Théâtre en Province

"But it was--as I received it, an excellent play, well
digested in the scenes, set down with as much
modesty as cunning. I remember, one said there
were no sallets in the lines to make the matter
savoury, nor no matter in the phrase that might
indict the author of affectation; but called it an
honest method, as wholesome as sweet, and by very
much more handsome than fine."

-Shakespeare



Can you hear it? The slow groaning as thick green tendrils break slowly through the well-packed earth? Behold! Mother Nature arises triumphant, and a new stalk strains bravely towards the sun's warm embrace. That's right folks, its the sound of grass growing; because that's certainly the most interesting thing taking place in most of the cities we played last week.

It all began in Carthage, Tx, (home of the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame) where we scheduled for a private performance. This means that the city is too small to have warranted a stop, but wealthy enough to buy us out for a day anyway. So they pay a (hefty) flat fee, and we come calling with our big box of theatrical tricks.



The reason we would not normally stop in such places, is because the venue (usually a high school or in this case a junior high auditorium) is not equipped to handle the tech specs of our show. Instead of the high-tech electrical rigging we're accustomed to, we had a half dozen standard outlets. In place of a professional stage crew, we had a gaggle of enthusiastic eighth graders. The production has to be slimmed down in these circumstances, to the bare mininum. So we cut out quite a few lighting instruments, some set pieces and even a few hand-props to make do on the diminutive stage.

Another peculiarity of these private performances is that the show does not go on until early afternoon, instead of our normal 10:30 am. The school provides a lunch for us to compensate for the time adjustment, which at our last private performance in Delaware meant pizza and cokes. We were delighted this time to find a lovely boxed lunch of tuna, fresh greens and a fruit & nut salad from a local tea room. They also supplied each of us with a healthy portion of the bakery's decadent mudslide pie. We were quite happy with this little gem of a repast (except for Nate who doesn't eat tuna or sugar. He wasn't so impressed), and proceeded to perform "this afternoon's thee-ate-er program" as our play was referred to over the loudspeaker, that afternoon.

After the show the school's theatre teacher was ecstatic and very effusive in her thanks and praise. She had written a grant to be able to pay for the performance, and was so happy that her students were able to see professional theatre for the first time. As nice as she was, however, we were all exhausted and concentrating on packing the truck so we could finally get on the road. Towards the end of load out, Peter got his foot caught underneath the platform cart, which left him hobbling and cursing for the rest of the afternoon. When we finally closed the roll-down door, and headed for the open road, it was five o'clock and almost full dark. It was the better part of 10:00 pm before we finally reached Lake Charles, LA.

The next morning we awoke to a world covered in fog. The lake from which the city took its name was very near the hotel, which was near the venue, and so we had a dense fog in all directions, cutting the visibility to about fifty feet. It was eerie and cool, and felt straight out of a Stephen King novel.



We arrived at the venue and were overjoyed to have the help of a professional crew again, especially one that fit so superbly to a southern stereotype. Every member of the crew, to a man, had a scraggly beard and looked like they had just walked out of a mining camp. Any one of them could have doubled for the front men of ZZ Top. One of the bigger, older stagehand's beards was white and yellow and flowed halfway down his chest and out in all directions. They were a congenial lot, laughing and joking the whole time, and we had the place set up in no time. During load out afterwards, the grandfatherly one with his incredible flowing white beard actually got it stuck between two platforms while loading them out. Hilarity ensued, and even he had to laugh at the absurd sight of someone lifting a platform off his beard to set him free. We could almost hear the dueling banjos in the background.



That afternoon we traveled to Lafayette, LA, a short drive, and settled in for the night. Brent and I did laundry while Kate took Peter to the emergency room, because his toe had swollen up from the platform cart the day before, and was turning strange shades of blue. Meg was nauseous (a harbinger of things to come) so she went to bed early, and upon his return we found that Peter hadn't broken his toe, only jammed it severely. We went to sleep that night, wholly unprepared for what awaited us the following morning.

At breakfast Erin informed us that Meg had been sick all night. I was not feeling very well, and neither was Kate, at which point we realized that the dreaded stomach virus we'd been hearing about all through Texas had finally struck our ill--fated band. Nothing is quite so frightening, or demoralizing to a group of traveling actors, than the prospect of performers who can't perform. There were rumors that morning that Kate would have to play some of Meg's roles, since there are no female understudies. We weren't really sure how that was going to work, and were getting quite anxious during load in. Somehow, Meg managed to pull it together and finish the show, though at times on stage we were all worried she was going to scurry off in a flutter for the bucket we had waiting in the wings. When the curtain finally fell we were all tremendously proud of her for making it through, and hopeful that the worst was over.

