Nothing Like Watching Your Idol Trip & Fall...

Sunday Night- April 20th
We all pile in Beth’s car to travel the 5 hours from Minnesota to Green Bay, Wisconsin.
We arrived to our room at about 5-5:30p and got all dolled up to meet the girls and see the Nelson Brother’s show.
We hit the lounge around 6-6:30p and met up with Hensch, Tracy, Barb and Connie. The Twins hit the stage around 7:30p. We all were excited and really got into the music etc. We recognized some “repeat offenders” from the last year (I’ll explain this later). Generally we all had a good time. A few of us hit the merch table and then out to the lobby for the usual meet and greet, only the Twins didn’t show. My group and a few others sat out in the lobby for 30-40 mins waiting until I realized that what we were waiting on wasn’t going to happen. Apparently one of them has a penchant for much younger girls that are a size 4 and under. He was too busy catering to his and her ego to bother with any of us. We figured, to hell with that, and we went on our merry way to Denny’s for some eats in our jammies and then hotubbing until about 3am.

Monday Night-April 21st
I wake up at 10am to the maid trying to get into our room. Scared the crap out of all of us. Shannon took off for a bit with Hensch and The Beth, Em and I all slowly got up and dressed to head on down to breakfast. Sure as shit hitting the fan there were the guys sitting diagonally from us having breakfast and a fairly heated phone conversation. We let them be and continued to have our breakfast. Apparently Bret Michaels was in town too and a few of the girls felt it necessary to get his autograph. I declined; afraid I might lose IQ points if I got too close. A few hours and drinks later the Twins hit the stage and rocked us out for 2 hours. Once the Bret Michaels show ended, all his “insecure and scantily dressed” fans came into the lounge and caused all sorts of havoc. I was verbally assaulted by some drunk guy and his friend who wanted to:
A- take pictures of my ass,
B-Wanted to buy me a drink,
C- Give me a kiss.
When I declined on all accounts he got pissed and pitched a huge fit which seemed to get Gunnar’s attention. We were all in line for the “Meet and Greet” when I hear one of the Twins getting a bit “bitchy” about how we have to get the line moving, hurrying up, and being picky about which one got to take pictures with whom. The Beth came up and indicated that she wasn’t going to get her pix with them if that was the attitude. I agreed and passed as well. Now I was getting pissed. In years past, the guys were more than accommodating. Saying hi to us in the halls and thanking us for coming etc. None of that so far. Not even a smile-what the f-uh?! Then it occurred to me, He’s bitchy due to one of two things. 1- All his liaisons were there wanting his attention. 2- He wanted to get laid. See the first night we were blown off because “Denny’s girl” the girl that was at Denny’s with him last year (she’s approx 21-22 years old and about a size 4), then “rake face” who was an ass to a few of my friends in Milwaukee last year, and whores herself out to get G-man’s attention had shown up, then lastly “Thing 1 and Thing 2” who (probably about 21-22 years old and size 4’s as well) who are little assholes as they rudely sat their butts in front of the oldsters at the casino and refused to move when asked by me and the oldster. Hmmm, I figure, whatever and the girls and I go about our night as usual. We went to Denny’s (again) celebrated what I thought was going to be The Beth’s birthday and to my surprise, mine too!! BOON!!! I was stunned to even be included!!!

After dinner we went back to the hotel to swim and hit the hot tub! When we hit the lobby of the hotel, who was there; Matt and G, with “rake face” waiting by the elevator. Apparently she asked a couple of the girls what we’d been up to. Why would she care? Grrrr.

We decided to hit the sheets at about 4am and around 4:15a Shan, The Beth, Em and I get a call from the other girls indicating she bumped into the “single” Twin coming onto the elevator with “Thing 2” and both looking all disheveled. I was surprised and pissed. See, none of us want to “hook up” with him. We enjoy the music, I’ve personally liked them since the beginning, most of us have. They both (one more than the other) claim they try to be “Christ-like” and don’t do that sort of thing. Time and time again it’s been talked and written about and to see this pisses me off. Nothing like catching your idol doing something they claim they’d never do-it’s disappointing at the very least. The part that pisses me off is the hypocrisy and the fact that they both blew off their fans “bread and butter” for a piece of ass. Niice. As with most insecure chicks who wanna get laid by musicians; they would wait until the cows came home to get with them. This instance is no different.

