Travels to see Kasim

This is my online diary of my trips to see Kasim.
I'm really writing this diary for (a) myself and (b) my friends but I know that other people will hit it too so feel free to browse around! Just remember that this is the way that I choose to live part of my life - I don't make judgements on the way your live your life so kindly show me the same respect.

Click the envelope icon to have the posts sent to your e-mail account.

Monday, October 19, 2009

New York City to home

I got up at 4.30am today, had a quick shower and left by 5am. I filled up the car and drove to JFK Airport which was only about 15 minutes away. I returned my car and I had driven 2,703 miles!

I checked in quickly enough and was delighted that I could go through the fast lane at Security as I have an American Airlines gold card! We boarded at about 8am ad had an identical breakfast and snack on the 8.25am flight as we used to back in 2006! Unfortunately the films were the same as when I came over too so I just read.

There were strong winds so we landed 30 minutes early. There was the longest queue for immigration that I’ve seen but at least it meant that my bag was waiting for me! I rang the car park company and they arrived within about 10 minutes so I collected my car and was home by about 10.10pm.

And that was my first visit to the US to see the Kasim Sulton Band! 10 days, 5 gigs, 8 hotels, 2,703 miles driven and some brilliant memories!

And it’s only another 32 days until their next gig!

(Updates on Sue's life continue on Twitter here!)

Sunday, October 18, 2009

I got up at 6.30am (no surprise!) and left at 7.15am and it was still dark. Soon after I set out I went past a lake that had mist rising from it: The drive from Cleveland, Ohio to the East Coast was supposed to take about 8 hours but thankfully it passed quite quickly. (It was about 475 miles.) My SatNav said that I was due to arrive at my hotel at about 3pm so I stopped for about 20 minutes somewhere in Pennsylvania for lunch at a Wendy’s. At one point I went past a sign that said it was the highest point on the I-80 east of the Mississippi and there was snow on the ground there.









I was going fine until I hit New York City. In retrospect if I’d know I was going through the city, I would have taken another route around it as there was a delay going through the Lincoln Tunnel and then the police were stopping us easily accessing 34th Street to go through the Midtown Tunnel so that delayed me quite a bit. When I did get through there was another jam out on one of the parkways.

















I got to where my hotel was supposed to be at about 4pm but it wasn’t there! I rang the hotel and he said that maybe I was in Queens and they were in Queens Village so I drove to the other street of the same name (about 20 minutes away) and the hotel wasn’t there either! I rang again and was told a road name that crossed it so I drove there and rang again to ask for directions. He told me to stay on that road for 3 miles before it intersected the road that I wanted. Eventually I found the hotel and it turned out that I was on the correct road originally but Expedia had the address as 220-16 so I put 220 into my SatNav and they were actually at 22016!















As it was 5pm by now and I wanted to leave at 5.30pm (the gig started at 7pm tonight) I just had a cup of tea and another one of Rebecca’s pastries and got changed. Thankfully the traffic was busy but steady on Long Island and I easily found the venue to get there by 6.30pm so I sat in the car and took some deep breaths for a few minutes! It was a lovely venue and I had a great seat right in front of Todd in the second row. It was raised seating so my eye line was about level with his groin! I’ve been to about 10 Todd Rundgren Arena gigs and this was easily my favourite. (There’ll be a full review on KasimInfo.com soon.) The gig finished at 9pm and I managed to get back to my room by 10pm. I had a cup of tae and watched something on the iPlayer and got to sleep by 11pm as I felt shattered.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Chicago to Cleveland


I woke up at 6.30am and left at exactly 8am. There was some confusion about where I was supposed to pick up Kasim’s suit as the person I was trying to ring on the way couldn’t accept an international call on her cell and then they were waiting at a different entrance at the hotel! Eventually it was all sorted and it only delayed me for about 20 minutes.

The traffic through Chicago was quite light (it is Saturday!) but heavy due to construction on the Indiana Toll Road and up until the South Bends exit. It was supposed to be about a six and a half hour journey but for some reason it seemed to pass quite quickly for me, although hearing my SatNav say “stay on the I80 for 338 miles” wasn’t good!

