It was nice to finally get a chance to sleep in on Wednesday, July 9, 2008. After four full days of traveling from sun-up to sundown (and the sun went down late), it was a much-needed refresher. Unfortunately it meant sacrificing some precious time in the city of Amsterdam. Afterall, we were at the ‘Amsterdam’ convention, but since we were staying in Alphen aan den Rijn, on the outskirts of the city, we had yet to see the famous and debaucherous Amsterdam.
I started out my day on the internet writing Jackie and then went back for more of that big, delicious breakfast that always included coldcut sandwiches and inspired wide-eyed stares from folks witnessing just how high I could pile my plate. Sons of the Desert members from all over the world continued to pour in, as this was the official first day of the convention. True, over half of them were already there, enjoying the pre-convention trips around Holland, but it was nice to see old stalwarts like Dwain and Elaine Smith, Rick Lindner, and my old pal (and I use that term loosely) Steve Wichrowski rearing their heads.
Steve Wichrowski entertains Big Jimmy with his amazing animated hand
Our taxi showed up to take us to the train station in Leiden around 11am. There we were befuddled as to how we would actually purchase tickets through the automated machines which were not in English. We finally found them for sale in the gift shop nearby. It took two trains to get to the Amsterdam station, but we finally made it there not long after noon.
A familiar site throughout the week: Jimmy poring over the train schedule
Our first destination of the afternoon was a visit to the world-famous Van Gogh museum, which we got to by the 
city shuttle train. I’ll be the first to admit that I am not an art connoisseur by any stretch of the imagination. I derive nearly as much enjoyment from looking at art in a textbook or on the computer screen as I do seeing it in person. Of course there is the value of seeing ‘something famous’ up close and personal. I was really hoping to get a photo of myself taken with one of Vincent Van Gogh’s famous works of art (like the one seen at right for instance, which we saw), but there was a strict ‘no photography’ policy that I couldn’t convince any of the Wileys to ignore.
Getting ready to enter the Van Gogh with my van dyke
Outside the Van Gogh Museum after our visit, all the better for it
I did enjoy the exhibit, which not only featured the bulk of Van Gogh’s work, but also featured other artists like Manet, Monet, Toulouse-Lautrec – as well as some of Van Gogh’s influences. He actually reproduced other artists’ work on occasion and the museum featured both the original original as well as Van Gogh’s original reproduction (if that makes sense). Along with the paintings, which were presented in chronological order, was a timeline and information about Van Gogh’s life. So even though the admission was over 20 American dollars, it was well worth it. There was a great souvenir book full of the artwork that we had just enjoyed for a mere 3.50 Euros. That was a no-brainer.
After spending about an hour in the museum, we had to head back to the train station to meet up with our friend David. His train had gotten in at around 1:30 and we were going to meet him at 2:30. Unfortunately, we had no idea where exactly to meet up with him. Jimmy and I each separately walked around the train station and had the parents scope out one of the exits (there were several), all the while cautioning them to avoid pickpockets by keeping their ‘backs to the wall.’
Finding someone in the Amsterdam train station was not an easy task
The Wileys avoid pickpockets by following our directions to keep their backs to the wall
Amazingly, after we had nearly given up, we found David outside the crowded train station – which was also under massive construction, adding to the confusion – at around 3pm. We took him back inside so he could drop off his luggage in the train station lockers and then we headed out to grab something to eat.
Upon arrival, David looks like he’s been on a plane for twelve hours
Because of my friend Bob, I had halfheartedly been trying to join him on his quest to visit the Hard Rock Cafes around the country. Now there was an opportunity to visit one around the world. So although I think the others might have been happier locating some traditional Dutch cuisine, they all joined me in getting a bite to eat at the Hard Rock. And a tiny bite it was for me…I only had french fries. Hey, there’s no rule about eating a full meal in the Hard Rock! One of our favorite things there was the crazy hand dryer in the men’s room. You inserted your hands into a hole and several powerful airstreams would blow on them from every direction.
