Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Interrupt for some Fun, High Tide and L'Amour

Huh? But I'm already on vacation. At the beach. With the man I love.

A few weeks before we left, Craig informed me we would be taking a side trip from our lovely vacation home for one night. He said it would take a few hours to get there. So Sunday arrived, and he told me it might take a bit longer than 3 hours. I still didn't pack a lot of activities for the kids because I figured it wouldn't be that long.

We left the house at 9:15 am. We were still in the car at 3:15 pm. Suddenly his joke about going to Chicago didn't seem so funny. Nor his singing We're on the Road to Nowhere. At 3:50 pm we pulled into a nondescript hotel along a highway. When we got into the room he handed the kids an envelop with 5 sheets of paper.

They were tickets to the True Colors concert that night in a venue five miles from our hotel.

My husband drove all of us nearly 300 miles to attend a Gay-palooza organized by Cyndi Lauper and the HRC to raise awareness about the Matthew Shepard amendment being considered for the federal hate crimes bill in the Senate.

I'll admit, I moaned a bit when I realized the tour with Cyndi Lauper (remember my kids sing Cyndi?), Debbie Harry of Blondie (hello? the shirt!) and of course Erasure would be in our home town during our vacation. But I moaned at most a day and I worked hard to get over it. In fact, I almost forgot the concert was even happening. Almost.

So imagine my honey's surprise when I told him that if we were at home I had no intention of taking the kids to the concert. Not because of the music (my kids also got to hear Dresden Dolls and Rufus Wainwright) but because of the MC between the acts. Apparently he had never heard of Margaret Cho. But after her first 10 minute routine we heard with the kids, we started forcing bathroom breaks and food runs on them.

But I have to say that watching my sons sing to Erasure was a trip. Having my daughter in her Tide is High t-shirt and pink cowgirl hat befriend TJ and John next to us, was so much fun. She had them dancing with her. When they left she was so sad. "Oh, my little fag hag" said my husband as he comforted her.

And we were back on the beach by Monday afternoon.

11 comments:

Jenn in Holland said...

Holy Sidetrip Batman! That sounds like an absolute blast! What a man and what a memory for your kids. I am laughing as I think of your sweet daughter so sad to have her new friends go. And your honey's comment? Hysterical.
What a holiday you are having...

Alex Elliot said...

What a fantastic surprise!!!! I am so jealous. I have to admit that I turn off the music in my car when I go through the preschool drop-off line because my kiddos and I are always listening to my music and not kids music.

Flower Child said...

I was watching some news coverage about the tour (and that it included Erasure!)and thinking how I would love to go with you - and you went! I feel so happy - all is right with the world.

Stacey said...

Nice! I wanna do that too!

Anonymous said...

What a thoughtful thing for your husband to do & a fun experience!

cathouse teri said...

Okay, you guys are weird!
And where in the world does it take three hours to go 300 miles?

Am I missing seventy million pieces from that story? :)

Sho 'nuff! A night to remember!

Adventures In Waitressing said...

Huge surprise.. what a long drive.. but it sounds like it was worth it.. and like you had tons of fun!

Amanda said...

Gotta love a dad/husband who listens! Great story.

I am probably overlooking something, but I missed an email address for you. I think we are July blog exchange partners. Maybe we can touch base about it...
Amanda - briars_mama at yahoo dot com

Jenn in Holland said...

Ummm... I know you're on vacation and all, and you aren't coming round the blogosphere much because you are out enjoying surf and sun. But when you get a minute come look at this post. I have something for you! But only because you rock.
Happy Holidays! (Are you almost home yet?)

CableGirl said...

Hey there. Got to you via Jenn's suggestion. Had to see who she thought rocked.

Sounds like a great trip. Personally I like Margaret Cho, but i can totally see how she might be a little... age inappropriate. lol

hehe. I can't wait until my daughter is old enough to sing tunes I impose on her. She's already developed a decided preference (happy bounce with flapping arms) for ACDC and NIN. :D

a happier girl said...

Surprises are so awesome. Your husband sounds like a good guy.