Free day mischief

[argonaut]

When corps tour they sometimes give their members a free day. They turn us loose to be trusted. Some of us behaved, and some of us didn’t. Those of you that didn’t, tell us your story.

Here is one of mine.

I remember that we had a free day in Chicago on our 1976 tour to the championships in Philadelphia. I had never really ever been to a big city before, so I was really excited. Being in my early teens, I would have never let anyone know that I had never been to a big city before or that I was excited about anything. I was one of the younger members of the corps and some of the older members were more that happy to point that out. The buses were parked, and everyone was hanging out waiting while the parents and staff figured out what their plan, before letting us all hit the streets. I wasn’t interested in hanging out or waiting to find out what the rules for the day were going to be. All I could see was this big and tall building that was across the street talking to me. “You need to go to the top. You need to go to the top.” My stepfather was one of the bus drivers that year and they had they were over about a block away having lunch. I told one of the chaperones that I needed to go get some money from him and that I would be right back. I quickly headed for the tall building with the mission of getting to the top and enjoying the view of the city. I walked in to the entrance of the building and realized that the building was just a shell. It was still under construction and only the frame and outside of the building was completed. I hit the button to call the elevator and one immediately opened and I proceeded to push the highest number on the board. None of the buttons worked. I tried all the numbers, but none of them would light up. I waited and looked at the control panel for a little bit to try to figure out if I was missing some trick to make them light up, and all of the sudden the elevator moved. The elevator went up to the 9th or 10th floor and stopped. I waited there for a while and was wondering what I was going to encounter when the doors opened, but the elevator just rested there. I played with the buttons some more, but none of the floor buttons would work. I hit the, ‘open doors’ button and the doors opened. I stepped out to the floor and made a beeline to the windows. The floor was huge and empty. The view from the window was kind of disappointing, so I decided that I needed to get up higher. Next to the elevators was the stairs, so I headed up the stairs. As I was heading to the top of the building, I was unaware that security had been alerted and a search team was hot on my tail. I was rushing up the stairs and before I could reach the top, a very angry construction worker, whom told me that I was in big trouble, greeted me. He alerted the search team with his radio that he had found me on the 28th floor. The site security guard gave me a stern lecture about trespassing and that he was just about to call the police. I was sure that I was going to be in big trouble and not real happy that my stepfather was on tour and would probably be embarrassed by my behavior. The security guard then took me to the top of the building and let me look around. When we went back down to the bottom of the building, I was sure that he would escort me back to receive my punishment, but he just let me go. I went back to join with the group and never said a word until now.

[Michael Boo]

On free days, I would search out art museums and historical sites. Then I would find a store that sold the local non-alcoholic beverage because I liked trying out pop I couldn't find anywhere else. (Back in the 1970s, we still had localized beverages...I think they've pretty much disappeared.) In New York City, I went to look at Frank Lloyd Wright's Guggenheim Museum and in Boston I walked the historic trail that went past the cemetaries of many of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, plus I saw the Old North Church.

If anyone thinks I'm making all this up, I'm not. I was known for being rather staid and for having pursuits that many found boring.

The best "getting in trouble" story I experienced was when four members of The Cavaliers were brought back in a police car with flashing lights to the school we were staying at in Racine. I was on the corps truck at the time and watched as the corps manager walked towards the car. As he got to the vehicle, the four corps members hopped out and shouted, "Hey, thanks for the ride" as the policeman, in on the joke, waved good-bye to them and drove off. It was a classic "gotcha" moment.

[perc2100]

I had my bachelor party during a free night in Montreal my age-out year.

That's all I'll say about that...

[Carl Spackler]

On MY free days, I drive over to Bushwood CC, hit a few balls, drink a few beers, and ogle the pretty women!

Edited December 6, 2007 by Carl Spackler

[84BDsop]

I just walked around Montreal and marveled at how clean the city was...and found the only comic book shop in the area!

[WMC85]

this one time on a free day i got really drunk and stoned.

[argonaut]

On free days, I would search out art museums and historical sites. Then I would find a store that sold the local non-alcoholic beverage because I liked trying out pop I couldn't find anywhere else. (Back in the 1970s, we still had localized beverages...I think they've pretty much disappeared.) In New York City, I went to look at Frank Lloyd Wright's Guggenheim Museum and in Boston I walked the historic trail that went past the cemetaries of many of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, plus I saw the Old North Church.

If anyone thinks I'm making all this up, I'm not. I was known for being rather staid and for having pursuits that many found boring.

The best "getting in trouble" story I experienced was when four members of The Cavaliers were brought back in a police car with flashing lights to the school we were staying at in Racine. I was on the corps truck at the time and watched as the corps manager walked towards the car. As he got to the vehicle, the four corps members hopped out and shouted, "Hey, thanks for the ride" as the policeman, in on the joke, waved good-bye to them and drove off. It was a classic "gotcha" moment.

Portland used to have a store called the Pop Shoppe. The store had its own brand that I think came from Canada, but it also carried other independent sodas from all over the world. There also used to be a large variety of sodas from other regions of the country at an independent grocery store called McFarlands, but sadly both places have been gone for some time. I also enjoyed drinking pop that was diffent from the major brands.

[spiritbari05]

3 words...drunken putt-putt

[TrainWreck]

Climbed the outside of Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Made it up to the top of the swim area before we saw the red lights of the police cars. We made it down before they got too close.

I've got a picture of 4 of us with our feet hanging over the side of the stadium......

[Michael Boo]

Portland used to have a store called the Pop Shoppe. The store had its own brand that I think came from Canada, but it also carried other independent sodas from all over the world. There also used to be a large variety of sodas from other regions of the country at an independent grocery store called McFarlands, but sadly both places have been gone for some time. I also enjoyed drinking pop that was diffent from the major brands.

I wonder if mass marketing drove most of those smaller pop makers out of business? I used to see Chicagoland's Canfield's all over the place, and now I can't find them anymore. I should Google them and see if they even still exist. There was something fun about trying out the different regional pops because tastes were so different from region to region before the "McDonald's-ization" of America.

For anyone going to the Atlanta DCI regional, I highly recommend the World of Coca-Cola, the new one being right next to the remarkable Georgia Aquarium. It has a tasting room where you can try out all their products from around the world. And get back to me after you taste Beverly.