Tuesday-April 22nd
We all slowly got up, showered and changed. After hanging out for a bit me and a couple of the girls decided to workout. I change into my sweats, pull my hair back and wash up my face and wait for the elevator. The elevator door opens and who is in it? Gunnar, Matthew and JP. I get in-in between Matthew and JP. I instantly get pissed all over again. I look over and G-man is staring at me. I rub my blood shot eyes and stare right back. He realizes that he’s staring and proceeds to check his hair in the reflection in the picture across from JP and I before the elevator door opens and he charmingly asks me if I’d like to exit before them. I glare and say “yep, thanks” as I exit. I don’t even look back as I storm into the workout room muttering to myself about what an ass he is. None of them said hello or anything when I was in the elevator. Matthew was on his cell and JP was staring into space..????? After I had time to chill out, I realized “Wow K, you look like shit and were in the elevator in front of these guys looking like shit!! HA!!!”
I go back to our room, shower, change, and head down to the lounge with the rest of my friends. I notice “rake face” staring at my friends and I periodically, then she smiled. My first thought, “ Oh, hell no you don’t!” I let it go and rocked out to the show. We skipped the “meet and greet” and decided to go get something to eat. We eat and spend our last night hot tubbing. As we leave for the pool we see a local and “rake face” walking with JP to his room. I thought, “You gotta be kidding me!?” This is the sort of crap I try to avoid and certainly do not want to be apart of. What is so damn awesome about being some rock star’s one night stand in Wisconsin??? If I wanted a one nighter, I could get one –so could anyone…I just don’t get it and I don’t want that crap around my friends either.
Anyway, I crashed early, around 1:00am I think. I was too tired to stay up and hang out.

Wednesday, April 23rd
We all woke up early the next and last day in Green Bay. We all had breakfast together and stood outside; trying not to be the first to say goodbye and get the waterworks a rolling. Sure enough, after about an hour we literally had to say goodbye. We hugged, cried and said our goodbyes before heading back to our individual homes and lives.
On the 5 hour drive back home I continued to debate whether or not I should go back in August. If I do I’m not sure if I want to see the Nelson twins. I was not impressed with the attitude and shoddy treatment of us, all over a few stoopid groupies. I certainly don’t want those chicks hanging around my friends and I. I also don’t want to condone that type of behavior either.

Don’t Let it End…

The open road…road trips…. I love them…It settles my soul in ways I can’t explain. When it includes music of any kind, it’s a definite boon! The ladies and I have been trying to make it a tradition to see the Nelson Brothers in Green Bay every year. They play 3 shows and I meet up with several friends (old and new) for a full 3 days of music, bonding, alcohol and many a good conversation.

I’d had this planned for several months, however I hadn’t plan to switch jobs, and I can’t say I planned it very well either. I received only a half a check from the electronics company and I do have a mortgage to pay, so the quest began with trying to pay the front portion of my mortgage and see if I had any money left over. If so, that would enable me go on the trip. I lucked out and was able to cash out the measly amount of 401K I accrued at the bank without taking much of a tax hit. Green Bay here I come!!!!

Saturday afternoon-Shannon, Kim and I made the decision to meet at Hertz to pick up our rental for the week. After much finagling we ended up with a grey KIA Amanti-which I dubbed Monti. Apparently I didn’t get “the memo” to pack and bring my stuff so we decided to make the drive back to my house so I could finish packing and we could all get ready. We had purchased tickets to see both the 4p and the 7p “Ricky Nelson Remembered” shows at Mystic Lake Casino. This is the first time I’ve seen them play in my home state and it had been since March since I’d seen them last, so I was excited!


Saturday Evening-We got there a bit early and found our seats for the first show. It wasn’t what I expected. It was set up with some “Behind the Music” clips and in between the guys would play their dad’s music and talk about him a bit. It was funny, a bit sad and definitely entertaining. There was a point in the show that the guys introduced the Co-pilot of the plane that Ricki was on when it went down. This man was 1 of 2 survivors of the crash. I was in tears. How bittersweet that the guy lives out this way and they get to meet him after all this time. It was mostly a crowd of oldsters so not a lot of clapping, and chair dancing, but they did give the guys a well deserved standing ovation for putting such a great show. After the 4p show all we met up and headed out to get some grub. This also included Kim’s camera being stolen inside the grill (bummer), a bit of toilet surfing and the traditional loo pix. (Don‘t ask, we just think it’s funny!)

The 7p show was a right on, full of energy, musical freight train. They received another ovation and afterward did the usual meet and greet of people, and signed autographs…After some brief conversation with the guys, Brian Burwell (I’m Batman!) and a few others we headed into nearby Shakopee for a late night dinner before heading out ontothe open road.

It’s a 5-6 hour drive to Green Bay and I navigated until we were well into Wisconsin before I tried to settle myself into the 4x2 space in the back seat. My MP3 player got a lot of use on the way out, since I was too tired to converse with anyone and wanted nothing but to try and grab some Z’s. After much tossing, adjusting and one hell’va backache later we arrived at the hotel about 5am. Sleepily, we mosied up stairs to our room, waking up poor, tired Barb to let us in when our key card didn’t work. Our room was medium sized, with 2 queen sized sleep number beds, and weirdly placed vanity and bathroom; certainly not enough room for 4 people and not enough mirrors; nevertheless our first order of business was to rest our weary eyes and heads.


Sunday- Once fully rested, showered and dressed, we headed to lunch then back to our rooms to get ready for the show. The point of staying in the hotel next to the casino was that we could all get ready at our leisure and “reserve” seating. The show is in a little “tavern” portion of the casino. There is the stage, in front of it the bar, then bar seating with built in poker machines, the aisle and then curved booths that typically seat 4-6 people. The goal is to get as many people in the bar seats and also grab a booth behind. If we stay at the adjoining hotel, each of us can get ready and go down whenever, instead of all of us waiting and going as a group, like we did last year. The casino gets a bit pissy over the fact that none of use the poker machines and only drink for those hours before the show. I politely explain a simple thing called “revenue”. See, the highest amount you can play poker at is $1. The average drink costs about $3-$4.00. They make more money on us drinking than if we were to play poker. Very rarely does a person sit up there for several hours playing poker AND drinking. So they actually make more money off of US…Go figure.

