Home From the Vinyl Cafe." The series is actually from a Canadian Radio show, so it wasn't that surprising that it would be there, but it was interesting because when I read the other book, we were on vacation in Mexico (the Yucatan peninsula) at the time.
We were wanting to get to the hotel finally so after that we went back to Chad's and switched Red out for Laura. We took Portage Avenue, the main drag of Winnipeg, across the city until we reached downtown and found the Delta Winnipeg, the hotel that Pride had booked the performers in. It was a pretty nice place with a cool pub in the front called Elephant and Castle. I went to check in, and of course they didn't have any rooms booked under our name. Par for the course, I thought. We tried looking up several different names - the band members, the Pride committee members, but couldn't find anything. We had to call Barb for the third time in like 20 minutes to see if she could sort it out, but she was at a loss too. Finally, the front desk girl discovered that we had been booked for the night before and so we were down as a no show! I really didn't care because she said they had the rooms for us, and it was really nice to stay at Chad's last night anyway.
We got our room keys and went up to unload; Laura and Red had an adjoining room to us, and Amy and AJ got a room right down the hall. The good news was that the rooms were booked for the next 2 nights. On the contract, it said we only had the room one night, which was why we didn't know that we could have checked in last night. It was very nice to not have to move again.
Dorothy went back and got the rest of the girls and soon we were all enjoying drinks together down in the Elephant and Castle; except for Red who has not been feeling well the whole trip so far. She did come down and had a hot toddy with us but she didn't seem to enjoy it.
We all decided to walk around downtown together which was really fun. Winnipeg has a cute little downtown that feels like a small town and a city all at the same time. We stumbled upon the Exchange District, which we had been wanting to see anyway, and then we accidentally found the Royal Albert, a hotel/bar that I had read about online and tried to book a show at for our first night but since we had decided against bringing our instruments it didn't work out. All for the best since we wouldn't have made it after our customs kerfuffle anyway. Amy was really into the vibe there and wished that we could have made it work, when suddenly she discovered that it seemed to be some sort of open mic. Upon further inspection, it was actually a blues jam, so Amy asked if we wanted to sign up and play. I was dubious but said sure; she said we could play "Mustache Rides." The more I thought about it, the more I thought we'd either get laughed out of there, or get our asses kicked. We ended up not doing it which again was probably for the best.
After that, we took a few pictures outside and then went back to the hotel. Dylan and I really wanted to go swimming. The hotel had both an indoor an outdoor pool as well as a jacuzzi. We spent quite a bit of time in the jacuzzi and indoor pool before we decided to venture out to the outdoor pool. It was actually not too bad out there although it was cloudy and a little cool by that time. We ran back inside after awhile; AJ and Amy told us later that they just happened to be getting out of the elevator at that exact moment and saw me running after Dylan out of the pool.
Dylan and I decided to go out on a "date" to a nice restaurant. Dylan wanted to look around the city for somewhere fancy but I had already seen the place down in the back of the lobby which looked really nice, and I had read a good review of it in this magazine in the room. So I convinced him and we got dressed up and went downstairs for dinner.
The hostess seated us right next to a window at Dylan's request because it was raining outside and it was very romantic. She asked us what we were doing in Winnipeg and we told her that our band was performing at the Pride festival. A short while later our server came to the table and we both thought he was so cute. I asked Dylan if he thought he was gay or not, but we couldn't quite tell. The next time he came back, he mentioned something about the pride festival - the hostess had told him we were playing there - so then we knew.
The meal was amazing. We had these delicious mushrooms in a bubbling hot white wine garlic sauce for an appetizer with delicious bread, and then I had pickerel (the magazine had said it was a standout) and Dylan got stuffed chicken. The server, R, would come over to the table from time to time and each time we would talk for longer and longer. I wanted him to just pull up a chair and eat with us!
Finally we were stuffed but R insisted that we "couldn't leave without something sweet" so he brought us some chocolate truffles and white chocolate bark with cranberries. We asked him about Gio's, the gay club that Barb had told us we should check out, so he gave us directions on a map but also drew instructions on how to get to another bar where he said he would be later (he worked there too) as well as his phone number in case we had any other questions about what to do while we were in Winnipeg. He was so friendly.
We went back up to the room to freshen up before going out. None of the girls wanted to go with us, but Amy and AJ said they would meet us there later. We checked out an umbrella from the front desk even though it was just barely sprinkling and we walked the few blocks down to Gio's. There were having a drag night and it was pretty packed and festive inside. Some of the drag queens - mainly the host, Simone - were really good. Simone did this number that I had seen years ago in LA and forgotten about that I loved. Something about a chair she was trying to sell in her second hand store - "If I can't sell it, I'm gonna sit down on it, I ain't gonna just give it away."
Amy and AJ did show up soon and they had gotten in free by saying they were playing at Pride! I had tried that but it didn't work - Dylan and I had paid $5 each to get in. The lady must have been hot for Amy and AJ. We watched the second part of the drag show together and then hung out over in a window box and met some of the locals including a really nice girl from Regina (until she told me where she was from, I never realized that city's name rhymed with Vagina).
The girls were getting tired and wanted to go back to the hotel and I was getting sort of bored too and wondered about the other bar that R (the server) had mentioned, so I texted him to see if he was there and how it was. He texted back saying it wasn't bad but that he had been thinking of leaving to come to Gio's. So, I told the girls to stay and texted him to come on over.
We were hanging out with the girl from Regina when I looked over and noticed R; he looked so different out of the restaurant and in street clothes rather than server attire. I introduced him to the girls, who finally left shortly thereafter, and he introduced Dylan and I to several of his friends. So, then I got a second wind and we ended up staying there really late. We ended up hanging out with him really late and decided to continue the party after the bar and I can't say I got much sleep that night, but it was worth it.
Hello 2010, goodbye junk!
NEW YEARS RESOLUTION LOG ENTRY 155
This cute little rhinestone salamander that used to be part of a ring. It broke off the ring and I guess I saved it either because I thought I would fix it someday (although I don't have the ring part anymore) or maybe I just couldn't part with it at the time.
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