It's almost 1 'o clock in the morning. I'm alone in my dorm tonight. And I feel like writing, writing, and writing. I want to write about my wonderful weekend get-away to Pennsylvania. Friday, November 7th to Sunday, November 9th was one of the best weekends of my life. It was, is, and will be the most memorable weekends.
So this whole adventure first began with a concert my good friend, Jess, and I went to on Sunday, November 2nd. Mest, Quietdrive, Rookie of the Year, and The Ability were going to be playing at Filmore at Irving Plaza in New York City. We bought the tickets for this show in September. Quietdrive was always one of my favorite bands and I always loved their music, so I was really looking forward to finally seeing them in person live. Likewise, Jess had always loved Mest and was looking forward to seeing them. We went to the show super excited about seeing our favorite bands. The feeling I felt when I saw Quietdrive performing and rocking on stage was absolutely amazing. It really made me truly fall in love with their music and the boys. The way they perform and feel their music; the passion and power they have for delivering music to the crowd is truly exceptional. They really have passion for what they do. If you have never heard of Quietdrive or listened to their music, I really recommend that you do because you are missing out big time if you haven't! Anyway, back to the story, after the show, it ended up being far better that what we expected. Jess and I agreed that it was probably one of the best concerts we have been to. After the show, we were hanging outside of the venue, meeting a lot of the band members from different bands. Brandon of Rookie of the Year came up to us to sell us their album, so we bought their newest album. Their new album is called Sweet Attention. These boys are really good too so please listen to their music! We took lots of pictures with many band members. I finally got to meet Kevin, the singer of Quietdrive, and got to talk to him. He was totally sweet. We also met Tony of Mest. Everyone was really chill and nice. It was sad to see the night end. However, it wasn't the end for us. We had such a good experience from Sunday night that we immediately looked up the nearest tour dates and locations of this tour. And that's when we saw Pennsylvania!
The first thought that came into my mind was, 'How the hell do we get to Pennsylvania?' It's not like we have a car of our own or anything. Even though it seemed impossible, Jess and I were determined to make this happen. All we wanted was to just get the fuck out of New York and St. John's. We wanted a good weekend away from everything, from reality. After two days of pondering about it Monday and Tuesday, by Wednesday, we were like, 'All right, fuck it, we are going to Pennsylvania!' It was a spur of the moment thing. After classes on Wednesday, we looked up public transportation schedules from New York to Pennsylvania. We found out that a roundtrip was going to cost $40.85. The bus would take us from Port Authority right into Allentown, PA, the location of the venue. This was perfect! Immediately, I bought two tickets for the concert Friday night, November 7th, at Crocodile Rock Cafe in Allentown, PA. So far, about $60 going out of our already-poor wallets to see our favorite bands in a different state. Why not, right? We knew it would definitely be worth it. Thursday after classes, Jess and I went to Port Authority to buy our roundtrip bus tickets. Finally, everything became so real-this was actually going to happen; we were actually going to go to Pennsylvania! Hell yeah! Oh, and let me tell you, it was so fcking hard to focus on anything on Friday. The only thing on my mind was going to PA and seeing Quietdrive. Meanwhile, the same thing was going through Jess's mind looking forward to nothing else but the Mest and all the new, exciting things ahead of us for this weekend. After our classes ended on Friday, we peaced right out of St. John's and literally ran to the bus terminal. We grabbed a few snacks for our ride there. Before we knew it, we were actually on the bus on our way to PA. iPod earphones in listening to our bands, smiles on our faces, all different thoughts spinning through our heads, not being able to sleep, we were so ready for this! Trying to stay still in the bus seat for the two-hour ride to PA was unbearable.