We started to ease down to the casino around 4p and the show started at 7:30p. The guys were in great moods, they played their energetic set and we all had our usual great time. Afterward, they did a meet/greet of people, signed autographs and pictures. We staggered out into the night, for our usual bout of laughs, stories and food. We came back and a few of us night owls decided to go for a good hot soak in the hotel’s hot tub and take many a brisk swim well into the wee hours of the morning.

Monday-The day went pretty much the same except after the show Shannon and I were standing in line to meet the guys and get our picture taken when a strange lady came up to us spewing a full out verbal assault on us.She informed us that we had to get ahead of her and stop standing around and move forward. Several attempts on mine and Shannon’s parts to get her to calm down proved fruitless and actually made things worse. It got to the point that I just walked away. Shannon took a bit more before giving up and walking away as well.

We had our moment with the guys and left to grab some grub. Other than, the evening went pretty smooth including the surprise party we threw for Shannon. Kelly dropped off the cake and few other birthday items at Perkins and we decided to eat and embarrass the birthday girl there. It wasn’t until we came back from dinner that I realized that I left my debit card at the bar and forgot to pay my tab. I headed back to pay my tab and got brush off from the bartender. When I suggested that it might be a good idea I pay them and get my card back I received it with a slip of paper attached to it indicating that it was left behind and to “charge to Nelson Bros”. I was mortified! I immediately paid my tab and went back to my room were I rounded up the ladies for head-soaking in the hot tub and brisk swims until about 2 am.


Tuesday-We lazed around reading the paper, talking about the shows and people we’d seen over breakfast. Shannon and I made a trip to the store and to round up some party supplies and a cake for Connie’s birthday. We came back, took our time getting ready and met the usual suspects in the casino to see “our boys” put on their last show. We had our casino chairs, booth and were enjoying the show when I noticed that freaky lady from the night before, rudely informed an oldster that he couldn’t stand by her because he was “blocking” her view. He didn’t argue and begrudgingly started to walk away. I got pissed and told him that he could sit in our booth with us and enjoy the show if he wanted. He sat down, ordered himself a drink, enjoyed the show and our company to boot! This same freaky lady kept jumping in front of us holding up Nelson and Rick Nelson CD’s during every other song and wouldn’t sit down until one of the guys acknowledged her. Crazy! It was later in the meet and greet line that she threw a bunch of CD’s at the guys and asked them to sign them…I’m not exactly sure what happened but it was enough for them to cancel their usual picture taking session and call security. Stoopid freaky lady…

Disappointed and irate (not at the guys; at the freak!) we decided to go to dinner. We went to our rooms and got into our jammies while I went to grab the cake. The plan was that the girls were to get Connie in the car and be on the way before I came out with her cake. Go to Plan B; apparently Connie decided to call a friend and sat in the lobby on her cell, leaving me stuck in the hallway with her cake; a cake I thought was red frosted cupcakes setup to look like berries but was really supposed to be a pepper, hence the word “OLE!” written in bright red frosting on the side. Ah ha?!
Here I am in the hallway, hiding with a “pepper cake” and here comes Matthew Nelson on his cell phone…I have NO where to go but down the hall toward the lobby. Since he and his brother had issues with the Freaky lady minutes earlier I didn’t want him to think I was some weirdo too. I decided to pass him and exit the hallway…I reluctantly waved to him and quickly moved toward the end of the hallway only to be turned back by Shannon indicating that Connie was just around the corner- still on her cell. I turned around to see Matthew looking at us as if we were crazies and I turned around trying to find a place to hide from Connie and Matthew. I found a small alcove near the entrance to a restaurant. I sat there for what seemed like eternity before I got the clearance to move out into the lobby. I packed the cake into the car and headed to meet the ladies at Denny’s in downtown Green Bay.

I hid the cake with the hostess and had her bring it out later where we ate red frosted cupcakes, laughed our heads off until we practically burst. Afterward, we decided to head back to the hotel and soak our heads in the hot tub one final time before we headed out the next day. We all agreed that we should all meet in the casino for brunch to say our last goodbyes to each other before we headed back to reality.

Wednesday-By 9am; sad, exhausted and disappointed that in the next couple of hours we’d all have to go home and back to our lives. We took one last picture, had breakfast and headed to our said rooms to pack- much to our disappointment that we couldn't delay our return to reality by at least another 24 hours or perhaps by time-machine... We all met at the side lobby door of the hotel said our teary goodbyes and headed out our separate ways with the agreement to be online by 9p that same evening.

Writing any of this down can’t even begin to give justice to the time we had. What I can say is that I have the most fantastical group of friends, had many a great conversation, lots o’ laughs shed many o' tear and that I hold new sense of love, respect and appreciation for the guys. Thanks for the time !!