My 1st ever Rock Ribs & Ridges at The Sussex County Fairgrounds happened this weekend! This was definitely an Epic Weekend In Pictures we won't be forgetting anytime soon. Although I faded by Sunday late afternoon, we made so many memories count. Weekends without Awesome Girlfriend Megan are always tough. Fortunately I'm lucky to have amazing friends who can help cheer me up when she's not here. Friday was a fun day. I learned that I would be able to attend my first ever Rock Ribs And Ridges concert. Presented by my friends at Franklin Sussex AutoMall, this promised to be a wonderful time.
Friday night, I had fun with some of my besties at our Campus Moonshine Tiki Bar. Great times had by all for sure. Tiki bar, with a nearby pool on a warm summer night? I'll take that deal all day long!
Saturday morning I did some basic errands like grocery shopping. After leaving Shop Rite Of Sparta, I was craving some Dunkin Donuts cold brew. Their new location on 15 looks beautiful. I tried going there. They were closed and coned off, I couldn't even enter their parking lot. As I'm on 15 slightly frustrated, I figure time to change plans and just keep going north on 15. My new target destination? Marshall's! I got some good deals there for sure. I was totally guilty of being bored in line, and falling for the impulse buy of chocolate caramel pecan snacks. I told the cashier my goodness TJ and Marshall's are so brilliant by putting delicious looking things that you have to look at while you're bored in line. The chocolate caramel pecan snacks were delicious by the way.
Saturday afternoon, LET'S GO! I was able to take my friends JG, Brad, and Rock Riley to Rock Ribs And Ridges. The weather was cloudy with some scattered showers as we were leaving, but the forecast overall looked just cloudy. We'll take that! It was so fun to take my friends to The Sussex County Fairgrounds. Some of them haven't been to The Fairgrounds in decades. For me I'm so used to going to The Fairgrounds so many times throughout the year between various events and the week of The Fair I basically live there.
The minute we walked into the Fairgrounds we knew it was going to be a fun time. Everyone was smiling as far as the eye could see, it did honestly feel wonderful to hear live music in person again. Saturday we arrived just in time to catch The Weight Band, Pat Travers Band, and Blackberry Smoke. They were all terrific performers and fantastic. You could tell they were so happy to be performing live music with a live audience for their first time in so long. Everyone was so happy to be there. Then I of course had to enjoy some ribs. I made the mistake of waiting too long, most go to vendors had sold out of brisket by night time. I'll try to score brisket much earlier in the day next year for sure! The ribs from Ribbons were fantastic though! It was a great reminder of why I'm only allowed to eat meat on the bone when Meg isn't around, because I wear it. Every. Single. Time. LOL.
We had so much fun running into friends at the show too. Great day all around.
Sunday was a little more low key. I was able to meet up with Meg in Sparta at White Lake Field. We always love going for walks there, everything is so beautiful and it's almost like a fancy looking track. We then ventured out to Mohawk House in Sparta, where I took Meg on our first ever date five years ago. Our bartender buddy Paige was working, and we were psyched. Paige always can help give us guidance leading us to IPA's that both Meg and I enjoy. Paige's boyfriend Justin is also the one who does all of the piercings on the future Stepdaughters. When I met her years ago I said "Paige nice to meet you, hi, you don't know me but I know you, long story short your boyfriend Justin does all of the piercings for my girlfriend's daughters." She immediately cracked up and said "believe it or not I'm totally picking up what you're putting down, I get it." LOL
I then got called into work and had to fix some things at the radio station. Not a huge deal, the problems were fixable on my way home from Mohawk House and only took me 30-40 minutes to fix. All good.
Then after that, I figured it would be a good idea to relax with a couple of stogeys on my deck. It was great. I got a nice phone call from my Aunty Donna and family back in New England, they were celebrating Father's Day, June birthdays within our family, etc. It was great to hear my family. Love and miss them all so much. Hopefully I can find a way to get back up there next month.
I was in bed by 5 or 6, just wiped out from the weekend. All good. We had tons of fun and made many, many memories. Live music is back in our worlds, and I didn't honestly realize how much I missed concerts until this weekend. I've been in radio for 18 years, loved going to concerts before then. It's one of those situations where very rarely does someone do something at a concert that I haven't already seen. I've been to hundreds, so after awhile it's kind of that been there done that feeling.
That being said, we had a great freakin time at Rock Ribs & Ridges. Time to start planning next weekend. One of my besties from New England will be visiting me, Benvie, and I'm taking him and Meg to see Everclear in Middletown, NY. Let's go!