Outside the Amsterdam Hard Rock Cafe
Finding some nice signed KISS memorabilia
David, me, Jimmy, Jimmy, and Kris enjoy our Hard Rock eats
It was after 4pm by the time we finished up there, so we begrudgingly decided that there wasn’t really time to do much else in Amsterdam that afternoon. The drugs and hookers would have to wait. So we walked around a little bit before our city shuttle back to the train station. You can see me hanging out at one of the famous Amsterdam canals in the photo at the top of the posting. Dave picked up his Eurail ticket at the train station that he would be using when we left the convention the next week.
An interesting vendor outside the world-famous Rijksmuseum. We didn’t go inside – nor did I have a hotdog
A landscape of bikes in Amsterdam. Can you imagine the gas money that you’d save?
The train ride back was an hour long, again stopping twice before we arrived back into Leiden. We took a cab the short ride to a neighboring hotel called the Golden Tulip. Our hotel had not been able to house all of the convention delegates, so there was some overspill into this hotel. Since there was a free shuttle going from hotel to hotel, we decided to save some cab fare by stopping there and then hopping onto the shuttle.
A half hour later, we were strolling from our room to the Casa Havana, the banquet hall of our hotel. There we gathered among friends for the first evening’s banquet and the official kickoff to the Sons convention. If I had to make one complaint about the convention, it was that the banquet room was set up in such a fashion to make it difficult to see the stage area, with the tables located on either side of it. And even worse, it was very difficult to hear, especially with the heavy Dutch accents of the convention hosts, so we never really knew what was going on half of the time. Oh well…ignorance was bliss in my case.
But far and away my most favorite part of the banquets was the great food. We started off this banquet with a prosciutto and arugulu appetizer, followed by a chicken and asparagus main course. The salad and side dishes (potatoes, peas & carrots, and bread) were served family style, which we all found odd, but quickly got the hang of. The meal was capped off with a large ice cream sundae. Sitting at our table were the Wileys, David, Marcia, Lee and Dee MacBeath, and my old pal Dick Bann, who had just arrived at the convention.
With my pals Jimmy and David
The Wileys reunite with Columbus Son and good friend Rick Lindner
Dee and Lee. I couldn’t catch him with a cake
Dickie Bann exhibiting his jet lag leg
The banquet had a Hawaiian Luau theme (based on “Honolulu Baby” as sang in the Sons of the Desert film). Many times in the past had we showcased our own Honolulu Babies dancing to the aforementioned song, but this time the convention had hired professional belly dancers to dance not only to that song, but a half-dozen others.
The Honolulu Baby Bellydancers
The Wanna-Beatles in their 1964 garb
Following this presentation was an all-out rock concert by the Wanna-Beatles, who (you-guessed-it) were a Beatles tribute band. As a huge fan of the Beatles, I didn’t mind the show at all. In fact, the music was quite good even if the voices paled next to the actual Beatles as they belted out a good deal of their pre-1965 material. But it was so bizarrely out of character for a Sons convention that I think many of the Americans were taken somewhat aback – especially the older ones.
During the intermission they had an exceptionally weak Parade of Tents where they randomly called out tent names and each tent stood up and said something like ‘hi’. I didn’t even hear them call my tent – which really no longer exists anyway. From what I understand Gene and his family stood up.
Although I enjoyed the concert, I left before the Wanna-Beatles came back for the second part of their performance. When the belly dancers came back during the intermission following the Parade of Tents, that was our cue to leave and go to bed. My we’re getting old. I later heard that we missed out on them performing the post-1965 material complete with their Sgt. Pepper garb. This was followed by even more frivolity as Sons exhibited their talents(?) on a Karaoke machine. My only regret was that I missed my friend René Riva, who is a professional signer in the Netherlands, belting out a few numbers.
The convention antics would continue the next day…
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