The afternoon drive to Shreveport was subdued. We arrived that night at the Horseshoe Casino Resort, a magnificent structure with multi-level gaming and all the amenities. Brent went to check out the slot machines, while the rest of us stuck to our rooms: the nicest hotel rooms any of us had ever stayed in.



It figures that we would get the best accommodations on a Wednesday in the middle of a five show week when three quarters of the cast was ill. But each room was equipped with a stately bathroom, with a monstrous tub, a tv angled for bathtime viewing, and thrice the size of a normal hotel WC. It was the perfect refuge for recovery.

I did venture down into the casino to take a look around, and by far the most interesting sight was the "million dollar wall", a seventy-five yard stretch of hallway with 10,000 $100 bills glued to it, displaying one million dollars. It was impressive, and certainly the most inventive casino decoration we had seen yet.

The next morning we played the Strand theater in Shreveport, easily the most beautiful theater I had ever performed in. It was built at the turn of the 20th century, and was replete with balconies, chandeliers, and gorgeous frescoes with vignettes from famous operas. There were golden facades and rich velvet curtains, marble staircases and paintings of famous benefactors. The theater was a gem none of us had even remotely expected while traveling the hinterlands of Louisiana.



The morning got off to a rather rough start however. Because the presence of two other trucks in the alley did not give us access to the loading dock, we had extreme difficulty loading in the set. Miscommunication only compounded this problem, forcing the truck to relocate no less than five or six times. During one of these maneuverings, the truck accidentally gave a little love nudge to a parked pickup truck in the parking lot. The truck's owner seemed to think it was less of a love nudge, and more of a huge dent, and Erin spent the better part of an hour dealing with paperwork and insurance and police.

All of the shenanigans with the truck (we finally just double parked on the street, loaded out the truck and then loaded everything back up another ramp into the theater), we were hard pressed to get the show ready, and were forced to start a bit late. The show came off rather well in spite of all this though, thanks largely in part to the extremely competent crew, and we were back on the road well before two o'clock that afternoon.

We drove back to Texas and arrived in Houston a little after 9:00 pm. The notorious traffic had snarled us on our way in, and we were all exhausted. The next morning, we were again confronted with the nausea, aches and pains that had been dogging us all week. Meg and I both felt lousy, Kate didn't seem much better. We all put on a brave face though, and finished the week's final performance without a bang or a whimper.

That evening, we stopped over in Irving, Tx for the night, on our way to Oklahoma City for the weekend. It had been a tumultuous week, and most everyone called it an early night. I however let myself be kidnapped by some good friends from college, and spent the evening in Denton catching up. The next morning as we all piled in to the van once again, our faces expressed the weary reliefe of those who have weathered the worst of a storm and finally had the end in sight. Most of us were feeling moderately healthy again, and we were all grateful for two days off. Ahead of us we had only two more performances, and then a five day break for Thanksgiving.

Our morning in Oklahoma City passed without incident, and soon we were on the road to Tulsa, our holiday destination, and home for the rest of the week. That night at dinner Nate mentioned that TOOL, one of my favorite bands, was playing in Tulsa that night. We immediately scarfed our food and zipped down to the civic center to see if we could get in. Sure enough, there was a single ticket left, and after haggling with a scalper for another, we got inside just as the band took the stage for an amazing concert. The next morning, Tuesday, we were all psyched about the performance, knowing we were almost home free. We were very energetic, and had a tremendous show. Afterwards we were pumped, and relieved to have some downtime.

The next few days were pretty relaxed. We spent a lot of time at the mall, or at the local Barnes and Noble, happy to have nothing on the agenda. For Thanksgiving day, we went to the Cattleman's Steakhouse at the Hilton hotel (the only restaurant open) and had a lovely meal in their beautiful indoor atrium.



Afterwards we wanted a change of pace, and found an extremely country dive bar, that was actually quite full and made some mean drinks. They also had an entire Thanksgiving buffet setup (for free!) so we ended up eating dinner there, feeding the jukebox and mixing it up with the locals.







Tulsa had treated us very well, and there was lots to give thanks for. Friday we headed back on the road, traveling to Evansville, IN. The next morning we pressed on to Charleston, WV, where we spent a quiet weekend in preparation for our performance on Monday.

The last week has been one of cozy hotels and breathtaking mountain scenery. More of our meanderings emerging very soon!

