Bandfest is a Tournament of Roses tradition that goes back many years. The bands that are invited to participate in the parade get to perform on the field at Pasadena City College. It's a great event that draws quite the crowd and really gives these bands a chance to showcase themselves. Among the bands we saw were:Broken Arrow High School
McQueen High School
Pasadena City College Honor Band
Prairie View A&M
Remo Marching Percussion Ensemble
Riverside Community College
United States Marine Corps West Coast Composite
We were blown away by them. They all were very talented and it was fun to see the different styles and interpretations of music from bands that represented different parts of the country. The southern styles of Prairie View A&M and Ballou High School were really interesting. Then there was the almost quiet grace of the Pasadena City College Honor Band and, of course, the US Marine Corps band. It was really cool.
The Marine Corps Band with the Raising of
the Flag at Iwo Jima being staged. Very Cool.
That night we had a dinner at Twin Palms Restaurant in Pasadena. It was kind of a meet-and-greet with not only other visiting festivals, but also with many of the folks who run and volunteer witht he Tournament of Roses. It was also a chance to showcase our lovely royalty!
Rob, Jaclyn, Tara, Mary, Emily, Lindsey
King Boreas forthe St. Paul Winter Carnival.
We enjoyed a wonderful dinner that night and met some great people involved in the festival. We sat next to a group of people from the Rose Festival in Portland, Oregon who filled us in on their festival. It was interesting to see how they did it in Portland and share ideas.
We also were provided some entertainment. A magician....or a pair of them, I guess you could say. It was a man and a woman who teamed up and they were great. The highlight of the night was provided by King Boreas of the Winter Carnival. Naturally. The female in the group has a talent. She can make herself so heavy that nobody can pick her up. She demonstrated this. She had Boreas come up front and pick her up. He did so easily. Then, she said, he wouldn't be able to do it again. So, he walks up to her (she's about 120 pounds by the way) and trys to pick her up. No dice. Well, Boreas is not easily discouraged so he digs in his heels......and proceeds to grab every bit of her he can get his hands on. That led to quite the laugh. I'm not so sure she appreciated it.
Wednesday was New Year's Eve. And pretty much a free day for us. Queen Tara and Commodore Mary were off to the Kickoff Luncheon that day but the rest of us weren't attending that event. So, we decided we'd check out the sights in Hollywood!
First stop, the Sunset Strip. This is the area in West Hollywood that is famous for Rock Clubs. And gave birth to bands from the Doors to Frank Zappa to Van Halen to Motley Crue. If you are a fan of that, this is your Holy Land. The Rainbow, The Viper Room, The Troubadour, the Whisky-a-Go-Go. These are some of the most famous venues ever to birth Rock-and-Roll bands. Amy, Captain Rob's wife, is an expert. She served as our tour guide. For Princess Jaclyn and me, this was heaven. For Princess Emily.....well, she played along.
The Princesses and me in front of the Whisky-a-Go-Go
We also made the tourist stop everyone has to do, Grauman's Chinese Theater. I think we were the only people there who weren't stepping off an Asian tourist bus. It is fun to see the star's footprints in cement though. I didn't think I had bigger feet than Dean Martin. It's true, they are ALL smaller then you think they are.
Princess Jaclyn in heaven, otherwise known as the Rainbow
After Hollywood, we headed for the lush boulevards and starter castles known as Beverly Hills. The Beverly Hills Hotel was first. We took a photo out in front of their famous sign and it felt like we were infringing on property we had no business being on. We made it in and out before someone in a tux chased us away. Good start.
My Dad told me he went in there once for
breakfast and he had one pancake. It was $18.
From there, we hit Rodeo Drive and the famous shops that lie along that street. My favorite part? The streetlights are chandeliers. We all bought something in the Juicy Couture store just to say we bought something on Rodeo Drive (I think I spent $25....not bad). We did, however venture into the Hermes store. Captain Rob asked to look at a little leather bracelet that had the modest price of $475 on it. The whole time the lady helping him is eyeballing us knowing full well we have no intention of buying anything. I picked up a black leather men's belt and showed it to Princess Emily. It was $750. Her response was perfect. She looked at it, said "that's funny" and walked out of the store. Ladies and gentleman, Beverly Hills!
Chandeliers as Streetlights....overkill? Yes.
Looks rich, doesn't it?
By this time, we were getting a bit hungry. We were a short drive from the Santa Monica Pier and the Pacific Ocean. Why not head that way? Now, while in Pasadena, Hollywood and Beverly Hills, the weather was perfect. Sunny, 75 degrees. Santa Monica is about 10 miles from Beverly Hills. We get off the Santa Monica Freeway and all of a sudden, it's 60 degrees and it's so foggy you can't see the car in front of you. I guess we experienced some of the wacky California weather you hear about.
