This weekend was definitely fun and memory filled! Friday afternoon I went to Panther Valley in Hackettstown to help girlfriend Brooks hand out Halloween candy. Last year was my first time participating and it was amazing. 78 degrees outside with many smiling people all over the place. This year it was 50 and very windy. We definitely froze our cabooses off but it was so well worth it. We had so much fun getting to see smiling kids and happy neighbor friends. They have taken me in like one of my Pets Of The Week. Brooks was calling me out in the cold asking to hurry up and get there to Hackettstown. I was so happy to see her neighbor friends, and they were psyched to see me too. They turn Halloween every year into a neighborhood block party! We handed out 341 pieces of candy! WOW. Not many kids tried sneaking doubles either. Shout out to neighbor friends Karen and Ray who made delicious Adult treats for the neighborhood. I had an Oreo chocolate adult treat that was absolutely delicious. I'm already looking forward to Halloween next year! Brooks was wearing a cute skeleton costume. One boy who's probably 2-3 years old showed up in the same exact costume and was speechless. It was just one of the many adorable moments we enjoyed all Friday night. That being said, by 7:10 when Trick Or Treating ended, I was wiped out. Brooks tucked me into bed at 9:30, and I had The Baseball World Series on in the background. It was a tough, cold, windy night, but still tremendous. Saturday morning I went to Target in Hackettstown to return the leftover candy, so that way we got it out of the house ASAP. I'll give credit to Target, they made the return process very quick and easy. Success! After Brooks took a shower, we went to Marley's Gotham Grill in Hackettstown. I have always loved getting my wings at Marley's. I did a dozen wings that were half nuclear, and half hot barbecue. In hindsight, I probably should have done half nuclear and half barbecue without the additional heat, but it was absolutely delicious and kicked my caboose. Those nuclear wings definitely pack a really strong punch, even for me who LOVES hot and spicy wings!
We then ventured from Hackettstown to Vernon continuing our Halloween Weekend. Isn't it fun when Halloween lands on a Friday? This was a big one. Brooks helped me change into my Batman costume. I'm not a big fan of Halloween, and have always hated dressing up. For years I've just simply worn a plain Batman T Shirt, which I give many thanks to The Big Bang Theory TV show for making that socially acceptable. These past few years I've put slightly more effort into it, dressing as former Patriots Coach Bill Belichick. I cut the sleeves off of one of my Patriots Hoodies, wear a headset, and then boom, I'm Bill Belichick. Everyone can tell that I'm not a huge fan of Halloween.
This year, when Brooks showed me her two costumes, a skeleton, and a female Where's Waldo, that motivated me to try something new and different for our friends Sally & Peter's Halloween Party. Every year they throw a huge, fun party for Halloween in Warwick. After Brooks showed me her costumes, I hopped on my phone and started scouting Amazon. I was able to get a black Dark Knight Batman Costume on sale for $70. I have been eyeing a Batman costume for many, many years so this was definitely a good price. I tried it on in early October right when it arrived to our iHeart offices. It fit, and I got a good rise out of everyone in our building.
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I put on my Batman costume extra early. Brooks definitely got a huge kick out of me being excited for Halloween. I talked Brooks into joining me for a drink at The Irish Cottage Inn in my Batman costume. I wanted to surprise bestie Artie, and yes that mission was accomplished. Since this was Saturday afternoon November 1st, I was the only one in a packed Cottage rocking a costume at all, let alone the full fledged Batman costume from head to toe. I went over to our usual table, said Hi to Artie, and I startled the bejesus out of him. I wasn't even trying to scare, just simply surprise and get a rise out of everyone. Artie almost jumped out of his chair when he looked to his left and saw me in my dark black Batman costume. Earlier in the day, I hopped on StubHub to get a New York Giants ticket to see them take on the San Francisco 49ers. At one point I looked at Artie and asked him what should I bring to our Epic Giants Tailgate party. Artie looked at me, then looked away laughing saying "Steve, I can't even look at you right now!" It was pretty funny.
Saturday night we went to Sally & Peter's huge Halloween party. Brooks dressed up as a very cute female Where's Waldo. My big victory? We were there just over 90 minutes, and I didn't have to go to the bathroom a single time. I went once before we left, and quickly discovered what a huge undertaking it is when wearing a massive costume head to toe without any zippers. Brooks was a champ and offered to help me go to the bathroom if need be. FYI when wearing a costume like that, be prepared and go to the bathroom line way before you have to, because it takes a few minutes to take the costume off, then putting it back on yourself.
There was a moment of comedy at The Cottage too. I asked Brooks to pay for our round of drinks, because I couldn't access my wallet under my costume. Bestie Artie was getting a kick out of that, as everyone all started saying that Batman has Alligator Arms. My Batman costume was a huge hit!
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When I go to parties, there's usually a pretty big positive reaction. With my Batman Costume, there was minimal to no reaction which was a funny change of pace. There was little reception because nobody could recognize me in my Batman Costume!
Sunday morning I met up with Artie so we could make our way to MetLife Stadium for our Epic New York Giants Tailgating party. The weather was absolutely gorgeous. The food was tremendous. Bacon egg and taylor ham sandwiches, burgers, steak, pork loin, and so much more! It was so much fun seeing old friends and meeting new ones. While the weather and food were tremendous, the game was anything but. The New York Giants started off well with a touchdown, but then it was all downhill from there. This was a wild game. The San Francisco 49ers Fans might have attended the game more than the Giants! This was surreal. When you go to football games at MetLife, you'll always see a large contingent of away fans because MetLife is so close to New York City, many chose to attend the game during their family vacations. This game was a different kind of intensity. Usually during Philadelphia Eagles games you see a very large Philly fan contingent because of MetLife's proximity to Philadelphia.
I have never seen so much red at MetLife Stadium. This was like a San Francisco takeover!
Overall, I had a great weekend. Time to start planning next weekend, where on Saturday at Industry Kitchen & Bar in Sparta I'll be flipping our 102.3 WSUS Station to Christmas! Let's go!