For those of you who don't know me personally, or live in Austin for that matter, every year D & I attend Austin City Limits (ACL) Music Festival. It is usually the highlight of our fall/end of summer, and we look forward to it for months upon months in advance. ACL is home to six sponsored stages spanning the entirety of the North side of Zilker Park, and features upwards of 130 bands over the three-day period. Over the past few years we've seen some great shows, including The Killers, Cold War Kids, Foo Fighters, Beck, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Hot Chip, Arctic Monkeys, Arcade Fire, Decemberists, Joss Stone, Erykah Badu, Pharell, Back Door Slam, Blues Traveler and many, many, MANY others. What's not to love, right?This year, however, I'm concerned. While normally I can handle the fatigue, heat, bathroom lines and wear and tear on my body, this year I'm not quite sure how Baby B and me are going to get through three solid days of standing/sweating/peeing non-stop. Add to that the lesser-than-average lineup, whose biggest draws include Dave Matthews Band (I know what you're thinking - you've got to be kidding me, right? Don't worry - we're all on the same page there!), Citizen Cope (one show I'm extremely excited for), Yeah Yeah Yeah's, Phoenix, Kings of Leon and John Legend, and I'm seriously contemplating what to do.
Will I regret it if I sell my three-day pass, knowing full well that this is the last year I'll be able to go without a kiddo in tow? Shit yeah! Do I have my doubts about being able to hang out in mid-90-plus degree weather, for 12+ hours a day, for three straight days? Uh, yeah. I was thinking of perhaps selling my three-day pass (they can pull in upwards of $250) and buying a one-day pass for Friday, since there are some bands that day I'd like to see, but I know that when I'm sitting at home by myself all weekend while my friends live it up at ACL, I'll feel more left out than I do right now at a keg party, capiche?
I'm feeling fairly certain at this point that I'll keep my three-day pass and just pray for the best, taking things day by day. Of course, if I start to have any contractions, or my body swells up like a balloon, I'll know to sit things out after that, but I'm hoping that with a little common sense, a lot of water (and equal amounts of playing the pregnancy 'let me cut in line' card), I may be able to pull it off. What do you think?
My advice: don't push yourself too much hun. You'll be dead tired by the end of day one, I can guarentee you.
ReplyDeleteDo what you deem best, but if it were me, I'd do the one day pass and spend the weekend asleep someplace cool with air-conditioning...the last concert I went to while pregnant I about passed out from the heat after 5 hours.