-ICHABOD

The Stars At Night Are Big And Bright . . .

"Deep within my heart lies a melody,
A song of old San Antone.
Where in dreams I live with a memory,
Beneath the stars, all alone."

-Bob Wills



Wide - Open - Spaces-- spread out before us in an endless, unbroken vista, as we sped down I=20 across the border into the great state of Texas. Immediately after crossing the state line, Brent looked out the window exclaiming: "WOW! Everything really is bigger in Texas!" Though his enthusiasm might have temporarily overshadowed his judgment (there really wasn't anything to see yet), it was a great way to start our adventures in Tejas.

The first thing we noticed was that the roads improved considerably and there was a huge presence of Texas flags flying everywhere. The ever-observant Nate Beckman pointed out that the Texas flag was flying at the same height as the American flag, which was not supposed to be allowed . . . until Erin informed him that Texas had been a sovereign nation for 13 years, and therefore was the only state in the union with the right to fly their colors on par with Old Glory. This was the first of many fun Texas facts to be tossed about over the next week.

Our first stop was Abilene, which proved to be a perfect introduction to classic Texan culture. That night Brent and Meg got dressed to the nines and made a trip out to Guitars and Cadillacs, a true honky-tonk dance hall that Brent had read about somewhere and was dying to experience. It proved to be everything he had hoped for and more. It was a large club, filled with people of all ages, many decked out in wranglers, Cowboy boots and steamed Stetsons. They learned how to line dance, and an enterprising Cowboy put Meg through the paces on the dance floor, twirling and two-stepping her with wild abandon. Brent held his own as well, showing the cowboys a few urban moves whenever an R&B track was played. At two-o'clock it was last call, and the speakers blared Dwight Yoakum's Guitars & Cadillacs, from whence the building took its name. Meg and Brent returned bedazzled by the sights and sounds, convinced it was the coolest and most unique night out on tour so far.

Abilene also began my homecoming, as I had family and friends lined up all over Texas to visit while we were there. My aunt and uncle took Brent and I out to dinner Sunday night, treating us to the very best of Texan delicacies. I had an exquisite 10 oz Rib eye while Brent experienced jalapeño poppers and chicken fried steak for the first time. Delicious!

The next morning we played at the Abilene Civic Center, which had by far the most incredible green room any of us had ever seen. Normally the green room is a small affair, with a fridge and a coffee pot, maybe a couch or two. This one was enormous, and furnished like a cattle baron's living room. It had huge paintings of the Texas prairie, a table made out of a wagon wheel, leather recliners, sofas and a giant oak conference table. Not a bad way to start the day.

That afternoon we were headed to Lubbock, Tx. I was at the wheel, an honor I had claimed months ago back in Boston. In the navigator's seat was Erin Whipkey, who had also grown up in Lubbock (strangely enough). As I guided us down the highway, the familiar sights were also interspersed with some new ones, the most notable of which was the huge amount of wind turbines along the highway outside of Abilene. We had been told that the top portion of a large wind farm (the largest in the world as a matter of fact) had recently been completed, and you could see hundreds of the gigantic turbines atop the hills for miles.

As we approached Post, Tx I pulled off for detour to a little cemetery that I knew about, with an incredibly scenic view. Its perched on a bluff overlooking a limitless prairie landscape, a sight that did not fail to impress my fellow travelers.



That evening we arrived at my parent's house in Lubbock, for an evening of merrymaking. The house was filled with friends and family, as well as a veritable cornucopia of culinary delights. The gang fell to, feasting on my mom's famous pork ribs, beef brisket, and myriad other delicacies while I made the rounds catching up with many people I hadn't seen in ages. The evening culminated with an impromptu ping-pong tournament in the game room, and a stately march of desserts, each more exciting than the last. When, finally the guest had left and my fellow actors headed back to the hotel, snuggled in for a night in my own bed. Mmmmmmmm!

The next morning we played the municipal auditorium. After the performance I came out to see my junior high theater teacher Karen Ray, who had attended with 100 of her students. I talked to them briefly and then to another friend, Liz Wilson, who was now a teacher in Amarillo and had brought four of her students down as well. After load out, we all went out to lunch with my parents as well as Kate's parents who had driven in from Santa Fe to see the show. Bread was broken once again, and finally we took our leave of family and friends, back to the open road.

The day's destination was Wichita Falls, Tx, and the drive was remarkable only in its absence of civilization. The wind-swept grasslands of north-central Texas opened around us as we made our way eastward.

