Eulogy

I have better pics of the Cyclone, but I chose this one because it looks so sad.

As promised, here are the highlights from Astroworld, broken up into Saturday night and Sunday (in a later post):

Saturday (the Employee afterparty)

1. Bucket on a handle--We get to the gate and receive a giant 64 oz mug with some goofy cowboy and a vague semblance of the Cyclone on it. Good part: it will keep us hydrated for free all day long the next day.

2. Free beer: all the Bud products you can drink. Don't like Bud but don't complain when it's free.

3. Free food: nothing like ballpark cheese, refried beans, and round tortilla chips. The boys ate fajitas.

4. The Electric Slide: there's nothing better than eating bad cheese while watching people do the electric slide. What is the enjoyment in that dance?

5. The Wall of Fame: pretty cool. They had a wall of past employees in their little outfits, dated from the 60's. One guy was staring at a picture of his young self. Apparently he worked there when it opened and stayed for 30 years. He still has his namebadge--Eugene, employee of the month 1983. He had tears in his eyes. Very touching. Kept me talking there (while Edgy and TwoShirts left) for nearly an hour, but it made him so happy.

6.Finding the hidden passage: there was a little walkway between the Big Red Barn and Greased Lightnin', so I grabbed the boys and walked right into the park with a 64 oz bucket on a handle of beer.

7. Kid in a Candy Factory: it was like a dream I had once where I was locked in the park after dark and made the most of it. we walked around the park after hours with no one around except the brave souls who found the hidden passage. we explored the park sans security for 4 hours, climbing on rides, taking pictures in graveyards. I can't put into words how much fun it was.

8. pretending to drive the Taxis: we broke into the antique taxi area and pretended to drive them, like we would've if we were kids.

9. Snapping a picture of the Chat N Chew: a place we always ate because the name was so damn cool

10. The astroway: we broke into the cable car area and took pictures in one of them

11. Going to the bathroom without a line: There was no one around. I could pee whenver I wanted.

12. Playing the carnival games: we played pop and shot, ring toss, milk cans, all the carnie games for free

13. James humping the bald man: I took a pic of James humping the cardboard cut out of that man that dances on TV

14. Our own personal sountrack: not only were we the only ones in the park, but the music was still going and was programmed to be eerie for fright fest. Pretty freaky, really, especially on Main Street

15. Returning to the big red barn: chocolate fountain--need I say more

16. Confirmation and validation: I kept talking about how before the Looney Tunes invaded, Astroworld had its own characters, including a red haired foofy hat guy. No one believed me until we saw Marvel and his magical animals on some guy's shirt.

17. Making the GM cry: All I did was talk about how meaningful Astroworld was for me and about how I appreciated getting to come back and say goodbye after hours. And I told him about how Edgy and I met here when we were 12. I mean, I didn't mean to make the man cry.

18. Scoring free tix: we got free tix to the park on closing day. Whoopee!

19. Afterafterparty: we went to Cecil's and Two Shirts ogled a drag queen, though he didn't know that. After finding out she was a guy, he had a look on his face like his paprikash didn't go down right and whispered, "That doesn't make me gay, right? I mean, nothing's wrong with being gay, but that doesn't make me gay, right?" It was like Jack from Will and Grace worrying about being straight after sitting on a stripper's lap; although, Jack's stripper turned out to be a drag queen.

20. Can't think of a 20th because my cats are crying for attention. Have to go.

Cranky is sleepy

ah, to be like a kid again. Wow. I spent the whole day riding rollercoasters and drinking icees and walking all over the park and I'm freaking exhausted.

Sad to say, though, everything last night was, today wasn't. It was truly an anticlimatic trip to Astroworld, namely because they were at half staff, so all the refreshment stands were closed, as were half of the rides. We were so dehydrated by the end of the day. Plus, all of the souvenirs were goofy little "i'm huggable" and "cool kitty" shirts--none of them had Astroworld on them. The stores were jam packed with merchandise, but there was absolutely nothing that said Astroworld, save the free maps. I took those. I also thought they might do a fireworks tribute, but all we got was Boyz 2 Men blaring on the speakers and a bunch of cell phones in the air, and the announcement that they are not moving the Texas Cyclone (Texas' first wooden roller coaster). Instead they are blowing it up. Of course, why would fucking Texas save a relic when they could drink beer, eat beef, and blow it up? Jesus.

That news actually hit me in the stomach like a fist. It was so tough walking across on the freeway bridge for the last time, with no hand stamp to come back in. They were already tearing stuff down while we were there. I had a lump in my throat.

I know that I really need to leave Texas because Astroworld was the last remaining place from my childhood. Everything else has been blown up with beer and bbq. When I found out about the TX Cyclone, I went with several others and carved my name into the wood with the words, "I'll miss you."

I know that the majority of the people who read this blog are not from Houston, so you can't even understand why I'm so glum, but well, I don't even need to justify it really. Suffice it to say that from the age of 10-15, I spent nearly everyday of the summer in that park from 10-midnight. Anyway, we walked out of the park, past the gravestones, and it really felt like a funeral. We'll never see Astroworld again. It's just sad.

Tomorrow, I'll write the highlights from yesterday and today, but for now, I just feel like taking a long hot shower and hitting the rack.

When you wish upon a star...

Wow. Tonight was undoubtedly the coolest night of my life. I mean, I've hung out with movie stars and music stars in the greenroom at PBS. I even rode on an airplane with George S, but tonight was the coolest.

Edgy used to work for Astroworld, so we got an invite to the reunion bash tonight before they tear it down for good tomorrow. They closed the park at 6, and we got all access passes to walk around the park after dark. It was like a dream. We got fabulous pictures, and I even made the GM cry with my story about meeting Edgy there when we were 12 and 13.

Highlights will come tomorrow when I get back from using our free tickets to attend the last day at Astroworld.

God I'm gonna miss that place.