I stopped once for the loo, petrol and to moisturise(!) and managed to keep around 75 for most of the journey. Rebecca had kindly given me a lovely goodie bag last night which included some flaked pastry scone things so, rather than stopping for lunch, I ate a couple of those on the way.

I reached Cleveland at about 3.30pm (I’m back on Eastern time now so I lost an hour) and checked in quickly. Our hotel is out by the airport (as that’s easier for Kathy) and is a nice Days Inn but, once again, I can’t send e-mail from my KI account from here (like I couldn’t at the Hilton in Chicago). I could probably play around with the settings but I’m only here for one night. I thought my room smelt of cats but Kathy reckoned that it was bug-spray – lovely!

Kathy arrived at about 4pm as she had a flat tyre on the way so we chatted for about an hour and then separated to get changed. We left at 6.50pm but the junction we wanted to come off the freeway was closed so we took the next one. I then missed one turning and then my SatNav tried to take us some weird route into Cleveland via some steel mills! It wanted us then to go down a road that was closed for repairs so we turned back and got to Kasim’s hotel about 15 minutes late but handed over his jacket okay.

We picked up Raquel and got to Wilbert’s by 7.45pm. Unfortunately the table I had reserved was right at the back which I was not too happy about as I had been one of the first to book. Thankfully Raquel had reserved a table too so we sat there but my camera still struggled to take many decent photos. The dinner was adequate rather than wonderful and the waitress got two items wrong on my order but at least she attempted to correct it.

The opening act was dreadful! He was so bad that I chose that time to wander off to the loo and found Kasim standing near there as that was where his dressing room (otherwise known as the office!) was. I chatted to him for probably 10 or 15 minutes and during that time he probably knew by name 80% of the people who walked by to use the loos!

The Kasim Sulton Band’s set was great but unfortunately the reaction wasn’t that great, probably due to the table arrangement and the fact that people had just eaten. It was still good to see them though and I really wish that tomorrow night’s gig was another KSB gig rather than a Todd Rundgren one!

Unfortunately one of our party wanted to leave soon after their set so I didn’t get a chance to talk to Kasim there about his gig, although I did speak to both Mike and Mark (and Tad earlier).

I dropped off Raquel at her hotel and then drove Kathy back to ours, had a cup of tea and got to bed at 1am as it’s another long day tomorrow.

Friday, October 16, 2009

The Kasim Sulton Band in Chicago



I left at 3.45pm for the 45 minute drive into Chicago but, even though I came off the freeway as it was solid, it still took me an hour and a half to get there! I calculated that this is my 15th visit to Chicago but I’ve never known the traffic as bad as this before. Rebecca was late too and got there just after me. I had dinner with Rebecca, her daughter and two of her friends at an Irish pub / restaurant that also had a lot of Scottish things in there! It was a lovely meal but massive so most of us only ate half.

There was then construction on the way to The Abbey Pub so we didn’t get there until just about 7pm which is when we believed that Kasim’s set was starting. However outside there was a queue as the doors (which were supposed to have opened at 6.30pm) were not open yet. Kasim has played here about 8 times over the years and this was his largest crowd so that was great to see (there were even people having to stand at the back!) but it did mean that we had to sit upstairs so it wasn’t a great view. I also experimented with my camera while the opening act were on and changed the setting so that it made the photos lighter and it worked! I went on the percentages game and shot lots more pictures than I normally would as with that zoom everything has to be totally static but I got a couple of good shots.

I’ll add a full review to KasimInfo.com later but this was the Kasim Sulton Band’s best gig yet! Kasim seemed far more focus (didn’t chat to the audience as much as he did in Dayton) and he said himself that he had been rehearsing his lead guitar parts and it really showed! For Do You Want To Dance loads of people stood and danced at the front of the stage which was brilliant to see!

Afterwards we went downstairs and there were loads of people I knew (and some I was introduced to for the first time) which was nice so I didn’t leave there until about 11.15pm. On my way back to the hotel, I received a phone call to say that Kasim had left his suit at the venue so could I pick it up on my way through Chicago tomorrow! When I got back to my hotel I arranged to meet the person who has the suit at a freeway entrance tomorrow morning.

I got to sleep at about 1.45am.