The next morning got started off with a bang (literally) as the truck blew a tire on our way to the venue. Luckily Ryder was extremely expedient in repairing the wheel, and had someone there working on it before we finished loading in. That job was made especially interesting by the presence of a three-story outdoor loading elevator which we had to use to transport the set up to the stage space.

Once we had negotiated the elevator, the performance, and the elevator again, we loaded up and breezed down to Cattle town, USA: Fort Worth, Texas.

That night, after settling in to the hotel and getting ourselves spruced up for an evening out, we met up with Erin's friend Clarissa and checked out downtown Fort Worth. First we had to stuff ourselves in to Clarissa's two-door (so that we could make it downtown into the parking garage. Sadly, Matilda was just too ungainly), which made for an interesting ride:





We enjoyed the sights of the lovely Sundance Square, especially the marvelous alabaster angels that adorn the Bass Performance Hall. The Flying Saucer, and its selection of over 100 beers, awaited us. Meg remarked how wonderful it was to be in a proper city again, with all the amenities, and we all had to agree.

The next morning we played the Will Rogers Theater and then headed back out on the highway, bearing south towards San Antonio. We were all excited about the weekend in SA, especially Meg who's best friend was coming to see her, and also happens to be named Meg (strange?). After performing at Trinity University Friday morning, Meg went off with Meg (confused yet?) for the weekend, and we all prepared to hit the Riverwalk. We arrived downtown where we met up with my cousin Kelcey who's currently in dental school in SA, and proceeded to amuse ourselves among the enchanting environs of the Riverwalk: a stretch of restaurants, bars and shops laid out along the San Antonio river, flourishing with greenery of all kinds and elegantly lighted for nighttime enjoyment. We ate at the County Line restaurant, where we had the most AMAZING barbecue of all time. Tender turkey cutlets, excellent sausage, and killer ribs in awe-inspiring quantity. Brent couldn't restrain himself and went wild on the pork ribs, double fisting and wallowing in the tender juicy goodness.



By the next morning everyone was a big fan of San Antonio, and it was time for a little history and more sites, as we headed to the Alamo. Wandering the grounds of the historic mission, we all learned a little Texas history, while Erin, Nate and I then headed to the IMAX to see The Alamo: The Price of Freedom.



This was a fun little dramatized documentary about the Alamo's history. Afterwards, the gang took in the sights of the Ripley's Believe It Or Not Wax Museum.



It was a beautiful day, and we continued to stroll the downtown area, taking in the Texas scenery and enjoying the weather. That night sitting poolside at the hotel, we fought off the unexpected chill with Margaritas, and talked into the night.

Next morning, Sunday, we loaded up once again and reluctantly prepared to take our leave of San Antonio. Meg bid Meg farewell (Freud anyone?), and we rode out of town, headed for Carthage, Tx, in the eastern hinterlands. The drive ahead was long, and as the road opened up our minds were dancing with the magical weekend we had left behind us. Brent turned to me in the car and said: "Brian, I'm really smitten with your state. I never knew its really like its own little country." I couldn't agree more.

-ICHABOD

All Hallow's Happenings

"Once upon a time the witches rode

 In sinister and ominous parade

Upon their sticks at night, and queer lights glowed

With eerie noises by the goblins made;

And many things mysterious there were.

For boyish cheeks to pale at through the grime

That held them brown; and shadows queer would stir-

Don't you remember? - Once upon a time."

-James W. Foley


What shadows are they that stalk the moonlit night? See the macabre silhouettes slinking out of the hotel, festooned in ghastly raiment, causing mischief everywhere they go! This All Hallow's Eve past bore witness to E3's transformation from a traveling theatre troupe to a band of costumed beasties, intent on claiming the night as their own!

But before we get to the Halloween antics, lets rewind to the week's beginning . . . back to Niceville, Florida where we culminated out beach=bum weekend with a performance at Okaloosa-Walten College, and a short drive across the Gulf Coast to Biloxi, Mississippi. We were anxiously anticipating this stop because the company was putting us up in the Isle of Capri Casino resort hotel.



The hotel certainly lived up to our heightened expectations. It was enormous, and had a bar with a three story lava lamp behind it. There was also an amazing gigantic rooftop pool that spilled down onto a similar pool one level below it, all of which overlooked the gulf at sunset. We each received one complimentary drink at the bar, which Brent and I used to the utmost advantage, ordering the most expensive top shelf liquors for both of our freebees. We followed that up with a plate of 24 chicken wings (it was 25 cent wing night) and bottles of bud. Trashy-chic had never looked better.

