The Great Midwest Trip: Cats and Game of Thrones

Kitty hosts in Bloomington, Indiana

This is part three of The Great Midwest Trip, a series of advice and notes from my week-long journey.

Real live cats are ten times better than Youtube cats.

You can actually interact with them and ohmygosh, they can be so sweet! It’s a tragedy I am allergic to animal fur because I’ve always wanted a cat – being near animals activates some kind of faucet up my nose and it just drips mercilessly. I knew coming in to Bloomington I was going to have kitty hosts so doped up on Benadryl and tissues within reach, I was able to play with the cats all night without watery eyes, at least.

Cats are wonderful creatures and I’m amazed how much personality they have. Playing with the toy fishing rod really brought out their playful sides. While Mojito (big orange tabby on the right) lazily swats at the bait from a relaxed position, Martini (Siamese mix on the left) likes to attack the bait from around corners of the room and behind people in an attempt to camouflage himself. Watching him play made for fascinating entertainment.

Silly cat, we can still see you.

Even N concedes these two were particularly adorable. (Him being of the puppy persuasion, that took a lot from him.) Although when Martini jumped up the table, N still did leap a foot in the air. The cat’s ninja skills are quite impressive. I envy all you cat owners out there. They bring so much joy in your life.

When in doubt, mention Game of Thrones.

Seriously, Game of Thrones came up in conversations in nearly every state we went to. Mad Men,  as well. It probably helped we were among people who love great writing and therefore, appreciated the same kind of shows N and I love. I even made an instant friend who is probably as in love with Leslie Knope from Parks and Recreation as I am. (And we totally got to see the Season 5 premiere of Mad Men because she had it on her laptop. Woohoo!) I think talking about TV helped me relax into conversations. Knowing that people enjoy the same shows I do didn’t make feel as nervous. Yet another way being a fan helps me adjust to real world situations. (Don’t judge me!)

So, we were pretty psyched to catch the premiere of Game of Thrones Season 2 on HBO at our hotel room. But getting dinner before the show aired that night became this crazy time-sensitive challenge. Apparently, downtown St. Louis is completely DEAD after 5 pm on a Sunday. (That’s probably why we got such a crazy deal for a room with an unimpeded view of the Gateway Arch.)  All the places hotel staff mentioned were closed so we drove to a place we knew was open late 15 minutes away.

With the clock ticking, we waited for the food (which took forever), drove all the way back to the hotel, parked the car at the garage next to the building and hauled the rest of our luggage up to the 15th floor. We made it just in the nick of time! To our chagrin, HBO also decided to air the same episode two more times after as encore presentations so really, we didn’t have to go to all the trouble. Still a great premiere, though!

Next post will be have Broadway tunes and cold hard cash!