A morning in Chicago

I didn’t set the alarm today but I still woke up at about 6.30am. It’s really lovely and peaceful here. I was booked on a two hour walking tour of Chicago but I decided not to go as I have a lot that I want to do today and it’s raining and not much above freezing at the moment, plus all the morning rush-hour traffic to get into Chicago doesn’t appeal to me.

Instead I stayed in my room and did some bits online. The company publishing my book has said that it’s now being printed and then they just have to laminate and trim it so I wanted to get the website ready to sell it. It’s 340 pages in length but I should be able to still sell it for under £10 which hopefully will maximise sales as I’m selling it to raise money for a cancer research charity. I also had a phone call from Rebecca who I’m meeting for the first time tonight at dinner (we’ve been e-mailing since about March) and she sounds really nice.

Later in the morning I went out to a couple of shops I wanted to visit and then had lunch at a Panda Express as I know they do Orange Chicken (which I love). While I was in the car my Swedish friend rang to say that he was in London this weekend and could we meet up. I explained that I was in Chicago but he leaves London on Monday evening which is when I get home!

I got back to my room at about 2pm and am getting some webpages ready on KasimInfo.com as the next few days are going to be quite hectic but seeing Kasim on stage 3 times in 3 days sounds good to me!

Labels:

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Dayton to Chicago

I woke at 6.30am (as usual!) and met Kathy for breakfast at 8.30am after I had checked out. As it was so local we walked across to Bob Evans and I had a very similar breakfast to the omelette that I usually have at Denny’s. We had a good old natter and then I left at about 10am to head north west towards Chicago.

It was supposed to be a 5.5 hour journey so I planned to stop in Indianapolis after about two hours to visit the Morris-Butler House but after I’d driven for about an hour I saw a sign to the Wilbur Wright Birthplace so decided to break up my journey there instead. It was a bit out of the way as it was 7 miles off the freeway but was fascinating. I watched a film first and then had one of the volunteers as a personal guide as there were no other visitors there! Whereas Hawthorn House was more about Orville and his life after flying, this was about all the Wright family and their actual historic flights.

Afterwards I wandered around the house itself by myself and that was a bit eerie as it’s all decked out as a house in the early 1900s that looks lived in and I was in there on my own. I was especially spooked when the staircase started creaking when I was upstairs!




I then set off again for Chicago and everything was going fine until I was about an hour outside the city when I hit bad, bad traffic! This was at about 4.00pm so I hadn’t expected to hit any. We just crawled for about an hour and then I realised that as this was Illinois I was now on CST time so in fact it was an hour earlier so the traffic jam had started at 3pm – don’t people in Chicago work a full day?!!!

In the end I was stuck in traffic for two and a half hours and at one point I had to make a diversion to a shopping mall as I was bursting for the loo. Eventually I got to my hotel (I’m staying in Hoffman Estates which is about 45 minutes north of Chicago) at about 6pm CST. I’m having some luxury for a couple of days as I’m staying at a Hilton (in fact it wasn’t much more than the Red Roof Inn in Dayton) and it’s a lovely hotel.



I had a nice Italian meal and then had a relaxing evening in my room (as the next few days will be really hectic). I had a long wallow in the bath and then watched some things on iPlayer and got to sleep at about 11pm.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Dayton

I got up at 6.30am and I left my hotel at 9am today and drove for only about 10 minutes to Carillon Park where I was due to meet the tour guide at 10am. As I was early I walked across to the bell tower (photo below) and then had a quick look around part of the Dayton museum – apparently the pull ring on cans was invented in this city!




There were only 9 of us on the tour and we were driven in a mini-bus to Hawthorn House which is the house where Orville Wright lived with his sister and father from 1914 until his death in 1948 (Wilbur Wright died soon after the house started being built). It was a lovely house and our guide was excellent and told us loads of interesting stories, like the fact that each brother had their own front door at opposite ends of the house but, as Wilbur never lived in the house, there is no path up to his door.



Orville's study:




The tour lasted about 2 hours and after they returned us to the park I had some lunch and went to the Sunwatch Indian Village nearby. It was a village for only about 20 years around the year 1000 but it’s been well excavated with lots of items on display plus there is a film about the village and then you go outside and they’ve reconstructed some of the huts.







I then drove to the Post Office to mail a card and returned to my room. Soon afterwards Kathy arrived so we chatted for about an hour.

