ANCIENT MYSTERIES REVEALED: We went to some stores today. Many, many stores. Seven in four hours, by my count. Have I ever mentioned my disdain for shopping? It still holds true. But we soldiered on, because we had to. One of our stops included Goodwill. There, in the board game section, we found something remarkable. One of the wonders of the world, if you will. Stonehenge.
That's right, the prehistoric monument constructed amidst a dense complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments and several hundred burial mounds. It was ours, for just $6.99. Miraculous.
We could hardly wait to open the box to "Build Your Own Ancient Wonder." From the kit's description on Amazon, "This kit includes 16 Stonehenge rocks, a landscaped mat, and a 32-page guide capturing the possibilities of this ancient wonder. To this day, no one can explain the mystery and splendor of Stonehenge, but now you can replicate this extraordinary monument!"
It took the kids about 40 seconds to build. And there you see it, in all its glory, above. All jesting aside, fortunately, we got to see the real 'live' Stonehenge ourselves three years ago this month (photos from the site above and below). It truly was wondrous!
ABOUT FACE: Our very first stop today was a grocery store in our neighborhood. We went there looking for a specific bread and some special pickles. However, the shopping list went out the window as soon as we entered the store and saw these. ...
Ziggy Stardust and Labyrinth-inspired masks in the entryway our local *grocery* store?! Unexpected,to say the least. Of course we bought them. As soon as we got home, the kids tried Ziggy on. And as much as I love all things Bowie, I have to admit they weirded me out a bit ...
Love the kids, but I guess I like Bowie's face best on Bowie. Anyway, if you want or need one of your own, the Ziggy masks are the product of a company called Mamelok.
BIG AND SMALL: Yesterday morning we struck out around 10 a.m., destination Hoquiam.
Why Hoquiam?
Where Hoquiam?
Legitimate questions.
The answers date back to a morning last May when I was perusing Facebook on my phone while the kids were in a class. I noticed a post by Grammy winning rapper Macklemore, a Seattle resident, about a super special tour he was doing for a couple of weeks in August.
Though Macklemore plays sold out shows to tens of thousands around the world, he's a Washington state son through and through and works to stay grounded in the Evergreen State. As an homage to the place he calls home, he and producer Ryan Lewis planned a special tour called "The Camping Trip." The abject opposite of enormous arena shows, it was an 8 date tour of small theaters only in Washington.
As soon as I saw the post, I pretty much freaked out. My oh my, we love Macklemore. We've seen him perform before at a couple of Mariners' related events, and at Key Arena during his epic "The Heist" tour.
This was another animal altogether. Not a stadium, not an arena ... he was playing shows in old, tiny theaters around the state. Tickets were limited to just TWO per person, and I knew all the dates would sell out in moments. I was stuck with just my phone to try to make an online purchase, and frantically sent Christian a text message (so we could each buy two tickets). As I was doing this, I could see the 'bigger' cities were selling out - Oly was closed, Spokane and Yakima were gone. Bellingham was sold out. ... It was basically down to Enumclaw and Hoquiam. At the time, I wasn't sure where Enumclaw was (that was before two trips through Eastern Washington on the way to Idaho this summer). I *thought* Hoquiam was somewhere toward the coast. "TRY HOQUIAM!" I told Christian.
Miraculously, we each scored a pair of tickets for a pittance (yay for NO Ticketmaster for this tour).
Fast forward to August 29, and we were headed for the 7th Street Theatre in Hoquiam.
We left home a little after 10 and arrived there via I-5 and Highway 101 a little after noon, not knowing what to expect. All tickets were will call, and we didn't know if there would be a line blocks long already or what.
It turned out to be 'or what.' There were about three dozen people in line already. We decided to go ahead and put our lawn chairs on the sidewalk and get in line for the duration. Welcome to your next 7-plus hours. ...
Fortunately, it wasn't raining. It was in the shade and pretty darn windy, though. "Frigid" is a fair word. Fortunately, we took turns walking around, and sitting in the car and visiting the bathroom. We made friends with our new (sidewalk) neighbors, all friendly people, some locals, some from other points.
After a couple of hours, folks started setting up a Macklemore merchandise tent, and a rumor started spreading that the first 50 people in line would get wristbands to meet Macklemore and Ryan Lewis and get autographs.
Turned out the rumor was true... A little after 5 p.m., a woman came down the line with purple wristbands. The line stretched 'round the block by this point. We were in the lucky group that got 'em.
No photos were allowed during the signing, but let me assured you it happened.
And then the *real* good stuff happened.
There never were any physical tickets. We were checked into the theater old school - names on a list. But you know what? It worked! (Take that, Ticketmaster!)
We buzzed our way right up to the front left. For the next three or so hours, we were buffered by three seats in front of us, and four behind us. As the crowd behind abandoned their seats and pressed forward, the space became our fortress.
Meanwhile, a big ol' dance party erupted all around.
I'll let the kids tell you a little more about it. Annabelle's up first.
Seeing Macklemore and Ryan Lewis at the 7th Street Theatre was a fun and interesting experience. We got to the theater at around noon, because we wanted to be close to the front of the line. After waiting until about 5:00, they started a line for signing. We got our hats and shirts signed (very efficiently, might I add) and headed into the theater shortly after. We ended up “sitting” in the second row, which was great, because the chairs acted as bumpers against the standing people crowded around our seats. The concert itself was very fun, with a couple of warm up acts such as Xperience, who was also a hip hop artist from Seattle, before Macklemore actually came up on stage. Macklemore played many of his hit songs, like “Thrift Shop” and “Same Love”, but he also played some I hadn’t previously heard such as “White Privilege” I really enjoyed the show and I hope I get to see another of his concerts!
And here's CJ's take ...
Ah, Hoquiam, Washington, the "friendliest city". My family very recently visited this small town in southwest Washington for a reason other than what you might expect: Back in May, Macklemore, a popular local rapper, unexpectedly announced "The Camping Trip", which would be an 8-stop tour across Washington in Spokane, Yakima, Walla Walla, Enumclaw, Olympia, Hoquiam (the one we attended), Bremerton, and Bellingham. Most of those towns are places away from where Macklemore usually plays, in larger cities, so Macklemore did this tour so that people living in or around those smaller cities could have a chance to see him live.
According to The News Tribune, the entire tour sold out within 2 hours of the tour's announcement on May 20. This likely had to do with the fact that tickets were $20. We happened to be lucky enough to get 4 tickets for my family to visit the Hoquiam concert. We came to the parking lot of the venue at about noon, and we spent *7* hours in line. At one point, we decided to buy some merchandise from the merch stand nearby. We got an exclusive Hoquiam T-shirt, a Camping Trip hat, and a physical copy of "This Unruly Mess I've Made", Macklemore's new album that he was promoting in this tour (the copies they were selling here came complete with Mr. Haggerty's rant about being afraid of your art). Soon enough, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis arrived at the side of the merch stand, ready to sign any merchandise presented to him by the next 50 people in line. Fortunately, we arrived relatively early, so we got the wristbands that proved that we were among the first 50 people in line, and could get one piece of merch per person signed. I'm really glad that we got our merch signed by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis.
I found a YouTube video where Macklemore talks about the tour and what it means to him, and what's going on in our country right now. (The guy who filmed it was way behind and somewhat to the right of us.) The video also includes Macklemore's performance of the powerful song "Same Love."
And here's a snippet of the finale, "Downtown," that Christian captured on his cellphone.
All in all, it was huge fun and a rare opportunity.
