"Why We Ended up in Winnipeg"
Either of these titles would be appropriate for this blog.
We left a flooded Calgary on Friday at 2:30. Surprisingly there was no flight delay to Winnipeg. There had been a flight cancellation to Toronto and the West Jet line up reflected this disruption. Thankfully we came prepared and had already printed our boarding passes at home; so we used the handy dandy machines to print out our luggage tag (yes only one bag) A West Jet representative took us up through the quick pass thus avoiding what could have been at least an hour or more wait time.
The actual flight was short and sweet, at least for me. I had a window seat (Patrick chose the middle) and was able to comfortably lay my head against my pillow on the window; that and the Gravol made the flight seem quick.
The Winnipeg airport looked vaguely familiar (from our sleepover during our Florida trip in Dec/Jan. (see other blog for details)
Like most airports there were plenty of taxi's waiting and we had no problem getting a ride to our hotel. We stayed at Assiniboine Gordon Inn on the Park. Let's say we got what we paid for, and there were no complaints otherwise. By the time we got settled into the hotel, it was past supper time and both Patrick and I were getting a little hungry (we missed the on flight bit and bites because we were sleeping) so we walked down the street to a Subway (Patrick's choice, not mine), picked up some subs and came back to the room.
A little food, a couple of games of cribbage, a movie and.......well that's all I remember. Not sure what time Patrick climbed into his bed and turned out the lights.
Saturday started out as a lazy morning. Went to the hotel restaurant for our complementary breakfast. We spent most of the morning, chillin', playing crib. Left for the concert at 2:30. VIP check in was at 3:30. Once we arrived at the Investors Group Field Stadium, everything became a line-up, as was expected. What a great way to people watch. If you were walking around and stumbled upon this venue, you would have no problem figuring out what concert was going on. The outfits, t-shirts, banners, and especially lipstick, reminded you that you were here to see Taylor Swift and her "Red" concert. I was starting to feel a little left out that I didn't have red-enough lipstick on.
Our first line up was just outside Gate 2 for the VIP's. Here I was naively thinking there were maybe 50 VIP's. NOT. There was a couple of girls behind us and they had driven from Weyburn Sask. I asked them if they knew any of my relatives? (pay attention) Turns out one of them went to school with my cousin's, son's wife! Back to the line up---The VIP gates opened on time at 3:30; we received out tickets, and signed copy of Taylor's new CD Red. Then we were ushered in through the gate, only to be sent to another line-up for entrance into the VIP Pinnacle Club. These doors didn't open until 4:30, so while we waited in line, Patrick bought his Ed Sheeran hoodie and I got my Taylor Swift football jersey. We did a little more people watching and could also see and hear the sound checks for a couple of the opening acts. As we were ushered into the Pinnacle Club, there was a photographer taking Red Carpet photos.
Once inside we were treated to a finger food buffet (sliders, smokie sliders, french fries, etc) but again this was the start of another line up. There was also what I can only describe as a candy buffet. This probably speaks to the demographics of the Taylor Swift fans. There was popcorn of all types, M&M's, string licorice, chocolate fountain, marshmallows on sticks, jello shooters (non alcoholic) with gummy worms. That line up became longer than the real food line up quite quickly. Kudos to the staff though, because at no time did it really seem too packed in there, and everyone seemed to find a table. We hung out in this room until it closed - around 6:30 and then headed to our seats (with out a line up) We were on the floor, third row, seats 9 and 10. They were pretty good seats, had they been a little higher, they would have been fantastic seats. Because we were so close and the stage was so high, it got difficult at times to see all the action going on. We did have access to the large screen right in front of us. As I mentioned we were in the third row, but moved up to the second row, when those seats became available. This was a blessing, because on the other side of me (Patrick naturally was on one side of me) was a gentleman who despite he smaller stature, felt the need to take up 1 1/2 seats - his and 1/2 of mine.
There were three opening acts. The first was Joel Crouse - a country artist, then Austin Mahone - a Justin Bieber wanna be; then Ed Sheeran
This is the gentleman that Patrick was looking forward to seeing. And he wasn't disappointed. If he hadn't been a fan before, he surely was now. The guy is an amazing musician. He came out with his little guitar and a looping pedal (you Google it) Despite is bad choice of tattoos, and rooster tail hair (I'm just picking on him), he was really good. He also came out during Taylor's show and did their duet.
And at 8:30, right on time, Taylor Swift started her show.
She is a great entertainer. I read the review in the Winnipeg newspaper and it was bang on. She is talented, gorgeous, and humorous. I'm pretty sure there were more than 10 costume changes.
Just like the concert started on time, it ended on time. The stadium is on the Winnipeg University campus, so we walked with the crowds out of the campus and onto the main thoroughfare, where there wasn't a cab in site. We continued walking down the street, and after 90 minutes since the concert let out, we managed to flag down a taxi. Actually I flagged down a taxi, Patrick had run off to find a washroom (make shift one) i manged to flag down Patrick before he disappeared behind a building and the cab took us back to our hotel, via back roads (there were still traffic jams going on)
Needless to say there wasn't a lot of chit chat when we got back to the hotel. We were both looking into a peaceful night and sleeping in. That's when we rediscovered that our flight left at 11:00 am from Winnipeg, so sleeping in would have to wait until a week day (for me at least)
Sure enough, we were up by 7:30, and on our way to make our way back to Calgary.
The price of the hotel = cheap
The price of the flight to Winnipeg = great deal
The price of the ticket package to Taylor Swift = expensive
The weekend with my Son = PRICELESS!
That made it all worth it.
No comments:
Post a Comment