After our ablutions, we met up again for an early dinner at 5.30pm. It’s kind of a tradition with us that we have Chinese before Kasim’s gigs so we drove to a nearby one which turned out to be a buffet (the first time I’ve been to one of those). I really love Orange Chicken, especially as it’s not a dish that we have in the UK, and thankfully they had that. It was a lovely meal and my fortune cookie told me that my “fastidious nature will soon start having more fun” – I can’t wait for that!


We then drove to the venue. As it was so busy in Reisterstown on Friday (which I didn’t expect) we wanted to get there early to ensure we got a good spot. However on the way there I started getting really bad stomach cramps so I dropped Kathy off at the venue and drove back to my hotel where I was quite badly ill for about half an hour. Thankfully the hotel was only about 8 miles from the venue so I had time to drive back and still arrive about 15 minutes before Kasim came on stage.


Unfortunately the gig wasn’t as well attended as I had hoped (I thought maybe 40 people but Kathy said over 50) and Kathy had opted for a table right at the front that we certainly would not have sat if I’d been with her when we arrived! However, we did have a good view (except I had to turn my head slightly to see Mark) and we shared the table with a lovely lady called Tina who last saw Kasim at a big Utopia arena gig in Dayton in 1978.


It was a good gig (my full review is at http://www.KasimInfo.co.uk/2009/10/14.html ) but I didn’t think it was as good as Reisterstown as the atmosphere wasn’t as great and Kasim had to work hard to get a response from the audience. I thought Kasim’s voice was better tonight in Reisterstown but he didn’t. I did get a kind of mention on stage again tonight (in Reisterstown Kasim said that TOST was for me) as someone said that they had come the furthest for this gig as they had from Cincinnati but Kasim said that someone had come a lot further but that he wouldn’t point her out as she’ll be embarrassed! Afterwards Kathy wanted to stay for a while but in retrospect, due to a couple of separate things that I won’t post here, I really wish we hadn’t as they spoilt the evening for me.


We got back to our hotel by midnight and I got to bed at about 1.30am.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Somerset, PA to Dayton, OH via Wheeling, WV

I got up at 6.30am and I left my hotel at 9.15am to continue my drive towards Dayton, Ohio. I had an easier day today as it was only just over a 5 hour drive. I broke that up too as I stopped after about two hours in Wheeling, West Virginia as I wanted to visit Independence Hall. When I got to the centre of the city, it was another city that seemed quite quiet and the hall appeared to be locked up so I was concerned that it too was closed!




Thankfully there was a sign to say that the temporary entrance was around the back. Other than the curator, I was the only person in there although he did say that sometimes they can have 180 visitors in a day. First of all I watched an 18 minute film about the building and all the history. It’s the former Custom House that then became a courtroom (on the third floor) and is the actual room where it was decided to form the 35th state – West Virginia. It was really bizarre being in that actual room totally by myself where history was made in 1861.

The room where hitory was made:


I set off again at about noon and about an hour later stopped for a sandwich somewhere on the road. Next door to where I ate was a McDonald’s and I laughed when my SatNav told me that we were in Mickey Road! (I’ve also discovered that when an exit sign says something like 41A-B my SatNav reads it as "41A minus B!")



I then drove the remainder of the way to Dayton and it seemed an easy journey as the traffic was light. Before I found my hotel, I went into downtown Dayton and (easily!) found The Canal Street Tavern where The Kasim Sulton Band are playing tomorrow and took a photo of the outside of the building. I got to my hotel at about 5pm. For the first time ever I’m staying at a Red Roof Inn. They are one of the cheaper hotel / motel chains and I thought it was going to be a bit of a dive but I was pleasantly surprised as it’s clean and is a larger room than I’ve had at other places on this trip. My first room didn’t have a strong wireless signal so I changed rooms. There’s a Bob Evans on site so I went there for dinner. This is a restaurant chain that I haven’t been in before either and it was cheap but filing.



I got back to my room at about 7pm and did some website stuff and then actually watched a couple of the programmes I had saved on the iPlayer before I left the UK.

Labels: , , , , ,

Monday, October 12, 2009

Pine Brook, NJ to Somerset, PA via Harrisburg

My alarm was set for 6.30am but for some reason I woke at 6am so I got up and did a few bits online (as well as my KasimInfo.com website, I’m in the process of setting up a website to sell a book I’ve just written as it will be published soon after I get back from the US).

