taz_39 | Rochester, NY - Ingress date, Halloween. Lots of Pics! (Reply)

So, I had to post a little earlier than planned last week thanks to sketchy internet.
The shows on Sunday were fine. Jameson and I got to a neato hotel in Port Chester. It had the CREEPIEST hallways (photo lost, go figure).

The next day we decided to do an NYC day trip!
We caught a train to Grand Central and walked to Sarabeth's for lunch. Jameson got "Goldi Lox" (salmon scrambled eggs with cream cheese, a scone and jam) and I got a potato waffle with ham, two eggs and Mornay sauce. We both got orange/banana/pineapple/pom juice. Everything was delicious!

After the meal it was time to do some serious Ingressing. We've both picked up Mophies to double our playing time (#nerdy), and I brought my pocket router to cut down on data usage. One of the features of Ingress is a "missions" option...a sort of scavenger hunt that takes you down a path of historical or artistic significance. Although this feature has been on Droid phones for quite some time, it's new to iOS.

We decided to try the High Line mission. At first we weren't quite sure how to reach the Waypoints...some of them seemed to be inside buildings! But we finally figured out why we couldn't reach these spots. The High Line is a park built on an abandoned rail line ABOVE the city!

So once we got ABOVE street level, the mission became much easier :) Basically we had to walk the length of the park and stop at certain portals marked with a Waypoint indicator.

When you click on the Waypoint, a screen pops up with information about what you're looking at...a landmark, an artwork, or a view. I couldn't get a good screenshot of it, but here are some of the Ingress Waypoints along the High Line:

This is the HL23 Building. Nothing historical about it, just a cool apartment complex that will cost you $2.5k per square foot (approx. 4.5mil per apartment).

The IAC (InterActive Corps) Building, or the "Sail Building". Cool structure designed by Frank Gehry.

This artwork was tagged as an Ingress portal. I couldn't find the artist/info online.

High Line information panel.

If you've got good eyes, you can read in the panel above that the High Line was going to be demolished in 1999. However two neighborhood residents formed an organization to preserve the stretch of rail. With the backing of the Mayor and NYC Council, the High Line has been converted into a walking park. Decorative plants have been added along the route, along with benches and lookout points. For more beautiful images of this park, check out THIS BLOG POST on urbansplatter.com.

At the end of our mission, we looked back on our work: a string of blue portals :)

We had a great time and got to discover a new beautiful spot in NYC.
I never knew there was a greenway here!!

We probably got about 5 miles of walking in that day. Argh! Neither of us is very athletic. To make up for all the exercise, we ate some burgers at Grand Central :) Then we hopped on the first train out...the WRONG train, oops! But we got back on track, got to Jameson's car, and got to the next hotel in Albany. It was called the Century House and was a really pretty, quaint place with a lot of history. We had a good night's sleep, woke up and spent the next afternoon getting Jameson's car checked out at a Toyota dealership. In the last train yard he'd driven into a ditch, and since then there had been a lot of rattling going on in the undercarriage. Fortunately it was just a few rocks caught between the front panels :P

After that we returned to Century House for a late lunch (it's a hotel AND a restaurant). One delicious home-cooked meal later, we were back on the road to Rochester! We arrived on Tuesday evening.

Wednesday was opening day and it went well. The arena is still the same. I took another pic of the WWII memorial near what used to be our dressing room (this year it's Production). There's also a new mural under the old subway bridge.

Thursday morning I did some chores and took my bike to Walmart to find pumpkins. It being the day before Halloween, my choices were pretty limited. In fact I only found one "normal" pumpkin!

Back at the train, I gutted them and set the seeds aside. Each pumpkin had a different type of seed. From the big orange one I got brownish seeds, the green one had fat yellow seeds, and the "normal" one had "normal" seeds. I boiled the seeds in salt water for 10 minutes (supposedly this helps them to get crispy later). They turned out pretty good :)

Here are the pumpkins, ready for carving!

Thursday night was a bit rough (see previous post), but life events aside, the show went well. Nicole Feld was there to watch; she'd viewed a presentation of acts for the new show earlier in the day. Hopefully she liked what she saw :)
After the show we returned to the train to experience Haunted Clown Car! This year there was a "kid's time" first, and the "adult time" started around 11:30. Jameson and I went over and joined everyone else outside car 34 to wait in line!

Pie Car catered the event this year with hot dogs, burgers, jello shots, and cookies...alcoholic cookies. I'm talking cookies that will make you make the booze face. Thanks Uncle John :P

"Adult time" apparently meant that you got a shot of liquor and a witch's finger before entering the Haunted Clown Car!

It was too dark to take good pics in the car, but here are some nice group photos of the participants after the event. Great job guys!!

(photo courtesy Frieda)

(photo courtesy Taylor)

On Friday I didn't do a whole lot, just tried to pack and otherwise prepare for the drive to Pittsburgh. In the afternoon Jameson came over and we carved our pumpkins! The results: Jameson's pumpkin's brain is hanging out! And my pumpkin bit it!

Meanwhile the circus kids were having trick-or-treating at both the train and the arena. Since it was raining, I think the arena was the more popular destination!

On Saturday during the second show, my boss dressed up like a hot dog. It was pretty freakin' funny. More on that in a few weeks, when I've got more pics ;) The other two shows were fine, nothing to report. Upon returning to the train, Rebecca (wardrobe) made chocolate martinis in honor of our dear friend Slick (they were his favorite adult beverage). Several members of the band and the cast had a toast, shared a bunch of stories and memories, and had a great time together :)

Sunday was typical with two shows. We found out partway through the day that Andre, our Ringmaster, would be leaving the tour early for two weeks of vocal rest. In other words, today was his last show with us on Built to Amaze. During Finale he gave a little speech, and the Emelins presented him with a huge bunch of roses. I wish he could've stayed with us to the end, but when your voice is your livelihood you've got to protect it.

After the last show, Jameson and I drove two hours to a Holiday Inn in the middle of nowhere. On Monday we'll visit my parents, then continue on to Pittsburgh. Only two weeks left! How time flies. I noticed this week that my costume tie only has three sequins left. One for each week I guess! I'll have to pick one off in the next city :P