Christmas Time is Here

We spent an unexpected night in Indianapolis while traveling from venue to venue. Equally unexpected was our decision to see the 98 Degrees Christmas concert in the venue we'd be playing after winter break. Bri, Matt, Emanuel and I went to live our 90s fantasy with Nick Lachey, and the four of us swayed and sang "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" with the Buffalo Plaid clad band as the snow fell all over the stage.

I was met by several surprises in Wilkes-Barre, PA. The first was the Seven Tubs Nature Area. Miriam and I traversed the snow dusted woods at dusk to see the ancient (12,000 years old) falls and pools of water.

Another big surprise was the Brown Cow.

Did you know there was a giant cow at the birth of Jesus?

It had been a few years since my last visit to State College, PA. This time I decided I would finally try grilled stickies at The Corner Room. MM. The town is filled with a number of unique stores. We escaped the cold down in Webster's, and I learned that each member at this bookstore/cafe has their own labeled mug they can use each time they come in! There are shelves and shelves of these beautiful clay mugs.

Writing letters to Santa to mail outside of the diner.

A little Vince Guaraldi in the lobby with Bri.

Dianne and I walked around downtown Lowell, MA and found Life Alive. I'm fascinated with vegan restaurants. how do they do it? I ordered the Sufi Poet salad and it's probably one of the best salads I've tasted. We finished lunch with a vegan truffle (also one of the best chocolates I've eaten.)

Every store and business (including stores like Subway and CVS) were decked out in glitter and bows for Christmas. 

I went straight home that night to have a jam-packed holiday in Philadelphia.

The first stop on a very festive Philly day. A drinking chocolate flight at Shane Confectionary followed by skee-ball and skating at the Blue Cross Riverrink, a visit to the new Cherry Street Pier, shopping at the markets at City Hall, Macy's windows, and lights in Rittenhouse Square.  

The tree Matt and I cut down.

I found this wonderland in Swarthmore on the way to pick up sushi for my family's annual Muppet Christmas Carol viewing.

A Christmas sniff sniff.

Me not being able to escape work.

'Tis the season of my last name.

King Arthur has been through a lot.

The evening before my return to tour was a lot.

Tulsa: If You Are Here You Are Awesome

The only reason I know that Tulsa exists is because there's a character in Gypsy named after this Oklahoma town. As we made our way across the OKLA I conducted my usual forty-six-open-tabs-of-Safari research to find festive things to do in the city. According to the internet, most of the Tulsa attractions are not in Tulsa. I'm finding this to be a new advertising trend for cities: they lure you into staying in them so you can leave. With the help of my tour friends, the time to wander around, and Google Map scrolling I found a number of wonderful Tulsa places.

The Gathering Place is the type of recycled, modern, simple, imagination space that is perfect for kids to play but also adults to play before someone calls the police. I wanted to take photos of the castles, suspension bridges, and play places on the grounds, but they were occupied by children and I didn't want to take their picture. There are plenty of things for everyone to do here! Below the Patio by the Four Seasons Garden entrance there is a small collection of antiques. Items are sorted by hight and type, and each collection of things melds into another. The way the assortment sits against the clean white walls of the gallery made me think of various depictions of the rabbit hole Alice falls down.

Four Seasons Garden

Not pictured is a life sized child doll dressed as a nun.

The Gathering Place has several fireplaces among a small ice cream shop, courtyard with a burger place, and a cozy modern wood lodge (above the ice cream.) If you're looking for more nom noms and a Christmas spectacle, stop by at night time. The street adjacent to the park is lined with food trucks, and Oklahoma vendors sell their art between the festive lights on the paths. There is also live music provided by Victorian singers, elves, and hipsters. And hot chocolate and decorate-your-own-sugar-cookies. And there is a giant Christmas goose mascot.

Look close

After my daytime adventure at the Gathering Place I scooted over to Woodward Park to see some more trees and a real life goose (not pictured.) And then I walked to Utica Square (this shopping center reminded me of the major bougie shopping area I went to as a child (with my mom) called Suburban Square.) You can meet Santa here, pose with several large nutcracker statues, and get your Secret Snowflake shopping done.

Woodward Park

Utica Sqaure

The Clara/Marie animatronic in pink on the left sits up and flops over.

The Botanic Garden lights up the night outside of the city center. Upon entering we purchased empanadas from the Masa truck, sat on hay around a fire, and listened to "Gypsy Jazz with David Horne and Friends" play accordion and acoustic Christmas tunes. I asked if they had an album I could purchase and they laughed and said no. Then they asked for a singer to join them for a bit and Lizzie volunteered. After the singing we purchased Ghirardelli hot chocolate (you can have it spiked if you like) and walked into a winter light wonderland. The main gardens are adorned with red and green, and if you listen closely you can hear The Nutcracker playing. The children's garden is blue and purple, and features a Cave of Wonders looking sculpture; the inside of which looks like the setting of Fraggle Rock. Beyond the gardens is an event lodge! Inside, you can purchase spiked cider, write a wish and hang it on one of the trees, and have a photoshoot.

The welcome center sells mugs with the cave of wonders face on them.