Day One: Welcome to Allentown! We arrived at the one and only shady bus terminal in Allentown around 6 o'clock-ish. Allentown is the creepiest, shadiest town ever. It's worse than NYC really really late at night. Seriously, not even exaggerating, there is no one walking around at night. There are only skeevy cars driving aroud at night calling out cat calls, whistles, and saying in appropriate things. Shit was scary! So from the bus terminal we walked to Crocodile Rock Cafe, the venue where the concert was going to be held. Before the show started, we looked at the merch and looked around the venue. It was pretty tiny and the stage wasn't very high at all. Jess and I stood on the side. The crowd was very small, but the performance was still great. Seeing Quietdrive perform a second time was absolutely amazing! I had so much fun. After the show, I talked to Kevin and he remembered us from the NY show. We also met Mest boys Tony and Steve and Rookie of the Year boys Mike and Brandon. We chatted a little with them all. After the show, we all just hung out outside in the back with the bands and stuff. It was around 12 and 1 in the morning by this time. (Keep in mind Allentown is not a safe neighborhood.) Jess and I were beginning to worry what we were going to do all midnight/morning since buses don't start running again until 5 a.m. in the morning. We talked to Kevin a lot. And through the conversation that we had was when I realized what a genuine person he was. He couldn't give us a ride, but he offered to help in any other way possible and wanted to make sure we were safe. Because Jess and I had yet another great experience at Allentown's show, we were contemplating whether we should just go to the show held Saturday night in Lancaster, PA. Kevin, after exchanging numbers to make sure we would be safe and hopefully make it to the Lancaster snow, had to leave. Mest was still around, as well as some random drunk girls. They were going all crazy over Tony. Yeah, he is hot, but really, don't be a groupie. Jess and I were chilling with Steve from Mest. I thank him for introducting Captain Morgan: Parrot Bay Coconut Rum to us. It is seriously the best drink ever. We drank with Mest and hung out Steve. He's a really chill guy as well. We were talking to him about our situation and he also tried to help us. He asked his manager, James, if they could give us a ride in their huge van. Unfortunately, the manager said that he couldn't do that which it totally understandable. So instead, Steve asked his manager to put us on the guestlist. Therefore, as long as we had a way of safely getting to Lancaster for their show Saturday night, we would be able to attend the show through the guestlist. Ummm... fucking awesome?!? I give a huge shoutout thank you to Steve and James. We also exchanged numbers with Steve so he could check to make sure we were safe. Mest left. Our Friday night ended on such a great note--not only did we get numbers, but we also got put on the guestlist!! :D There was no way Jess and I were going to give up such a fantastic opportunity and not go to their next show in Lancaster the next night. Our original plan was to go back home Saturday morning on the first bus ride home back to NY. Hell no, that was not happening. Spur of the moment decision: we decided to go to the show the next night. Somehow someway we had to find a way to get to Lancaster. But before we worry about that, where the hell do we stay the night?
The streets were absolutely empty. We had no place to go. We were going to sit near the bus terminal. Unfortunately, there was a fucking creepy man sitting in his car in the dark who honked at us as we were walking by. Lol, Jess cursed him off. Next thing we know, he comes out of his car and starts following us! Holy shit! We start running away from him and start heading towards a bar because there were at least people loitering outside of that bar. At least Jess and I would be around people! The bar was called Sterling Hotel Bar. It was a rock bar with madddd hardxcore people. The bartender of the bar was outside talking to us. We asked him how to get to Lancaster. We found out that it would at least take an hour and half to get there by car. (Just great! Not even walking distance..) By now it was 2 o'clock-ish in the morning. We asked if there was any 24-hour place we could stay the night. He mentioned a diner not too far away, but definitely now walkable because of the bad neighborhood. Fortunately, he was kind enough to let us stay inside his bar at least until closing time. He even found us a ride to take us to the diner. He found us a sober girl in the bar. So basically we got a ride from a complete stranger. She drove us to Sunrise Diner, open 24-hours. We gave her a huge thanks. From 2:30 a.m. to about 3:30 a.m. we tried sitting there and eating really slow so we'd be able to stay there a really long time haha. Because of the limited money we had, we ordered chocolate pancakes and french fries. Total came out to about $7, which wasn't bad at all. After we had eaten all our food, there was still so much time left until 7 a.m., the time when the bus terminal actually opens. We needed to stay at the diner, but we didn't want to be rude just staying there when were done with our food. So I went up to the manager and asked if we could stay at the diner if he wouldn't mind since we have no other safe place to go. He was a mean, unfriendly grumpy man who said okay. So Jess and I sat in the waiting area on the booth-like seats. Oh my gosh. I was delirious and going in and out of dream state. Jess can tell you many stories about me trying to stay awake for three hours at the diner. She would keep trying to wake me up everytime I kept falling asleep. I'd say alot of shit that was so irrevelant to everything in life and would almost fall of the seat. I was going crazy hahah. We watched the sunrise and observed the sky changing colors from black, dark blue, gray, to morning blue. We went inside the diner to use the bathroom before we started on our walk back to the bus terminal. It was quite a walk with no sidewalks, just a really long endless highway. No wonder why the bartender said it was not walkable at night. Jess and I walked all the way back to the bus terminal, which is where the next part of journey begins.
