march 19 1990, i traveled up from florida to Hartford where i was born and raised, to see the dead at the Hartford Civic Center. neither me or my best friend dave wanted to drive back to windsor after the show (we both planned on dropping a bunch of acid) so we thought we'd stay at the holiday inn downtown. when his mom found out what hotel we were staying at she freaked (the holiday inn is in a really bad area) so she paid for a room for us at the J.P. Morgan directly across the street from the civic center. after the show we got seperated in the crowd which was no big deal, after all the hotes was directly across the street. the problem is i was REALLY twisted after the show (i dropped 5 hits of really good blotter) and i couldnt remember what exit to go out of so i just went to the nearest one and started walking around the outside of the civic center looking for the hotel. i walked around it probably 3 times before hearing a disembodied voice calling "jeff, hey jeff up here!" turned out i was standing right outside the hotel and right under the room window (we were on the second floor) i finally figured out it wasnt god talking to me from above, just dave hanging out the window yelling at me. i got inside and hopped onto the elevator just as the door was closing. i quickly discovered i'd gotten into the elevator with Jerry, Bob and Brent. i said hey, you guys look awful familiar, they all laughed and said that they hoped i enjoyed the show, dave was at the elevator doors and as the opened and he saw who i was talking to he didnt know whether to sit, run or go blind. we laughed about that night for many years after. it was so cool that they all talked to me instead of telling me to go #$%* off or something for bothering them. when Jerry died the grateful dead died with him, though Jerry wasnt the only song writer or singer or musician in the band he really was the spirit of the grateful dead. i saw one "dead" show during the first tour they did and though it was a good show, it just wasnt anywhere near the same. i would look at the stage and see Jerry doing his thing and just the sight of it would make me smile from ear to ear. to this day i can listen to a grateful dead album and it just makes me feel good, puts a huge smile on my face.
like the lyric "nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile
