alright, better late than never, i will try again with my "long ass journal entry" from my trip to my sister's and the NHL draft in Raleigh/Durham, NC...
Thursday June 24...
finished up some last minute packing, and then my parents showed up to take me to the airport. as usual they got on my nerves about stupid little shit, but i wont go into that.
the flight didnt start out so great, we sat on the ground for about 30 minutes cuz the bagage was late getting loaded. finally we were on our way and it was pretty smooth. this was only the 3rd time i had ever been on plane and the first time by myself. i had a window seat and it was pretty clear until the end of the flight, so that was cool. only real problem was that i was in the 4th from the last row and sat right by an engine and it was kinda loud.
so we landed, i found my sister at the bagage claim, got my bag and we were out. got to my sisters apartment, kinda got settled in and then we left to go to a baseball game. we saw Team USA play Team Canada at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. the Bulls were on the road and Team USA uses their stadium. also, 8 of the top prospects for the NHL draft were there and got to take batting practice and throw out the first pitch, so that was pretty cool. they could all hit pretty good, even the two Russians who claimed they had never played baseball before. the game was good, but slow, there was no score thru 6 innings and it was just dragging on. in the end USA beat Canada 9-0 and 5 US pitchers had a combined no-hitter, the first in USA Baseball history since 1984.
Friday June 25th...
my sister had to work, so i just hung out and watched tv. then around 1 my aunt uncle and cousins from Richmond, VA drove down to visit (i think its like a 3 hour drive) we went to lunch and then found a park so we could play basketball. my cousins are 12 and 9 and they really wanted to play. so we found a park, the rim was only about 8 feet high so i could stand there and dunk, always fun. after that we went back to my sisters and she was just getting home from work, we hung out for a bit, i wrestled with my cousins and then we went to dinner at an all you can eat pizza place. then they left for home and my sister and i watched The Great White Hype, cuz she hadnt seen it before.
Saturday June 26th....
Draft Day!!!! we left kinda early to get to the RBC center, home of the Carolina Hurricanes, for the draft. they were supposed to have a new and used equipment sale before the draft started. well that was just the biggest cluster fuck ever, i wont really go into the details of it all, but long story short, i bought a hockey stick. only problem is, i didnt try to take it back with me on the plane and now i have to wait about a month for it. my sister is moving to Philadelphia at the end of this month and my mom is helping her move and then driving her car back here (no place for it there) and she is bringing my stick with her.
the draft itself was cool, i love watching the draft no matter what the sport. i got to see the University of Michigan's goalie, Al Montoya, get drafted. he was the top rated goalie from North America and he went 6th overall in the first round to the New York Rangers. i'm not a big rangers fan, but they do have two other Michigan players in their system, so i guess it couldve been worse. i also saw Michigan's assistant coach there, i had a Michigan jersey on and he saw it and smiled and said "nice shirt". i said "thanks coach". oh, also before the draft started we were walking around the concourse and there tables set up of people selling hockey cards and stuff. one table had these two hot girls with a camera and i guess you could get your pic taken and put on a hockey card. so as i was standing near the table, one of the girls says "Leafs fan eh?" (i had my Toronto Maple Leafs hat on) and i turned and said yeah. so i'm looking at this girl and i tell her she looks really familiar, the other girl is like "oh really?" like i'm making it up or coming up with a line or something. then she says "well she's a wrestler" and then it clicked, she was Tracy Brooks, from NWA TNA and i had seen at a couple of local indy wrestling shows around Detroit. she's super hot, comes to the ring in a school girl outfit and wears glasses, one of my favorites
so we talked wrestling for a little bit, very cool.
after the draft, my sister and i ate at Chik Fil A, we dont have those in Michigan, and i had seen them on tv like when the sponsor the Peach Bowl and stuff, so i wanted to go there. it was pretty good. when we got home we watched Miracle (keeping with the hockey theme of the day) i hadnt seen it before and it was a good movie.