Day Two: We arrive at the bus terminal around 6:45 a.m. and wait for the doors to open 7 a.m. Meanwhile, we're brainstorming of ways to get ourselves to Lancaster for that night's show. We ask a woman waiting with us how much a taxi would be. She said it would be very expensive. At this point, Jess and I only have about $30. Soon another man comes to the bus stop. We're not exactly if he's fixed on some sort of drugs. But he offers to give us ride to Lancaster since he lives like 15 minutes away from Lancaster. Jess and I are so happy that he offered to give us a ride there. He first had to go to New York City for a class and he said he'd be back by 5 p.m. and if we were still around, he would definitely give us a ride to the Chameleon Club in Lancaster, where the concert was going to be held. He repeatedly reminds us that we really shouldn't trust strangers, but keeps offering to help. We tell him our story of our spontaneous trip out to PA to see our favorite bands and he totally understands our young minds and wanting to take risks in life. He was really nice and cool about it. Quick update on Jess's and my condition: So it's 7 a.m. Jess and I got no sleep. NO SLEEP! We had very minimum food in our stomachs. We were scared shitless all night. Despite all these negatives, we were estatic that we found a ride to Lancaster and that we would be able to go to the show that we were put on the guestlist for. From 7 a.m. to about 8:45 a.m. we sit inside the waiting area in the bus terminal. The clock has never moved any slower. Oh my gosh. We tried to get some sleep while waiting for the stranger man to come back from New York, which would be around 5 p.m. Just in case, we found out bus fee to Lancaster. You wouldn't believe it. It would cost us $47 one-way to Lancaster from Allentown. Jesus!! We didn't have enough money. The max we had was $30 each. By this point, we were totally depending on the stranger man to return to PA and still give us a ride. 8:45 a.m., clock not moving, the atmosphere in that waiting room was like death and so gloomy. Oh yeah and not to mention that we were in the same room as a guy who had just gotten out of jail that morning. We couldn't sit in that room anymore. We found out that there was a Dunkin Donuts right across the street, so we went there. We got some food, but tried to save money. Jess and I basically starved on this whole adventure. We sat inside Dunkin Donuts from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. It was bad but we had some interesting entertainers. Lol. We met an old man named Bill, who was sort of crazy, but adorable. He kept asking me to do KungFu fighting with him and he kept talking about how the heater in his house was broken and that he didn't want to sit around waiting for the call from the guys who were supposed to fix his heater. He probably told us that story about 10 times. In addition, there was also some other creep who asked us if we were exotic dancers and that we should be dancers. We left Dunkin Donuts for a few minutes just to get away from him because he just started being mad creepy. Then, we came back into Dunkin Donuts and waited, waited, waited, and oh did I mention, waited? WAITED 7 hours inside Dunkin Donuts. Around 4 p.m. Jess and I headed back to the bus terminal to make sure we'd be there when the stranger man came back (we didn't know his name or number or anything, we were relying on luck). While waiting, I saw a cab outside the bus terminal, so I went up and asked the driver how much it would be to Lancaster since my friend and I only have $20 combined. She looked at me and gasped. She said, "Oh dear, $20?! It'll cost you at least $200." Excuse me, wha?! AT LEAST $200?! And that's only one way! No way. Now we were really praying that the stranger man would give us a ride. Right when I say goodbye to the cab driver was when the bus from New York arrived. And there was our lifesaver! He saw us and said, "Oh my gosh. You girls are crazy! I can't believe you're still here. Come on! I'll give you girls a ride." We get into his car and hope for the best. I mean after all he is a complete stranger who acts, speak, and walks like he's on some crazy drug. Jess sat in the front and seat and kept talking to him. Lol. I just sat in the back basically had my mouth shut the whole time. The car ride was about an hour and half. It turned out that he was a really nice guy. He told us briefly about his life story. He was a drug addict for the majority of his life and now he's clean and really trying to put his life on the right track aspiring to be an actor. We also finally introduced each other and knew his name now haha. He was really nice. He offered to help us and give us money if we needed. He even stopped at a diner for us so that we could use the bathroom (Jess and I devoured a energy drink really quickly in the car lol). He got us safely to Lancaster! Thank you once again! We couldn't believe it. We were finally in Lancaster!