We all took a look at the slot machines and played around a bit, though the only reward accrued was a headache from the gratuitous amount of flashing lights. Still, it made for an interesting evening.

It was incredible to see Biloxi, and one year later Katrina's devastation was still plain. The casinos were few and far between, and there were felled trees and wrecked buildings all along the coast. All of the hotels and resorts had chosen to rebuild on land, not on the waterfront, which seems rather prudent in light of what happened.



The next morning we played the Strand Theater, a very interesting old venue from the late 20's, that reminded Brent of many theaters he played in Russia. After the performance we headed to Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

The most notable aspect of our time in Baton Rouge was the venue where we performed, the River Center. The theater itself was not that spectacular, but the house crew had been working Chamber shows for decades (they remembered when the whole operation was run out of a mini-van in the 70's), and they were extremely efficient. Half the load-in was done for us, and we finished in record time.

The other remarkable thing about this particular venue, was the deaf interpreter that had been hired for the performance. Over the course of our first month on the road, we often had deaf interpreters at the performances. The talent and skill level of each of them varied widely, and it could be anything from one person in the house signing for a few students, to a team of two interpreters with the script in front of them on a music stand, each playing half the parts. We had seen all different manifestations by this point, and it was something that we had all become used to.

However the man that was interpreting on this particular morning went far above and beyond mere 'interpretation'. He was in his early sixties and tall, with a thick head of grey hair and a full beard. Dressed stylish in black with a black tie, he looked like a chic Santa Claus who was really acting out all of the moments, and translating them into sign at an amazingly fast pace. He also seemed able to anticipate what we were doing on stage and hit all of the beats in the script spot on. I found myself watching him out of the corner of my eye while I was on stage, and being riveted by him while I was off stage. He seemed really comfortable with the material and was delivering a smashing performance.

As we were taking our bows that morning, I extended a hand to our interpreter as well, for he had surely earned it. I found him in the green room afterwards, shook his hand and complimented him on his work. Come to find out, he had spent two days memorizing the entire script so that he could do a better job of interpreting for the performance. I was flabergasted, thinking of all the time it took us to memorize the text back in September. If that's not commitment, I don't know what is.

That afternoon, which just happened to be Halloween, we drove up to Monroe, LA where we were performing the next morning. In the van, Brent was at the wheel in his Hannibal Lecter getup, and insisted on playing "This is Halloween" from the Nightmare Before Christmas no less than 5 times. Once we had arrived and all gotten into what costumes we could throw together, (Erin had spent the day attired as Tonks from Harry Potter, while Nate went as Elvis) we went out in search of some ghoulish fun. I took the van to nearby Ruston, LA to visit my good friend David and go to a party with him. The rest of the gang headed to Chili's and got into all sorts of mischief there.



I returned that night to hear about the All Hallow's fun. I brought back a prize of 1,100 M&M's I had won at the party (whoever guessed closest to the amount in the jar won, and I guessed 1,001. Woohoo!), which we made short work of over the next day or so. We returned to Baton Rouge for a Friday performance with the incredibly efficient crew again, and then headed out to Bossier City for our last night in Louisiana for a while.

We were slated to stay in another Casino hotel, and after the last one we were totally stoked about repeating the experience, especially on a Friday this time. However, our enthusiasm was curbed upon our arrival. This particular hotel was less of a waterfront resort, and more of a musty old Ramada with a few slot machines. The first thing we noticed is that it was a very dark hotel, the rooms smelled a little off, and we seemed to be the only patrons staying there that night. The strangest thing by far though was the huge atrium in the middle of the building. It was about seventy five yards long and thirty wide, open three stories up to the ceiling, and all enclosed. There were potted trees and tables everywhere, with ramps and railings jutting off at strange angles. There was also some white lattice frameworks over the main sitting area at the center, all of which gave the impression of an outdoor gazebo-esque, arbor area. But indoor. And carpeted. Strange.

Add on to this the aloof and snippy house staff, the fact that there were no lights on in the atrium, the stagnant pool and the general emptiness of the entire place, and it felt like the set of a Tarantino movie. Or perhaps the Bates motel. But we tried to make the best of it, by buying a few six packs and sitting together in the creepy atrium. After a few beers and a few stories (and finally getting the lights turned on) it turned into quite a fun evening.

Despite the weirdness of our surroundings, the next day dawned without incident and we were on the road again, this time heading to Texas! After barnstorming the bayou for a week, we were ready for new vistas, and Texas promised all that and more. The Lone Star State is the home of our next set of adventures, coming soon!

