Unknown to us at the time, Greenville was having their "Fall in to Greenville" street festival and there were all kinds of outdoor vendors (very similar to "a taste of Atlanta", with restaurants offering samples of their popular dishes), live bands, beer tents, and, well, you get the picture. We managed to "kill time" with little or no effort at all. Greenville, as you can imagine, has grown considerably, and the downtown scene, with all of its shops, bars and restaurants, really reminded us of Charleston.
The perfect day continued as we returned to the hotel and discovered in one of the ballrooms a gospel music extravaganza. Next thing I knew, Pauler and I were in the ballroom, clapping and praising-be with the Greenville gospel folk. Very hilarious in that by that time, we were already dressed in our Alice-finest. I suppose they felt we needed "saving"!
Slight complications trying to find the Carolina Metroplex, as it was pretty dark and there wasn't any gigantic signs to indicate where-the-hell-it was, save one small, almost waist high sign that had an arrow pointing "this way". We suffered a slight shock when we discovered that the Metroplex was located on the fairgrounds and the "venue" was really nothing more than a gigantic stage in the middle of what seemed to be a field. It was outdoors, all right.
Our disappointment quickly gave way as we inspected the souvenirs (a dizzying array of Alice-stuff), got our selves a cocktail and walked down to the front, where we learned that we were able to have a great view about 10 rows back with little to no hassle at all. Terrific spot! And the people? A pretty mixed crowd, I thought, but then I was expecting a lot scarier. A lot of parents brought their kids which was a neat touch. Passing the torch, so to speak.
The opening acts were terrific and kept things moving along. Between that and our chatting to every and any body, the stage darkened for Alice in no time.
And what a show. Probably the most energetic I have seen Alice (I calculated this was my 8th time). Unbelievable amounts of energy and as slick as you please. Yes, he's been doing this for 30 years and it shows. And he keeps every thing so darn fun. You can't help but have this big old cheesy grin on your face the entire time. Our expectations were exceeded, and then some.
We ended up at the Waffle House after the show and I'm sure we gave some folks something to talk about.