MY WEEKEND VACATION!!!

SATURDAY---

I get up around noon and clean up the house a bit. We pack and leave the house around 1pm. We keep driving all the way to Monroeville, PA.... which we get to at around 8:30pm. In Monroeville, (a subarb of Pittsburgh), there is the Monroeville Mall. The mall is the place where the original 1978 "DAWN OF THE DEAD" was shot. We park and head inside. First of all, the mall has been completely remodeled since the movie was shot. After all, it was almost 30 years ago. I located the hallway leading to the "hideout" in the film. The only other thing that remains is the JC PENNYS. Luckily, a good bulk of the film takes place there. I saw the escalator that Roger slid down, and the elevator where Flyboy was ate and turned into a zombie. Pretty cool.

What was dissapointing about the whole thing was that nowhere, and I mean NOWHERE in the mall was any mention that the film was shot there. You'd never know it if you were not a fan of the movie. I went into FYE, a DVD/CD store looking for that 4 disc Dawn of the Dead box set and the only version of the movie they had was one of the remakes... and it was a USED copy!! I asked the clerk if they had any, but she didn't even know what I was talking about. I saw a Hot Topic and thought that they had to have at least a Dawn of the Dead T-shirt.... but nothing. They had plenty of those AFI and ALL AMERICAN REJECTS shirts, VOTE FOR PEDRO buttons and things, but no mention of Dawn. I was quite dissapointed. Most of the old stores are gone and replaced with newer versions selling the same crap, for the walking dead to spend thier money at.

After leaving there dissapointed (I was dissapointed. The wife bought Bath and Bodyworks stuff!), we continued up 76East toward Jersey. It was really late at night and we couldn't see our surroundings. It was a very boring and curve filled drive. We stopped at a rest area around 3am near Allentown (famous by Billy Joel's song) and slept a couple hours. We drove on and entered Jersey around 6am.

SUNDAY----

We get into Jersey and right away I am blown away by how nice everything is. Lots of trees, good looking houses. I half expected a slum or something after listening to so many jokes of which Jersey was the punchline. But I gotta say that I was impressed. I'm sure its different if you live there though.

We got on the southbound Jersey turnpike and in a matter of an hour, we arrived in Red Bank. Immediately, we located Broad Street. On Broad Street is JACKS MUSIC SHOP and JAY AND SILENT BOB'S SECRET STASH. Also, next to those stores is Mechanic St, site of the famous Holden vs. Alissya rain fight from Chasing Amy. What struck me was how close every building was to the other. In the films, it looks more airy. It was around 8-9am at that time and we decided to go ahead and head to Leonardo cause everything was closed.

Leonardo is about 10 minutes away via the drive from Red Bank. But rather than being in a seperate town, its all suburb like. After all, its around 30-40 minutes from the big, scary New York City! But we drove off Broad Street, onto 35, and found New Monmouth Rd. then route 36. And if you cross route 36 going that way, you come to the mecca that is Kevin Smith's Jersey.... QUICK STOP and RST! We almost passed it but I saw the big yellow sign out of the corner of my eye. I wouldn't miss it ever!

We turned around and soon I was parked right in front of RST VIDEO. Right where Jay and Silent Bob stood so many times, where they danced and got arrested by Officer Rick Derris. It was dead quiet there but the Quick Stop was open. The RST and nearby Tattoo parlor are long since closed. We entered the Quick Stop.

Right away I noticed how small it was. Literally 20 feet by 12 feet. VERY small. I introduced ourselves as tourists from Michigan and right away the clerk (obviously one of the owners, the Thapars) smiled and nodded. Kinda a "yup, I know why you are here." He said we could take pics inside. I wanted to ask if it was okay to break out the camcorder, but chickened out. I took pics inside and marveled at the location. The counter was smaller than I remember. I saw the cooler where SALSA SHARK happened, the COFFEE STATION where Dante laced up, the cooler with THE MILK MAID and GUIDENCE COUNSELOR and the door where Caitlin fucked the dead guy. Its all there. Unchanged. Over the porno mag section was a few framed pics and newspaper articles about Kevin Smith and the films. Overall, the place looked quite dumpy. Its amazing that a film was even shot there! But I bought a MAD magazine and one of thier ZIPPO lighters that had QUICK STOP/RST: home of CLERKS on it. It was $23.00, but I figured that if I didn't buy something, I'd regret it later. Plus I wanted to "thank" they guy with sales. People probebly come n there all the time and don't buy anything. But we cashed out, said thanks and left. Outside we took some more pics and broke out the video camera. We drove by a couple times, filming it and then we drove on.