-ICHABOD

Sunshine on the Strand

"O Ocean vast! We heard thy song with wonder,
Whilst waves marked time.
'Appear, O Truth!' thou sang'st with tone of thunder,
'And shine sublime!'"

-Victor Hugo



Its been a genteel week on the road, with some very scenic stops. We left you last in Memphis on our day off, which was an awesome stop, however brief. Erin had worked extensively in Memphis, and would be returning there in January to stage manage another show, so she knew the ins and outs of the blues capitol. While I roamed the downtown area, Meg, Nate, Brent and Erin spent the day at Graceland, home of Elvis Presley. After three hours, many pictures taken, wonders surveyed and a number of grilled peanut butter and banana sandwiches later, they took their leave of the King's humble home.

That night we ate at Gus' Fried Chicken, heralded as the world's best. And our experience certainly proved it. We started off with fried pickles and fried green tomatoes as an appetizer (welcome to the south), and followed it up with absurd amounts of the best fried chicken I have ever encountered. Ever. The best. I'm sure Brent and I both ate more than a whole chicken apiece. It was an awe-inspiring night of country dining.

We played Memphis the following morning, in a beautiful new theater downtown that was only a few years old. The performance went well and afterwards we packed up and headed back to Nashville.

Its the country music capitol of the world, and we were staying right in the middle of it, at the Comfort Inn in Opryland. Our first morning in we played at the Nashville War Memorial Auditorium downtown. This was a stunning little theater, with a wrap around balcony and a very tight stage. The ceiling was comprised of particolored ceiling panels in gold and powder blue, and the rest of the space was similarly adorned with elegant, soft blue colors and gold trim. One of the stagehands regaled us with stories of all the greats who had performed on that stage, from Elvis Costello to Bob Dylan. He even said there was a ticket stub on file from a Rolling Stones concert many moons ago. The entry price: two dollars.



Behind the theater was the memorial itself, a collection of statues and plaques honoring Tennessee's armed services. The performance was frenzied, since the audience was so close and those in the forward balcony could see backstage. But we gave it our all and thoroughly enjoyed the penny-seat appeal of the morning.

The following day we finished the week with a sold-out show at the Acuff theater, next door to the Grand Ole Opry. After load-out we lunched at the Opry Mills mall next door, overwhelmed by the droves of shoppers, flashing lights and endless wares. Meg was going crazy for the mall, as she is a serious shopper, and it was all we could do to keep her from buying three of everything. Dazed and bedazzled we mounted up and shot down the highway to Montgomery, AL where we passed the night.

The following morning, after a lavish hotel breakfast (thanks to our producer's frequent travel bonus we had stayed in a Fairfield Inn--upgrade!) we journeyed down through the wilds of Alabama to sunny Niceville, FL.

Immediately upon our arrival at the hotel we checked in, changed clothes and headed directly for the beach. The hotel itself was situated on the coast, a stone's throw from the water, but the public beach was a bit further off. We piled into the van, crossed an enormously long bridge and rolled up to the waterfront, at the Henderson Beach State Park. While Erin took Matilda in for some much-needed maintenance, the rest of us frolicked in the gulf and caught what little sunshine we could before five o'clock. The beach was a brilliant white, the water pure azure, and we had the entire place to ourselves. After a delightful two hours Erin picked us up and carted us back to the hotel.



But the real fun came the following day, when we hit the beach for real. We stocked up on water, towels and reading material, and headed back to spend the whole day as beach bums. Brent and Nate chased what little waves there were and practiced bellyflop surfing while Meg soaked up some rays and Erin built a sand camel. There was a local arts festival going on and we checked it out later in the afternoon.



It was a gloriously lazy day, relaxing and fun and exactly what we were needing. As the sun went down, we all counted ourselves lucky to be so far south so late in the season. This is the type of fall job we could all get used to . . .





After the beach we headed over to get some coffee and peruse the local bookstore. We found a Panera Bread and scrounged up a light dinner, while watching the spectacular sunset behind a row of palm trees. The sky looked like pink cotton candy run through with turquoise stripes, and it was full of color from the horizon to the heights. A gorgeous end to a great day.

Monday morning we played at Okaloosa-Walton College (I just love writing that name), in a state-of-the-art facility with an extremely competent crew. After the performance, we rocked out to Biloxi, MS where a night in the Isle of Capri Casino hotel awaited us . . .

You can look forward to those adventures and more as we continue storming a barn near you.

-ICHABOD