I stayed at the Best Western Longbranch and at the time, I was drinking Michelob beer. This was one of the "fancier" beers at the time - well before the age of microbrews. I think only Lowenbrau and the imported Heineken were considered superior to Michelob. Remember those brown bottles with the funny shaped neck.
Across from the Longbranch Best Western was a shopping mall right out of "Fast Times At Ridgemont High". It was called the Lindale Mall. I used to walk over there all the time after class and half the girls there looked either like Pat Benatar or Stevie Nicks. They had a Tape World and there I purchased the debut album by "Asia" as well as a tape of a New Wave band called "Men At Work". I believe "Business As Usual" was the name of that tape.
But I would often go down to the bar (I just became of legal drinking age) and order up a Michelob like a pro. There, I would munch on my bowl of complimentary pretzels that were generously refilled by the bartender. Eventually, I would order another Michelob along with a burger and fries. After all, I was getting reimbursed so I hung on to all the receipts.
There was some cold weather out there in Cedar Rapids. But we never got any big snowstorms. It snowed often though. Usually an inch or two at a time. One Saturday morning, I walked clear into Marion, Iowa, listening to my "Men At Work" and "Asia" through my earphones with my Sony Walkman. I also think I had a Van Halen tape.
Those Walkmen sucked through the batteries. But it was the iPod of that era. And I had one.
