Austin City Limits, more commonly known as ACL, is an annual music festival that I've got more history with than any other. During the seven years I lived in San Antonio I made it to ACL no less than five times, 2013, '15, '16, '17, and '18, over which I slowly witnessed the festival evolve, watching the grounds expand, and seeing so many artists of different genres and at different stages of their careers.

2017 and 2018 were the last instances of Austin City Limits I experienced before my big move from nearby San Antonio to Stuttgart, Germany. Unlike the last three, I went to these by myself without any "fam" or "base camp."

My four-day New York City expedition was half done. By this time, I'd really started to feel at home in this city. Wake up, walk down some narrow flights of stairs into a narrow Manhattan street, and from there to a subway station and onto a train like it was second nature.

Labor Day Weekend of 2021 was the sixth weekend I'd be spending in the northeast during my long stay in Maryland, and since it was a four-day weekend for me, I'd lined up a trip that was going to be the most memorable of my weekend excursions. Thus far I'd already visited Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York City, and Washington, DC and now I was going back to New York for another, longer stay.