Sunday June 27th...
we didnt have any plans that day and just hung out and watched tv, and later in the day we went to the mall. for dinner we went to Sonic. now this was a highlight for me, i'm weird. here in Detroit we dont have Sonic, but they show comercials for it on tv, usually on ESPN which is national i know, but they do show local spots too, so i dont get it. anyway, it always looks good on the comercial and i was pissed i couldnt go there. the closest one to me is in like Cincinnati, NOT close at all. so we went, and it was damn good. they have tater tots as well as fries, onion rings, and cheese sticks, i love it. i am a fast food addict.
we also went to the Duke campus on sunday night. thats where my sister works, at the Duke medical center. and while i am not at all a Duke fan, i wanted to see Cameron Indoor Stadium, where they play basketball, cuz it is famous. so we went, and i saw it, and their football stadium.
Monday June 28th...
packed up my stuff and went to the airport. i wasnt really hungry before we left, but as i was waiting for my flight, i was starving. i had forgotten to get to an ATM and only had $5 on me. i went to the A&W in the airport and they take credit, great, but the machine wasnt working. so here is my food, sitting on the counter, and i cant eat it cuz i cant pay for it. so i ask if they know where an ATM is, they send me off, in the opposite direction of my gate, and i cant find the damn thing. i duck into a gift shop and just try to buy a candy bar with my debit card so i can get cash back, and they tell me they cant do that.
by this time its like 20 minutes before my flight is gonna leave and i am at the whole other end of the terminal. granted its a small airport, but its probably at least a 10 minute walk. i made it back on time, but damn was a i hungry.
the flight back was fine, i got my luggage and my mom picked me up, perfect timing with that, no waiting around really.
all in all, a very fun trip. and if you were wondering if my sister had fun with all the sports related activites, she did. i am a huge sports fan, and since she grew up with me, she became one too, she didnt really have a choice.
but when she was in college she had season football, hockey and basketball tickets, too bad it was at michigan state, my least favorite college ever.
Thursday June 24...
finished up some last minute packing, and then my parents showed up to take me to the airport. as usual they got on my nerves about stupid little shit, but i wont go into that.
the flight didnt start out so great, we sat on the ground for about 30 minutes cuz the bagage was late getting loaded. finally we were on our way and it was pretty smooth. this was only the 3rd time i had ever been on plane and the first time by myself. i had a window seat and it was pretty clear until the end of the flight, so that was cool. only real problem was that i was in the 4th from the last row and sat right by an engine and it was kinda loud.
so we landed, i found my sister at the bagage claim, got my bag and we were out. got to my sisters apartment, kinda got settled in and then we left to go to a baseball game. we saw Team USA play Team Canada at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. the Bulls were on the road and Team USA uses their stadium. also, 8 of the top prospects for the NHL draft were there and got to take batting practice and throw out the first pitch, so that was pretty cool. they could all hit pretty good, even the two Russians who claimed they had never played baseball before. the game was good, but slow, there was no score thru 6 innings and it was just dragging on. in the end USA beat Canada 9-0 and 5 US pitchers had a combined no-hitter, the first in USA Baseball history since 1984.
Friday June 25th...
my sister had to work, so i just hung out and watched tv. then around 1 my aunt uncle and cousins from Richmond, VA drove down to visit (i think its like a 3 hour drive) we went to lunch and then found a park so we could play basketball. my cousins are 12 and 9 and they really wanted to play. so we found a park, the rim was only about 8 feet high so i could stand there and dunk, always fun. after that we went back to my sisters and she was just getting home from work, we hung out for a bit, i wrestled with my cousins and then we went to dinner at an all you can eat pizza place. then they left for home and my sister and i watched The Great White Hype, cuz she hadnt seen it before.
Saturday June 26th....