Up Route 36, is the MARINA DINER, where some Chasing Amy scenes were shot. Notably the Holden/Alissya haggling over the Picture scene and where Holden and Jay/Bob sit and chat. We sat down across from the booth where that was shot. We ate some breakfast. I gotta say the food wasn't that great. And there was a hair in my fried potatoes. So, if you go there, just get a soda. We didn't take any pics inside. After eating we left and drove the back Leonardo roads till we found a small place to park and see the ocean. It was breathtaking. Overcast that day though, but I didn't care. I put my hand in it and stood. I was officially touching the East Coast. It felt great. For a guy who has barely traveled outside of 3 states in the midwest only his whole life, that was something.

We drove back past the Quick Stop and got a bit more video footage. Then back to Red Bank. We stopped and got a soda at a diner next to the SECRET STASH and waited till JACKS was open at 11am. JACKS MUSIC SHOP was awesome!!!! Best selection of DVDs, CDs and things I've ever seen! I finally got that Dawn of the Dead 4 disc box set (the only place that had it!!!) and that new Transatlantic DVD. Also a Weird Al Cd and Alan Parsons Project CD. I coulda spent a hell of a lot more in there. I mean, they had obscure DVD cult horror film titles. Like "CANNIBAL FEROX!" Which is a film I've been trying to track down forever! It was $35.00 though, so I didn't get it.

At 11am, the SECRET STASH opened and we went inside. The clerk was very nice and let me film video in there. I got everything and took some pics. There was alot of relics from the films inside. I'll list those on my idiothead.com website in the next few days when I upload pics. But I bought a couple of comics, a CLERKS 2 MOOBY's Jersey, and an exclusive signed Kevin Smith action figure that you can only buy at that store. The wife bought a t-shirt with MAHFOOD art on it. We left.

After leaving Red Bank, we drove to West Chester, PA to set ourselves up for the next day's events. We struggled to find a hotel until stopping at this Holiday Inn. As I was checking in, I looked around at the lobby and it looked vaguely familiar.... and then it hit me. It was the place where one episode of VIVA LA BAM was shot! I asked the clerk and he confirmed it happily. He also said that MTV have a permanant suite there and even a couple of scenes from JACKASS was shot in that hotel as well. The VIVA LA BAM episode I am talking about is the one where Johnny Knoxville comes to visit and him and Bam have a prank war. It was there in that hotel that Don Vito smashed in the window to get to Johnny after Johnny threw his pants into the pool. An added bonus on our trip.

We went to our room and watched the extras on my Dawn of the Dead DVD, especially the MONROEVILLE MALL tour. Then I passed out around 6pm, being up a full 2 days, I was tired! But first day: success.

MONDAY---

We wake up around 9:00am and head up Boot Road off of 202 North near 76 Toll Road and find QVC headquarters. For those that don't know, my wife is a QVC fanatic! She buys so much jewelry there its insane. We went on a studio tour and it was quite interesting. We saw a live broadcast in the studio. The whole set is in one room with pieces all over the place and only the host there and one camera person. The rest is all automated. Very interesting. The wife shopped for Jewelry after that for an hour and then we left. Not boring like I thought it would be at all. Its a nice place.

We drove back through the 76 toll road toward Ohio and it was daytime this time. We marveled at the rolling mountains. It was the first time I'd ever seen a mountain before so I was pretty stoked by the whole thing. Finally, after a long 8 hour drive we got to Sandusky, Ohio and stayed in a ghetto but cheap Super 8 motel. Passed out right away. Very tired of being in the car.

TUESDAY---

We were gonna go to Cedar Point but the raised the entry price from $25 to $40!!!! I really didn't want to go, as I wasn't going to be riding any rides at all and it was a waste of money for me. Really, I was homesick and wanted to come home. I get that way, especially after long drives. So we headed home. I know the wife was slightly dissapointed but I promised to bring her back to Cedar Point sometime before the summer hours are gone.

To make up for it, we stop off in Lansing and I buy her some rings in the Meridian Mall. Finally, we head home and arrive around 6pm. The cats were very lonely without us there! We unpack and clean out the cars. Then the wife watches QVC while I get a good 7 hours in at the drawing table. I'm almost done with Pleasant Life #1 and its looking amazing! My best art ever. Seriously, you guys will be blown away.

All in all, a great vacation. I'd do it again. I'm very relaxed and happy. My parents are coming up in a few days so I got that to look forward to. Now, eight days to waste till I have to go back to work! So, my vacation in reality, as just begun!

Snoogans.

T