Hi everyone,
The story of my recent adventure begins in my office in Beijing......
About 3 weeks ago I was sitting in my office thinking what I should do during the upcoming "Mid Autumn" festival (3 days holiday in China), when a little voice in the back of my head reminded me that Jerry Seinfeld was touring around the USA. What would the chances be that he would have a show during those 3 days? And would there still be tickets available? How about the flights? Surely they would be too expensive? And what would I wear? Perhaps I might get to meet him?
OK, maybe I was getting ahead of myself. First step, check where he was playing. I looked up his tour dates, and found he was playing a gig on Friday 20th September in a city called Peoria, just outside of Chicago. Tickets were sold out on Ticketmaster, but I tracked some down on a site called "Ticket Liquidators". A little bit more than face value, but acceptable. And they had seats available in the second row.
Next step, look at flights. Cheapest I could find was with American. Beijing - Tokyo - Chicago - Peoria , and return Peoria - Chicago - Beijing. Let's see.....close to 30 hours round trip for possibly a 90 minute show. Let's see what people think.
I posted on Facebook my plan and asked for comments. Should I stay or should I go? I sort of knew what friends would say, and 99.9% of people said "Do it!. So, I did it. Flights, accommodation and ticket booked within 30 minutes. I was off to America to see Jerry Seinfeld. For 3 nights! And 30 hours on a plane! Crazy?!
A quick summary of the trip from Beijing to Peoria, so you can see the pain I went through
1. Wednesday 18th, got up at 2:30am (was supposed to be 4:30am, but couldn't sleep). Got a taxi at 5:00am to the airport.
2. Beijing to Tokyo, arrived in Tokyo at 1pm. Next flight was at 6:05pm, so I flashed my Qantas Club card at the American Airlines lounge, and chilled for the next 5 hours.
3. Tokyo to Chicago, sat next to a chatty (and slightly drunk) American. His name was Kevin, and he lived in Thailand and was married to a Thai girl who he kept referring to as "my girl". Surely she has a name? Watched Monsters University and Star Trek (for the 5th time), and got a few hours sleep.
4. Arrived in Chicago at 4pm (Wednesday), and transferred to my flight to Peoria leaving at 6:00pm. Due to thunder storms, we sat on the plane for 90 minutes because of the lightening as they closed the ground operations. 5 minutes earlier, we would have been on our way.
5. Lightening finally stopped about 7:30pm, at which time we were told our flight had been cancelled and there were no more flights that night to Peoria. Oh-oh!
6. In a moment of sheer brilliance (or stupidity) decided to rent a car for the 130 mile trip to Peoria. By the time I got my bag back from the flight, walked around in a daze for about 30 minutes thinking what to do, then hired the car, it was about 9pm.
7. Drove to Peoria. Arrived at the hotel just before midnight.
Oh, and what was my first purchase when arriving in the USA? What else...
As you can see, it wasn't all smooth flying to get to my destination. But the thing that made it all worth while was waiting for me at the hotel reception....
Let the fun begin!
Woke on Thursday, and decided to explore downtown Peoria. I had the car for the rest of the day, so did some exploring. Let's just say that there is not a lot to see and do in Peoria (pop. 150,000). I drove around and admired the number of closed down businesses, and houses up for sale. In the downtown area (where I was staying), it felt like it was a holiday. I don't think I saw more than about 10 people. After lunch, I took the car back to the airport and got a taxi back to the hotel. I asked the Taxi driver (Terry) what is there to do in Peoria. "Well, Peoria is the home of the Caterpillar head office, and visitors centre (that should be center, I'm in the US after all). You can go and check out the massive trucks and bulldozers they make".
OK, why not!?
Like all of Peoria, things were quiet at the Caterpillar visitors center. I was the only one there. But, I have to say I was impressed. The center has only been open for 12 months, so things were all shiny and new.
Plus they had lots of simulators, so I could practice my dozer work on a computer simulation. The visit to the Caterpillar HQ filled in 2 hours.
Back at the hotel, I decided to do some homework on where I should eat dinner. After a whole 5 minutes of research (remember, not a big city), I found "Joe's Crab Shack". Great! Dinner is sorted. A quick nap (I had only slept about 6 hours in the last 2 days), I hit the road to find Joe's Crab Shack.
Peoria is built on lake, and Joe's over looked the water. It was a clear night, and it seemed that most of the Peoria population were at Joe's. After being seated by my "server" James, he quickly explained all about the choices. Everything at Joe's seemed to come served in buckets. If you ever wondered why some American's are so big, there is your answer. Their food is served in buckets.
