LIFE LIST: MEDIEVAL TIMES

When: February 2008

Where: Medieval Times, Baltimore Maryland

Why I wanted to do this: I saw it on that Bam Margara show and thought it might be fun, there are only a few locations and knowing there was one in Baltimore and I had decided to visit my Aunt in Maryland, a Friend in New York and another friend in Pennsylvania that year during my spring break.

Cost: $57 per person-which included a full dinner and 3 hours of entertainment.

How I paid for it: o I'm sure I put it on a credit card...I had just lost my job.

What I would do differently: Nothing.

Will I go again? I would go again with my daughter.

We were having a pretty good time.

Something I would recommend? Yes! I know it is especially cheesy BUT considering you get a good, big dinner and entertainment and it's incredible to see these horses that are so well trained-it's worth the price.

Good gift/surprise? I think so, for someone who is not too serious.

Life changing? YES! Not directly but it certainly played a role.

ACCIDENTAL LIFE EXPERIENCE:  In February 2008 I decided to visit a few friends in New England, the first stop was to my friend Katie's House in upstate New York to see her new baby, then onto Ann Marie's in Philadelphia to see her Second City show, and from there to Washington D.C. to visit my Aunt. It seemed easy enough. While at Katie's house we were watching the news and there was non stop talk of an imminent blizzard headed right towards the area I was headed, it was hard to believe it was as big of a deal as they said because it wasn't even snowing outside in New York. The main thing was that I made it to D.C. by Sunday afternoon so we could make it to our Medieval Times show (I think we had already bought our tickets) Katie suggested I stay another night so I didn't get stuck in the snow storm but I didn't want to miss my girlfriend's comedy show so I was off on a Friday morning with nothing but a few flakes falling. I hopped into my rear wheel dodge charger and was off-about an hour later I was in a very heavy snow storm and feeling very tense as I had forgotten that were mountains in New York. I know the exact moment where things went wrong...although I didn't realize it until many hours later. The roads were getting more and more steep and winding, the snow and ice thicker by the second. I knew I was only about a 2-3 hour drive to Ann Marie's place in Pennsylvania so I kept on driving, of course it would take much longer due to the extreme weather conditions. I was very scared, my car was swerving all over the place, I was passing one flipped car after another.  The main thing on my mind as I was passing so many exits for Boston was, 'wow, I didn't realize Boston was so close to Philadelphia'...... I think it was then that I realized something was not quite right. Since this was before I had a gps I called my husband and asked if he could look up how close I was to Pipersville Pennsylvania, he said he couldn't find any of the names on the map so I stopped at a tiny gas station and had to walk in and ask "what state is this?" ....this is when I was informed  that I WAS NOT in Pennsylvania but in Massachusetts and I had driven about 300 miles East instead of South. Yes, I realize that this IS ACTUALLY a scene from 'Dumb and Dumber' and this is the first time I have ever been able to laugh about it since it happened 4 years ago. I do see the humor in the whole scenario now but it was very frustrating, very stressful, so embarrassing and I just wanted to slam my head into concrete boulder. I was so upset and knew the only thing I could do was stop and get a hotel for the night. The nearest town was Sturbridge, Mass, it was such a charming little town and even more beautiful covered in three feet of snow. I called Ann Marie to tell her what happened and she told me in a very matter of fact voice that it seemed as though I had driven directly into the eye of the blizzard. Then I remember sitting in my hotel room with some very strong drinks, smoking in my non-smoking room and talking on the phone to my grandma and grandpa in Florida. Apparently the combination of too much stress and too many cocktails knocked me out in such a deep sleep that I woke up to the manager of the hotel pounding on my door and calling out my name. I answered the door and he said that my husband had tried calling my cell phone and room phone a number of times and when I didn't answer became very worried.
   So how did the Medieval Times change my life- I became stuck in the worst blizzard I could possibly imagine because I was trying to make it to D.C. on a certain day and certain time to make it for the show, and because of this I was forced to be alone with myself and my thoughts and this trip became a defining moment in my life because while on it, my mind changed about EVERYTHING and so many things became so clear to me. I think if I had not gone on this trip and had this experience my thought process would still be as screwed up as it was before. I OFTEN think about this and how it truly altered my life.

HOW IS THAT A PERSON COULD ACTUALLY BE DENSE ENOUGH TO DRIVE 300 MILES AND 6 HOURS IN THE WRONG DIRECTION???? All I had was my mapquest directions and sometimes Mapquest does something stupid like have you make a few turns only to end up on the same road you were previously on....well as I said the roads were so bad and I just glanced at the directions which said to merge onto an East bound highway then I looked at the next set of mileage which was around 298 miles or so, I put down  the directions and drove until I hit 298 miles. The next step in the directions that I missed was to merge BACK ONTO the south bound highway I had already been on.