Stone Pony Picnic
Day 1
Double Don Day
Day 2
Thank You Willie
Day 3
A Slower and Shorter Day
Day 4
Parade in the Park
Day 5
Let's Do the Twist
Day 6
Nitro to Nitro
It was a well balanced final day with beer on the ends and a 'burger in the middle.
June 8, 2015 (day 5)
I breakfasted at a familiar spot then risked being charged with dough
abuse in a small Pennsylvania town.
June 7, 2015 (day 4)
I whiled away the morning by the beach then took in the big parade before
leaving town.
June 6, 2015 (day 3)
I got up a little later and went to bed a little earlier. The weather was
a lot nicer and the boardwalk a lot busier.
June 5, 2015 (day 2)
The ghosts of Asbury Park, the energy and talent of Willie Nile, and the
spirit of the Stone Pony make a powerful combination.
June 4, 2015 (day 1)
It was to be just a travel day but it ended with a live musical
performance I've missed out on in the past.
Prelude - May 29, 2015
I know I have a reputation for taking the long way 'round to get somewhere
or for driving distances far beyond the commonly accepted worth of the
destination. Sometimes I halfheartedly attempt a justification by
combining two 50 mile worthy targets into a 100 mile (or more) trip.
Since I only have to justify my trips to me, it's not really necessary and
I don't even know if anyone is buying it but here I go again. In fact,
it's a halfway repeat of sorts.
I belatedly saw Willie Nile in concert for the first time in February of last year. I became an instant and somewhat passionate fan and have seen him an additional three times in the intervening sixteen months. One of those was back at the same nearby club where I saw that first performance in 2014. One was in not-too-far-away Columbus, Ohio, and the third was in couple-hundred-miles-away Ann Arbor, Michigan. I publicly justified that one by combining it with a visit to a potato chip factory. This time I am driving just a little farther (about 600 miles) to see Willie but I'm combining it with something even better than a potato chip factory. Willie is marking his thirty-five years as a performer with a show at the Stone Pony. This is the legendary club in Asbury Park, New Jersey, that is firmly connected to Bruce Springsteen's early years. It is to Bruce what the Cavern Club is to the Beatles.
The Willie Nile concert is Friday, June 5, and I have my ticket. I also have a motel booked for then and the next night, too. There is a popular Springsteen tribute band, "Tramps Like Us", at the Stone Pony on Saturday. I haven't bought a ticket for that (Ticketmaster be damned) but will go if I can and I hope to hang around the motel long enough to watch the Jersey Pride parade on Sunday. If the "Tramps" show is sold out before I get there, maybe I'll just spend the night riding "that tilt-a-whirl down on the south beach drag".