"OK James, I will have the shrimp (served in a bucket), the rum punch drink (served in the glass equivalent of a bucket), and let's see...Ah yes, I will have the bucket of crab".
Now James was very clever, he picked straight away that I was Australian. "You sure you wouldn't like a Fosters instead?". If there is one thing you should never ask an Australian, that's "would you like a Fosters?". There is a misconception all around the world that because Fosters is promoted as an Aussie beer, we must enjoy drinking it! Wrong! I then had to explain to James that even though it's an Aussie beer, we don't drink it because it tastes "like piss". James will never make that mistake again.
A quick selection of photos from my night at Joe's Crab Shack.
Left: The menu, showing buckets of everything
Right: The bib that I was given (James wrote "I come from a land down under" on it)
Left: My bucket of steamed crab served with garlic and butter (along with potatoes and corn). Have to admit, it was bloody delicious!
Right: Joe's Crab Shack
Below: View from my table across the lake
Not sure how many people the Civic Center holds, but it was full (apart from seats next to me). And I was in the second row! Gold Jerry! Jerry was supported by another comedian, Larry Miller. He actually appeared in an episode of Seinfeld (he played "The Doorman"). I think the hardest job in the world must be supporting someone like Seinfeld, but he did a great job. 30 minutes into his set, he said goodbye, and it was time for Jerry.
Left: My bucket of steamed crab served with garlic and butter (along with potatoes and corn). Have to admit, it was bloody delicious!
Right: Joe's Crab Shack
Below: View from my table across the lake
After a walk around Peoria to find a bar (let's just say I didn't like the look of some of the bars), decided to head back to the hotel. Friday rolled around, and hit the streets again. Surely there is something more entertaining to do in Peoria than visit the Caterpillar Center.
Apparently not. I got the feeling that Peoria is one of those cities that has been hit hard by the economic crisis. Any shops that I went in (the ones that were still open) seemed surprised to see me. The whole city felt rundown and on the brink of putting out the "closed for business" sign.
I managed to fill in the day, and finally it was show time. The Peoria Civic Center was a 5 minute walk from my hotel, so no need to rush. There was a little bar on the corner that was doing a "Jerry Seinfeld" special. Burger and Fries, plus a beer for $8. Who am I to say no to anything Seinfeld related (even though burgers, fries and beers have nothing to do with Seinfeld!)
Not sure how many people the Civic Center holds, but it was full (apart from seats next to me). And I was in the second row! Gold Jerry! Jerry was supported by another comedian, Larry Miller. He actually appeared in an episode of Seinfeld (he played "The Doorman"). I think the hardest job in the world must be supporting someone like Seinfeld, but he did a great job. 30 minutes into his set, he said goodbye, and it was time for Jerry.
No big fan fare, no big booming voice introducing him, he simply runs out on stage - and it was game on. Now, even though the tickets said "no photos", I did manage to snap a few. Not the best, but I think you can tell it's Jerry Seinfeld.
And he did not disappoint. 30 hours on a plane, a dent in the credit card, someone trying to offer me a Fosters and a ride on a Caterpillar tractor all made the next 80 minutes worthwhile. Yes, I was a little disappointed that he did not perform for longer, but you know the old showbiz saying - "leave them wanting more". It was gold baby!! 80 minutes of wall to wall laughs. That's what makes him one of the best. And even when he started talking about his wife, and the woman behind me yelled out "She's hot, and she puts vegetables in cookies", he did not miss a beat. (Apparently his wife has learned to bake vegetables into cookies, making them more healthy for kids etc. I know, very random thing to yell out).
We were out by 9pm, and I walked back to the hotel. I was planning to go and check out a live music bar I had seen the night before, but I met some people back at the hotel who told me Jerry was staying at the hotel. My hotel!! What? So instead of hitting the bar, I stood outside with 6 other people waiting for Jerry to come back....standing...waiting....for 2 hours. We were finally told by the manager that Jerry had indeed stayed at the hotel - the night before. But after the show, he took his private jet back to New York.
Bugger!
Saving grace was I did manage to get a photo with Larry Miller, "the doorman"
Saturday, and time to head back to China. In the taxi on the way to the airport, I was telling the taxi driver about my journey, and why I had come. He thought I was crazy, but he got it. He told me there was an article on the show in that mornings paper - so he gave me the paper. What a nice guy!
Was it worth it? Of course it was. Would I do it again? Yes. Am I going to stop asking myself questions, then answering them straight away? Maybe.
Sometimes life throws up these opportunities, and I have learned that you have to grab onto them, hold on tight, and enjoy the ride. Hey, that's how I ended up in China.
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