While waiting in line, we were hoping that we would meet the girl and her mom we met the night before in Allentown. We were hoping that they would be able to give us a ride back to Allentown bus terminal. Luckily, within 10 minutes of standing in that line, the girl and her mom stood in line behind us! How much more lucky could we have gotten! Her mom so generously offered to give us a ride safely back to Allentown. We were all set! We could now enjoy the show 3rd night in a row for free after being put on the guestlist! Before the show, I asked Brandon of Quietdrive, the drummer making the set list to play Starbright (my favorite song from their new album). We had another great time at the show that night. We met up with Kevin again and I briefly told him our crazy story. Hahah. We also met up with Steve. and basically everyone else. Everyone we told basically had the same reaction: "You what? A random dude...? A random guy...? A random man...? Wow." Lol. The things we will do to see our fave bands man! So far our whole trip to PA had been wonderful. Luck was by our side the entire trip. Just when nothing more could get better, the mom who was going to give us a ride back to Allentown told us that we could sleep at her house and that she would drive us the bus terminal the Sunday morning. We couldn't have been more thankful. Because if it wasn't for her, we would've either been raped or killed in Allentown or would have had to stay at the diner again and felt terrible and so sorry to the manager. Thank you so so much mom! We all slept 3 hours and in the morning at 5:30 a.m., she drove us back to Allentown. We all hugged goodbye.
That Sunday morning, while waiting for the bus, Jess and I were so sad that our journey had come to an end. We had such an amazing weekend. We had luck by our side the entire trip. We became friends with our favorite bands, we hitchhiked with three different strangers (I mean, one was even a drug addict, but truly a nice man), we got put on the guestlist for Saturday night's show, and we had a fucking amazing time watching Quietdrive and Mest consecutively three nights in a row. I was so so so sad that it all came to an end and that we were heading back toward's New York. Our whole weekend was so good that it felt like a dream. I get very nostalgiac everytime I think back to this weekend. I am so sad that I won't be seeing Quietdrive for 5 months since they will be touring Japan and UK. I'm also sad that Mest will no longer be together; it was their last headlining tour. We're usually not crazy kids lol. It was just a first time once in a lifetime kind of things. What was supposed to be only one night of fun, turned out to be two nights of fun, a whole magnificent weekend. When you're eighteen and young, you take chances and experience different things. Just be safe lol! Last, and most importantly, Jess and I thank everyone who made this trip enjoyable and memorable- <3 Thank you Quietdrive, Mest, Kevin, Steve, James, the girl from the Sterling Hotel Bar who gave us a ride to Sunrise Diner, the bartender, the owner of diner, the kind man who drove us to Lancaster, the mom and daughter to let us stay over and drove us safely back to Allentown, and even Dunking Donuts for letting us stay there seven hours straight haha. It was truly the best, most memorable weekends that I will always remember*.