We checked out the pier (weird people, not a lot going on unless you're into Ferris Wheels) and then headed towards downtown Santa Monica for lunch. We decided to get Sushi.
A very foggy Santa Monica Pier with two very sunny Princesses!
Now, I LOVE Sushi as do Princess Jaclyn, Amy and Captain Rob. Emily? Not a clue. I always joke with her that if they don't serve it at Perkins, she's probably never had it. So, we make it our mission to get her out of her comfort zone a bit. Sushi qualifies. OK...she had one piece and it was with cooked shrimp. Not exactly eating raw fish, but it's a start. She had Chicken Teriyaki with vegetable tempura. She liked it. Whew.
After that, back to Pasadena (and some of that lovely LA traffic....I don't know how those people do it).
On New Year's Eve, we decided to hit downtown Pasadena for dinner with our friends from the Winter Carnival. Now, we had no reservations and getting in somewhere with our group of 14 people was not going to be easy. Through the hard work of Commodore Mary and Bill (aka, King Boreas), we found a table at a restaurant/Jazz Club called Red, White and Bluezz. It was a chance to thank everyone for a great year (or 6 months for the current Aquatennial Crowns) and we exchanged a few gifts, cried a little and laughed a lot. We really became a close-knit group and I include Winter Carnival in that. Bill and Brooke (Boreas and Queen) are terrific people we think of as family. They've been as big a part of our year as anyone.
OK....we can't all take a photo at once!
give gifts to the Queen and Princesses. And Mary, was exceedingly
nice to giveRob and I watches. We all really appreciated
each other and this was one way to show it.
We then headed back to the hotel. That meant walking down the street that early the next morning would be a parade route. That was quite the sight. Now, they get about 2 million people at this parade. To get 2 million people there means they start lining up the day before. It's like a right of passage for some people to say they camped out on Colorado Avenue for the Tournament of Roses Parade. And they go all out. There's vendors with t-shirts, souvenirs, hot-dogs, hot-dogs wrapped in bacon (I think it's a California thing....looked weird), etc. We talked to a few people, took some photos and hung out for a while.
We took over a few spots left by the folks camping out!
with a couple of VERY understanding parade goers!
Back at the hotel, we took over the Club Room on our floor (like a common area with TV's, food, computers....stuff like that) to celebrate the New Year. We decided we'd do it at 10p since we were in the Pacific Time Zone and wanted to do it with everyone back home. Well, that and we had to get up at five in the morning for the parade. So, we did that, made a bunch of noise, had security come to the room three times (sorry!) and tried to call it a night.
Ummm...I didn't have time to get my crown on in time. Sorry!
Yes, I said tried. There may have been a couple of us (Boreas, Queen Brooke, Captain Rob, stupid old me) that thought it would be a good idea to head back downtown and see what was happening with the parade scene. Well, it was nuts. TONS of people, all having a great time and we just joined in. Until two in the morning. Yes, two. And yes, I said we had to get up at five. I guess we decided we'd sleep when we were dead. And we were getting close.
So, 5:00 AM rolls around and we stumble down to the bus (some of us slower than others) and head towards the beginning of the parade route where there were stands set up for us. And breakfast. It's good to be a VIP!
Dancers on the stage right before the parade!
The parade entertainment began early with an MC standing on a stage telling us what was about to happen. A lot of it was relating to TV. You can tell right away that they are REALLY trying to accommodate the TV broadcasts and cater to them. Which is very understandable. We were prompted to cheer and yell certain things at times....stuff like that. Then they had some dancers come out on stage that were really entertaining and the parade was off and running after that.
The Honda Robot gets the parade going
My favorite float....a jungle scene. Very Cool!
One of our highlights was seeing Steve Carrell from the "Office" sitting near us. We tried to find him and yell "that's what she said!" but we couldn't get close enough. Yes, we are those stupid tourists who see a star and pester them. What, like you wouldn't! Whatever.
Our Queen snaps a photo of Steve Carrell in line for the Porta-Pottie. Perfect.
As I mentioned earlier, the floats are really amazing up close. They are truely larger than life. Seeing them go down the street on a beautiful, sunny morning with atmosphere around that parade is very special. It was everything you'd hope it would be and more.
OK....maybe this is my favorite. A skateboarding Bulldog? You bet!
Alright, I lied. USC Song Girls? Yes, this is my favorite.
I'm all for equal time, here's the Penn State band.
