Close Call With John Popper

Nick and I traveled to Cleveland for the weekend in celebration of our first wedding anniversary. We ate at the Hard Rock Cafe, visited the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and stayed at the Holiday Inn Select. It's funny, but our most interesting experiences occurred during our time at the hotel.

On Sunday, we had just packed up our bags and left our room on the 16th floor, and were preparing to go downstairs to check out and head over to the Rock Hall of Fame. As we reached the elevator to go down, the doors open, and my jaw dropped. A man who looked EXACTLY like John Popper of Blues Traveler, along with a Native American-looking man packing luggage, got out of the elevator as we were getting on. I knew, deep in my gut, that this man WAS in fact THE JOHN POPPER. He rounded the corner with who I assumed was his roadie, and I found my vocal chords.

I tugged on Nick's coat sleeve, and said, "Hey, wasn't that John Popper?" Nick was in denial. He said when you see celebrities, they almost never look like themselves. And this man looked just like John Popper, therefore he assumed there was no way it was him. So, I didn't chase him around the corner, although I would've liked to. Like I said, something in my gut said I was right. Call it women's intuition. :)

As we went downstairs, I said to Nick, "But, seriously, we're in Cleveland, the home of blues, how far-fetched is it that John Popper could be here?"

Well, I was right. As soon as we got home, I logged on to Blues Traveler's website, and low and behold, they are performing at the House of Blues tonight.

It was John Popper. I've been kicking myself for not saying something to the man, just in case, ever since. I have to say, though, this was by far my favorite experience of the weekend.

And to add to the bizarreness of the experience, while at the Hard Rock just the night before, we saw, on Hard Rock TV, an amazing cover of "Low Rider" performed live by Blues Traveler. Straaange. :)