Well, it's official; SPAC rocks. That's the Saratoga Performing Arts Center for the uninitiated. This is definitely one of the best venues I've ever been to. It's beautiful, the grounds are great for concerting, they offer free water, hand wipes, and also pop for designated drivers. Plus you get to take a globe light lit bridge over a small river and waterfall buried in trees to get to the venue. I took a stroll through SPAC the day before the first concert while the local crews were readying it and took a bunch of pictures. Late that night after I picked up Brian in Albany we went again to check it out at night and roamed around. I couldn't resist and jumped up on the stage - then we heard a noise and fled from the potential security guard. As we were sneaking back out (not that I'm even sure if we weren't supposed to be there), we stumbled across the DMB crew trucks. They were all parked next to the venue with the engines running to keep the crew cool in their air-conditioned cabs.
The shows were also phenomenal. The energy was high and the songs unbelievable. I only took one picture when I took my camera in for the second show because I had a wicked seat in the front row of my section - which meant that security was constantly roaming by. Although I loved how the local crew there was so vigilant about keeping people out of the aisles - I'd definitely appreciate more of that kind of security at places like Gorge.
Saratoga Springs itself is a pretty little town that reminds me of Scottsdale with trees. 
Brian and I didn't walk around the town too much. Between chilling with fellow fans, the concerts themselves, sleeping, and tracking down Internet access (not to mention the intense heat), there just isn't that much time for sight seeing. We did find a great little used book store where I picked up three books in Russian. When I went up to pay for them, the owner told me that the books I had picked out were sold to her by a widow of a CIA agent who was killed in action. They were his books. They feel different in my hands since she told me that.We also found an awesome barbecue hut/stand/restaurant/drive-in type place near our hotel. It's one of those places with a charcoal pit out back where they cook and when your food is ready they announce over the speakers which window to pick up your order, and have names like the Fats Domino window.
This trip has been unbelievably excellent. Everything has been cool, interesting, fun, you name it. I have more pictures and stories to post soon. I'm actually sitting in the parking lot of a hotel near the airport in Toronto where I was able to pick up a free wireless connection. I drove Brian to the airport in Albany this morning and then headed back North and West. The drive was supposed to take 7 hours plus stopping time and border crossing, so I had it all planned out to get back to the airport at about 9 p.m. to return the car and catch my flight. Well, I got back to Toronto in 6 hours flat and now have several hours to kill before flying home. At least I know for next year (oh yes, I plan on going back to SPAC next year) that I don't have to worry about leaving so damn early...not that 11:30 a.m. is really considered early outside of the tour world.
Let's see if I can post any pictures yet - nope, damn upload issues.
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