Draft Day!!!! we left kinda early to get to the RBC center, home of the Carolina Hurricanes, for the draft. they were supposed to have a new and used equipment sale before the draft started. well that was just the biggest cluster fuck ever, i wont really go into the details of it all, but long story short, i bought a hockey stick. only problem is, i didnt try to take it back with me on the plane and now i have to wait about a month for it. my sister is moving to Philadelphia at the end of this month and my mom is helping her move and then driving her car back here (no place for it there) and she is bringing my stick with her.
the draft itself was cool, i love watching the draft no matter what the sport. i got to see the University of Michigan's goalie, Al Montoya, get drafted. he was the top rated goalie from North America and he went 6th overall in the first round to the New York Rangers. i'm not a big rangers fan, but they do have two other Michigan players in their system, so i guess it couldve been worse. i also saw Michigan's assistant coach there, i had a Michigan jersey on and he saw it and smiled and said "nice shirt". i said "thanks coach". oh, also before the draft started we were walking around the concourse and there tables set up of people selling hockey cards and stuff. one table had these two hot girls with a camera and i guess you could get your pic taken and put on a hockey card. so as i was standing near the table, one of the girls says "Leafs fan eh?" (i had my Toronto Maple Leafs hat on) and i turned and said yeah. so i'm looking at this girl and i tell her she looks really familiar, the other girl is like "oh really?" like i'm making it up or coming up with a line or something. then she says "well she's a wrestler" and then it clicked, she was Tracy Brooks, from NWA TNA and i had seen at a couple of local indy wrestling shows around Detroit. she's super hot, comes to the ring in a school girl outfit and wears glasses, one of my favorites
so we talked wrestling for a little bit, very cool.
after the draft, my sister and i ate at Chik Fil A, we dont have those in Michigan, and i had seen them on tv like when the sponsor the Peach Bowl and stuff, so i wanted to go there. it was pretty good. when we got home we watched Miracle (keeping with the hockey theme of the day) i hadnt seen it before and it was a good movie.
Sunday June 27th...
we didnt have any plans that day and just hung out and watched tv, and later in the day we went to the mall. for dinner we went to Sonic. now this was a highlight for me, i'm weird. here in Detroit we dont have Sonic, but they show comercials for it on tv, usually on ESPN which is national i know, but they do show local spots too, so i dont get it. anyway, it always looks good on the comercial and i was pissed i couldnt go there. the closest one to me is in like Cincinnati, NOT close at all. so we went, and it was damn good. they have tater tots as well as fries, onion rings, and cheese sticks, i love it. i am a fast food addict.
we also went to the Duke campus on sunday night. thats where my sister works, at the Duke medical center. and while i am not at all a Duke fan, i wanted to see Cameron Indoor Stadium, where they play basketball, cuz it is famous. so we went, and i saw it, and their football stadium.
Monday June 28th...
packed up my stuff and went to the airport. i wasnt really hungry before we left, but as i was waiting for my flight, i was starving. i had forgotten to get to an ATM and only had $5 on me. i went to the A&W in the airport and they take credit, great, but the machine wasnt working. so here is my food, sitting on the counter, and i cant eat it cuz i cant pay for it. so i ask if they know where an ATM is, they send me off, in the opposite direction of my gate, and i cant find the damn thing. i duck into a gift shop and just try to buy a candy bar with my debit card so i can get cash back, and they tell me they cant do that.
by this time its like 20 minutes before my flight is gonna leave and i am at the whole other end of the terminal. granted its a small airport, but its probably at least a 10 minute walk. i made it back on time, but damn was a i hungry.
the flight back was fine, i got my luggage and my mom picked me up, perfect timing with that, no waiting around really.
all in all, a very fun trip. and if you were wondering if my sister had fun with all the sports related activites, she did. i am a huge sports fan, and since she grew up with me, she became one too, she didnt really have a choice.
but when she was in college she had season football, hockey and basketball tickets, too bad it was at michigan state, my least favorite college ever.
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[Edited on Jul 07, 2004 4:58PM]