Following the parade, it was off to the Rose Bowl Stadium for a tail-gate party and the game.
The tail-gate party was set up in the parking lot and consisted of a lot of food and beverage (to be expected), a HUGE tent with games on TV's, bars, food lines and an outside area with grills cooking more food, LOTS of porta-potties (thankfully) and unbelievable views of the stadium with the mountains in the background. It was funny how you could tell right away where fans were from by where they sat. Everyone with the scarlet USC shirts were inside the tent, watching TV and not venturing outside. Every Penn State fan (and obvious tourists like us!) were outside, soaking up sun and wanting nothing to do with a tent. There was a clear dividing line!
A stunned young Captain heading through the tunnel and into the Rose Bowl!
After a couple hours, it was getting close to gametime. We decided to venture inside. First, a photo op you have to take....standing in front of the Rose Bowl logo on the stadium:
From L-R: Rob, Tara, Jaclyn, Emily, Amy and Lindsey
Then, we went in. I felt like I was on hallowed ground. Our seats were in the 16th row on the USC goal line. Awesome! We were in a primarily USC section although it was mixed with some Penn State fans. We had great views of the USC student section, the band and, yes, the Song Girls (woo-hoo!!!!!!!).
The Halftime Show at the Rose Bowl
The game wasn't great. USC jumped out to a big lead and coasted to a win. But the fact that we were in the Rose Bowl, watching the "Grand Daddy of Them All" was really spectacular. I can't think of a better place to watch a college football game. It was kind of fun to see the casual nature of USC fans (been there, done that....we'll win, don't worry, we're confident) compared to Penn State (screaming, chanting, doing EVERYTHING possible to keep their team in it...oh, and drinking INSANE amounts of alcohol.....ahhhhh, college!).
The USC Trojans coming out onto the field!
The game going on....we had great seat. It was fun to be that close.
After the game, back on the bus and back to the hotel. We decided to head out for dinner again and found a pizza place. They really didn't have room for us but were nice enough to cover one of the billiard tables and set us up on that. I don't think any of us had ever eaten off a billiards table. Another new experience. By this point, we were all very tired. I was totally drained (should have slept more than three hours, blah, blah, blah....I know! Stop yelling at me. I'm an idiot).
From L-R: Tara, Emily, Lindsey, Mary and Bill (Boreas)
We woke up on January 2nd not wanting to leave but knowing we made the most of our trip. We were heading seperate ways again....Commodore Mary, the three girls and Winter Carnival to LAX to hop a plane to the Twin Cities while Rob, Amy and I back in the car to drive back to Vegas. Not a bad way to end the year as Aquatennial Ambassadors, is it?
So, that basically ends my year as a Captain for the Aquatennial. I move into the world of "former ambassadors" now. They call former Captains a Commandant. That works.
On January 6th, the Aquatennial held their annual meeting during which they nominate and announce the new Ambassadors. Mary and I were officially out. Yes, I said Mary and I. Rob is staying on for another year. I wish I could. There's a large part of me that will miss all of this stuff. Of course, I'll be glad to have a life again. It is a touch busy. We'll see how Rob feels in June but good for him. I know they're glad to have him back and they should be.
They new Commodore, a gentleman named Tom LaSalle, began where we did last January, at the Snow Queen Festival in Aberdeen, South Dakota on January 9-11. The new Captain, a former Princess Natalka Hertaus, will make her first appearance at the Winter Carnival on January 31st.
In the mean time, I have two more duties, even though I'm technically done. Natalka can't be at the Winter Carnival coronation or Grand Day Parade on January 22nd and 24th respectfully. So, I'll head over there with the new Commodore, Tom and Captain Rob and keep going for one more week. Also, I've agreed to make some appearances this year (and probably beyond that) when they need a fill in. Aquatennial does so many appearances that the current family can't always get to something. So, they call up a former and ask for help. I'll be glad to help.
I'm also going to be contributing behind the scenes. What I've seen over the past year is an organization not only dedicated to making this community a better place for us all, it's dedicated to finding three unbelievable young women, giving them an experience that they'll never forget, helping them grow into outstanding citizens and helping contribute to their education. I've witnessed it firsthand with 6 of them this year and have seen many more who have given back following their years as Ambassadors as well. It's worth lending a hand and contributing where I can.
I've also decided to try and keep this blog up even though I'm done. We may try some different things and you'll probably hear from a few different people. But we want to keep providing a look at what we, as an organization, are up to. So, I hope you'll keep checking back, especially once we get back to making all those appearances over the summer and during Aquatennail week.
Lindsey Peterson
2008 Captain
Minneapolis Aquatennial