I left my hotel at 9.15am and started my drive towards Dayton, Ohio. As it’s about 10 hours I decided to split the journey over two days and also to split that journey into parts too so that I can visit some places on the way as during most of my other trips to US, I’ve just driven from place to place.

Today I opted to stop in Pennsylvania’s capital Harrisburg and join the tour of their government building. Just outside Harrisburg I stopped at a McDonald’s in a truck stop for some lunch and spotted this mobile chapel:


I arrived in Harrisburg at about 1pm and there wasn’t much traffic around but I wasn’t sure if it was just a quiet city or not. I’ve only been here once before which was in 2000 when Kasim played on the Todd Rundgren Power Trio Tour and it was quiet that evening in the city too as it was a Sunday. I easily found somewhere to park and the guy there said that he was just leaving and I could park for free which was a result!

I wandered up to the main building but couldn’t find my way in! I did find one door for visitors but it was locked. Eventually I managed to find a policeman and he said that it is Columbus Day today and everywhere is shut! Instead I wandered around the building and went back to my car! At least it gave me a break from my drive.

I did find this lovely fountain. I wasn’t sure if it always ran red or if it was because it was Columbus Day or whether there was a dead body in it!






I had the shorter part of the drive this afternoon (about 2.5 hours) but it was also the most boring part as it was along the Pennsylvania Turnpike which I’ve driven along so many times. There was some dramatic scenery but it’s just a long two track road (although it does go through 3 long tunnels).

Tonight I’m staying in Somerset, PA at a hotel that is about 400 yards from the turnpike entrance. The hotel is a Days Inn and it’s a motel style one but it’s perfectly clean and the staff here are very friendly plus, most importantly, the wireless Internet access is free and a strong signal so I’m happy!

I had a drive around the town (which didn’t take long!) and had dinner at a Ruby Tuesday but IMHO opinion their menu isn’t as good as it was when I last visited one a few months ago. I then came back to my room and watched some US TV for the first time since I’ve been here. However I found it rather frustrating due to all the commercial breaks (there were 8 in one hour – yes, I counted!). I’m somebody who always records programmes on commercial stations at home so that I can fast-forward through the adverts!

I then logged on for an hour or so and a friend rang me at about 11pm and we chatted for quite a while. When I got off the phone I was surprised to discover that it was past 1am so I got to sleep at about 1.30am.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Hamlet with American accents!

As I’m not in too much of a rush today, I didn’t get up until 7am and then did some things online until about 9am when I checked out of my hotel.

My room was the bottom right of this photo – I think the person next door is here for a long stay, hence the plants!


My kitchen:



On the way I stopped at a scenic outlook that wasn't at all scenic but I did take this photo. Along the roadside in the US they tell you which hotels and food places there are at each exit which I think is a great idea:



It was about a two hour drive up to Madison, NJ and the traffic was quite light as it’s a Sunday. I found the theatre easily enough as my SatNav put me right outside. It’s part of a university campus. I then had a snack at a Friendly’s and got back to the theatre by 1.30pm.

Most of my friends know that Hamlet is my favourite play so I like to see as many productions of it as I can as the way the story is told varies so much from production to production – I’ve never seen it told the same way twice! This was my first time of seeing it in the US (I’ve seen 6 or 7 times productions so far this year in the UK) so I was interested to see if they would use Received Pronunciation or American accents. They opted for the latter but all except Ophelia didn’t have strong accents. This was a production by the New Jersey Shakespeare Company and was well produced but I wasn’t overly impressed with the guy who played Hamlet. Normally that would have been a problem but Robert Cuccioli who played Claudius was excellent in his role and carried the play totally.

Unfortunately it was bitterly cold in there as the air conditioning was way too strong! During the interval I went out to my car and collected my coat (as did other people) but I was still a bit chilly with that on! The poor guy next to me was only wearing a shirt and I could feel him shivering next to me! As he had sandals on with no socks, his friend lent him his shoes to get him slightly warmer. The mother of one of the actors was in the front row and she could obviously see from stage that she was cold so during the interval the actor sent out a cardigan for her mother!

