Well, I made it. I'm fully vaccinated, travel opportunities are presenting themselves again, and all of the events I enjoy attending are back.
I passed up a few opportunities while I was waiting for my shots; it's true. But I still managed to make it out to five College Football games last fall, and a NASCAR race of course, so I guess I've still done quite a bit, but there's still a lot that I've missed. So I'm definitely ready to get back to everything I did in the "before times."
 |
| NASCAR helped satisfied my need for speed... and events in early March. |
I've already been to my first Baseball game since 2019, a College game between my school, Georgia State, and in-state foe Mercer. It ended up being a 7-4 defeat for my beloved Panthers, but it felt so amazing to just be back at the park. The whole time I was standing behind the fence on the third-base side watching the action unfold, I just couldn't stop thinking about how right it felt to be there. "This is it," I told myself. "I'm finally back in my element."
 |
| The Georgia State Baseball Complex. It's not much, but it's home. |
It's a shame that the College season is starting to wind down, but I'm sure there will be a chance for me to see plenty more Baseball games soon enough. Thankfully, my two favorite day trips, Greenville and Chattanooga, both managed to survive the reduction of Minor League Baseball teams, so I know I'll at least make it to those two parks.
There are other places I'd like to go, but as usual, it all comes down to whether or not I have the time and money to be able to do so. Maybe my next blog post will have something to do with that? We'll see.
 |
| Which parks will join Chattanooga and Greenville on my list for this summer? |
Now that going to Baseball games is back in my routine, Concerts will soon come in time. I have already booked my flight and hotel for Riot Fest in September, which is an absolutely amazing feeling.
When I went to Riot Fest in 2019, it was an absolutely sensational weekend, and I'm looking forward to finally be able to get that feeling back. In addition, I've also bought a ticket to see Soccer Mommy the night before I'm set to leave for Chicago. As a result, I've set myself up for 5 consecutive nights of live music. This by itself already feels like a great way to make up for lost time, but I'm sure there will be countless other shows that pop up for me.
One thing I definitely feel like I missed over the past year was discovering new bands by watching them open for headliners that I was there to see, or buying a ticket to a show in a small room because I checked their schedule online, and noticed a particular band with a cool name, so it'll be nice to have that back for the second half of 2021.
It's been a long road back to some resemblance of normalcy. Especially when I think about all of the negative stuff I've had to deal with because of my grocery store job and never truly getting comfortable with online College. But now here we are again, and I'm pretty stoked, not gonna lie.
