Mates of State

Last night, Billy and I went to The Loft to see Mates of State. Prior to a month ago, I did not have a clue who Mates of State was. Billy said that he wanted to go for his birthday so I was on board. So instead of heading to the Georgia Tech football game, we ventured out to Midtown to see Mates of State.
We have been to a few concerts at Centerstage which in the same complex as The Loft, but this is was our first time at The Loft. The Loft is a small venue on the second floor of the CW complex. It is a dark room with a large bar along the right side of the room. There is a small area with table and banquette. Since the place is small there are no bad seats or should I say standing spots. The Loft reminds me of the former Cotton Club. All in all I liked The Loft and would be happy to go to another concert there.
Before Mates of State came on stage, Harrison Hudson (pseudo-local band) and Brother Reade played 30 minute sets. Harrison Hudson seems to be a one trick pony. They had a great sound, but it all sounded the same. Now where do I start with Brother Reade? Brother Reade is a pair of guys originally from Winston-Salem, NC who are now living in L.A. They began their set with a drum duet. It was probably the best part of their set. The DJ was pretty good, but the lyrics were awful. I couldn't stop laughing. Think of any stereotypical rap lyric and they said it. Don't even get me started on their song about an orchid. I do have to say I enjoyed it when they came out with Mates of State during Goods (All in Your Head).
Now to Mates of State. They were awesome! I'm so happy that Billy introduced me to this band. I love the chemistry to between Kori and Jason; they would look at each during songs and just smile. The songs were upbeat and they have a great sound! I would love to see them again and look forward to listening to more of their songs.

Top 5 Places I Want to Visit

My brain is not really all here today because I used it all up at a training I attended for work/school. So I will list the top 5 places that I would like to visit in no particular order:

1. South Africa & African Safari
2. Greece/Greek Islands
3. Maldives
4. Tahiti
5. Italy

Favorite U.S. City

One of my favorite U.S. cities, besides Atlanta, is Boston. If Billy and I ever had to move somewhere else, and had enough money in our pockets, we would move to Boston. Since we won't be moving anywhere anytime soon, Boston is one of my favorite U.S. cities to visit. You can't beat a city by the water, full of history, great museums, and good food (yum, clam chowder!).

Parlez vous francais?

I am a bad blogger. I guess the first step it admitting it, now I am going to try to change my habits. We had a great time in Quebec City. It is a charming city that has lots of European flair. I enjoyed getting to spend lots of time walking around with Billy.

Here is the trip report for days 1 & 2 of our Quebec Trip:

Day 1 – October 1, 2008

Somehow we always manage to get early flights, so we were out of the house by 6 a.m. We parked our car at Wally Park, and made our way to the airport. Security was a breeze. We had our obligatory breakfast of Burger King while waiting to board our flight to Newark on our way to Canada. We had a quick and smooth flight. Once we arrived in Newark, we had to walk a ways to get to our gate. You could see the skyline of New York City.

Around 11:30, we boarded our plane bound for Quebec. Once we arrived in Canada, we easily passed through Customs and found a taxi. They have a fixed rate from the airport to downtown Quebec City; it’s around 32 dollars. Our taxi dropped us off at our hotel, Loews Le Concorde. We were able to check in even though we were a little early. The clerk stated that she was able to find a room with a king-size bed for us. Nice! We went our room (519) and got settled. You could see the Chateau Frontenac and Parliament from our window.

We walked in the mist down to the Old Town. I love it; it looks just like Europe. We decided to eat lunch at Aux Anciens Canadiens. It is the oldest house in Quebec City. They were having a lunch special or early, early bird special, as Billy calls it. For 16.95, you got a glass of wine or beer, soup, entrée and dessert. I was lucky enough to be dining with Billy so I ended up with two glasses of wine. We both had corn chowder soup to start with. Billy got chicken with vegetables on a puff pastry, and I got shrimp quiche with a side salad. For dessert, Billy got sherbet and I got white cake with cream and maple sauce. We were in a room with people who only spoke English or another language besides French. It was quite amusing to hear all of the questions that the server had to explain. I really enjoyed dining at Aux Anciens Canadiens; the food, ambiance and company were great.

After lunch or early dinner, we started to walk around. The rain started to get harder. We quickly ran into the Visitors Center. We browsed around and looked through the brochures until the rain subsided. We then walked back to our hotel.

Once we got back to the hotel, we relaxed and watched T.V. I took a nap. Since we had a late lunch, we were not really hungry for dinner. We continued to hang out in our room for the evening. I had a snack of Parmesan Goldfish.

Day 2 – October 2, 2008

Another day of drizzle and rain. We got up and headed to the Old Town to eat breakfast at Le Petit Chateau. I had the Crepe Duplessis (a crepe with cheese and ham). Billy had the Half & Half breakfast which included French toast, eggs, bacon. My crepe was much heavier than normal crepes, but it was good nonetheless.

After breakfast, we rode the Funuclaire down to Bassville (lower town). We walked around, and headed over to the Musee de Civilisation. I had a great time learning about the history and culture of Quebec. I want to be an anthropologist in my next life. I would not suggest bringing small children because there is only one small exhibit that they would enjoy.

We went to Le Petit Cochon Café for lunch. Billy and I shared a ham and cheese croissant. I just love French food. We each got a vanilla cupcake with chocolate ice. In the dome of the icing there was some sweet cream. The cupcakes were delicious. Definitely worth a visit to the Le Petit Cochon Café.

We walked around Petit Champlain in Lower Town. Surprisingly it was not raining. After our walk, we rode the ferry across the St. Lawrence River. You can buy a round trip without disembarking ticket. As we got back to Quebec City, it started to rain again. As I reached for my umbrella, it was gone. I had forgotten it at the café. So I quickly ran back to retrieve it. Luckily, they had placed it in the office. The irony of the situation is that it stopped raining once I got my umbrella back. Since the rain subsided and we just missed the bus, we decided to take a walk along the river. We were lucky enough to see a rainbow over the St. Lawrence River.

Instead of walking some more, we decided to take advantage of the free, electric powered bus, the Ecolobus. We had to wait about 20 minutes for the bus to arrive at our stop. During our ride back to our part of town, the bus stalled out. It was very comical to be sitting on a bus with all French speaking people. After our adventures on the Ecolobus, we went to the hotel to rest.

For dinner, we went to Le Graffiti on Avenue Cartier. It was quite the experience. I’m sure that Billy and I were one of the few visitors from the U.S. at the restaurant. While we dined two guitarists played alternative rock songs. Just imagine two French speaking guys singing Oasis’ Wonderwall among other popular 90s songs. Luckily they were pretty good. As for the food, I had pasta with shrimp, scallops and lobster; Billy had salmon. I really enjoyed my pasta and seafood. After dinner, we walked back to the hotel in the rain.

For more pictures of our trip, visit www.billylockwood.com