The play lasted almost three and a half hours (including the 15 minute interval) so we got out at about 5.30pm. I was staying only about 20 minutes away and I easily found the hotel. Again, as I am only staying for one night, I opted for a cheap hotel and it was decent enough and the wireless Internet connection was good. I seem to be on a horticultural tour of the US as so far I've stayed in Laurel, MD, Maple Shade, NJ and tonight it's Pine Brook, NJ!

After a cup of tea I went out for dinner and ended up at an Applebee’s again as that was the only decent place nearby. Unfortunately they had a different menu to last night’s place and there wasn’t as good a choice.

I got back to my room by about 9pm and completed my review of Kasim’s gig, plus uploaded all my Washington photos.

I got to sleep at about 1am and it’s another peaceful hotel!

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Washington, DC

I woke up at my usual time of 6.30am and left at 8am. I drove to Washington, DC (Laurel is about three quarters of an hour from it) and managed to find somewhere (free as the meters aren’t in use on a Saturday!) to park near the centre. I made my way to the Capitol (yes, they spell it like that!) Building in time for the 10am tour that I was booked on. The only other time I’ve been a tourist in Washington was in 1994 which was during my first visit to the US. Then you could wander all over the building as I remember looking at the kitchens and even the boiler room but, of course, it’s all different now. First of all we watched about a 15 minute long film about the history of the building and US government and then we went around as a group. We all wore headsets so we could hear our guide fine but we only really saw about three rooms which were the Rotunda, the old government room and the crypt.



The Rotunda:

Part of the freize around the Rotunda:













Washington has crossings that count down the number of seonds until the lights turn red again:


I got out at about 11.15am and asked a guide where the statue of Abraham Lincoln was that I saw in 1994 and was told that it was 2.2 miles down the road near the river. I don’t remember it being that far away in 1994! On the way I decided to stop off at the Air and Space section of the Smithsonian which was really interesting. My interest is mainly space exploration and I was especially pleased to see that Alan Shepherd (my friends will know why!) was mentioned several times including a book that he had used on his flight and signed. There was a café in there too so I had some lunch and then wandered down Constitution Avenue some more.

The capsule from Apollo 11:




The next item was the Washington Monument which is basically a Cleopatra’s Needle but much, much bigger. They also do tours to go inside it but I hadn’t booked one (next time!).




I next came across a massive monument to the Second World War that I had absolutely no recollection of seeing in 1994! This worried me as I have pretty good recall so I asked the ranger there and it was only built in 2004 which explained it! Today there were about 100 veterans visiting it and holding a brief ceremony. They have pillars with the names of all the states and on either end areas about the battles in both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. I did have to get used to the fact that they believed that the war didn’t start until 1941!











I the walked down to the Abraham Lincoln monument and it was actually smaller than I remembered it from 1994! It’s very impressive though and was really peaceful even though there were loads of tourists there.













I next walked past the Vietnam War memorial and decided to make my way back via The White House. Obviously nowadays you can’t get very close to it but I took a few photos from the fence. I then walked back to my car and was absolutely shattered as it was 4pm by then and I’d been walking since 9.15am!

The Vietnam War memorial wall:

This photo gives an indication of how many names are on it:

The White House:



Washington, DC to Maple Shade, NJ was supposed to be two and a half hours but I stopped for some petrol and at a chemist to stock up on my favourite brand of US shampoo so I got there at about 7pm but then I just could not find my hotel! Eventually I asked at another hotel and my SatNav had taken me to exactly the correct address but the hotel was back off the main road and was difficult to see! I finally checked in at about 8pm. I just dropped off my case and left again to go out to dinner as I was ravenous by this time. Before I left home I had put the nearest restaurants that I like onto my schedule so tonight it was an Applebee’s and I had a gorgeous chicken pasta dish.

I got back to my room by 9.30pm and started writing my review of yesterday’s gig. My hotel is an Extended Stay America which is a chain that I haven’t used before. It’s okay but nothing special (except for the price) but I’m staying in better hotels when I’m there for 2 nights. This is the only hotel on my trip which doesn’t have complimentary Internet access but $5 for access isn’t too bad. Unfortunately though for some reason it won’t allow me to update my website!

I got to bed at about 11.30pm and thankfully it’s lovely and peaceful here.

(I won't usually take as many photos as this!)