I usually don't write about our venues on here, but the BOK Center is really neat. It has a photo booth. A speakeasy dressing room for famous people. Weekly breakfast with Santa. An outdoor ice rink. These things:

The Brady Arts District was right behind the BOK. I took lunch at Chimera Cafe and was served citrus water and a seasonal salad before wandering around. To the right of the cafe is the Tulsa Violin Shop. The sign on the door read "out to lunch," but I wish they were open because the sight of cellos in the window made me miss playing in my high school orchestra, and I wanted to go in and ask to play something.

Glacier Fine Chocolate was a surprise I stumbled upon (also wow remember stumbleupon.com) and I ended up sampling and purchasing Christmas gifts here. Just a few steps away sits Shuffles Board Game Cafe. I walked in here thinking I would find games to purchase, my friend Ellen loves games, but this cafe is dedicated to supplying games to play while you eat. I'd go back to play. On the way back to the venue I crossed the Center of the Universe. If you stand in the middle of it and speak/sing, the sound bounces right back in your ears as if you are wearing a bucket on your head.

The center

On my Tulsa adventure I learned from an Uber driver that all local radio stations this side of the Mississippi start with the letter K and the stations on the other side start with the letter W.

I went over to the Boxyard to get my hair cut. This small shopping center is made out of shipping containers, and it's pretty neat. The door to the barber shop Tonsorial read, "for tree huggers, right wingers, health nuts, cheap skates, Jesus freaks, science geeks, city slickers, rednecks, foodies, outsiders, and ever lawyers." Sweet Boutique below is known for their chocolate covered cookie dough. I sampled a small bite of this (the confections are about the size and shape of a pencil eraser after you pull it out of that metal part which I just looked up the name of and found out it is called a "ferrule" and I hope you find that information useful) and a chocolate covered gummy bear.

Another one of my drivers told me that Tulsa is going to be a happening spot in five or ten years, but I think it's happening now. If the above isn't any proof, here is this final gem: the Tulsa court house and post office plays recordings of birds of prey to scare creatures away.

Thanksgiving [Love & Happiness]

I downloaded a Thanksgiving app, which features a countdown, trivia, turkey cooking instructions, and daily quotes and jokes. Some of these will appear below.

Did you know “Jingle Bells” was written for Thanksgiving by James Pierpont and once titled “One Horse Open Sleigh?”

The few days we spent in Jonesboro, AR began with rain and ended with the first snow of the season! A group of us went to Hijinx for laser tag and bowling. Hijinx serves up three kinds of french fries: curly, thicc, and regular, and I ate them all. Between potato courses I learned that I bowl with a 15L. I also learned that I love laser tag. We played a capture the flag game and a base domination game in a room with multiple levels, hideouts, and LED lighting. It was also during this week that I learned about Plaid Tuesday in New York. This past Tuesday was the “it’s getting chilly” Tuesday when flannels are to be worn. I don’t know how the city collectively decides this but I’m told it’s a thing, so I celebrated. I also began my Thanksgiving celebration by showing my favorite Thanksgiving video to Dianne and Lizzie.

Our Little Rock hotel looked out on the Arkansas River. I love that I can explore river walks around the country. I passed by a number of sculptures on my run and knew I had to visit for a closer look.

Retro Trees by Dale Rogers

See you at Thanksgiving.

THE Little Rock.

A group of us drove out a few hours to dig for diamonds at Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro. For $10 you can dig, pan, and scout for precious stones in thirty seven acres of dirt. As I was sifting, a beautiful fantasy-looking orange butterfly landed in front of my trowel. I kept sifting in this area because I thought the butterfly landing meant that diamonds would be there. None of us found diamonds in the field but we can buy diamonds anytime. The butterfly was a gift.

The anti-Philadelphia

Then we headed to Hot Springs. This town was settled around a series of natural hot springs with temperatures up to 134ºF. We stuck our hands in the steamy water and visited the Hot Springs National Park Visitor Center. This nineteenth century bathhouse is preserved to showcase spa treatments from decades past. The men’s bathing room has a fountain and beautiful stained glass window, the women’s did not and I’m mad. The third floor has a gym and workout/rehab equipment upholstered with velvet. Mmmm.

“We should certainly count our blessings, but we should also make our blessings count.” 

-Neal A. Maxwell

Outside of Esse's in Little Rock

Every February for three years I attended a theatre conference in Memphis and stayed at the Sheraton, which is where we stayed this week! I walked to Blue Plate Cafe, and as soon as I saw the stack of newspaper menus I realized I ate here four years ago with my friend Scott, and I loved it, so I knew I was in for a treat. Here is a picture of my eggs and the cheesiest hash browns I will ever eat. 

There is a scale model of half of the Mississippi on Mud Island, just a bridge away from my hotel. The length of the bridge is a short walk, and a monorail runs underneath to bring you to the island and its museum. Both of the monorail and museum were closed, it was cloudy, and there were only four people on the island, and this felt eerie.

“Thanksgiving is a time of togetherness and gratitude.” 

-Nigel Hamilton

Kelsie, Marco, Dianne, my Lullaby Rubble and I Ubered over to Graceland! Rubble loves Elvis. His song in our show is very similar to “Jailhouse Rock.” So I had to bring him. The bridge between the parking lot and the complex smelled like poo poo? While we were waiting in the ticketing office next to a large photograph of the king an employee asked if Lullaby Rubble was my travel buddy. She was excited about it and asked if I wanted a picture with him and Elvis. I said yes and told her I play Rubble with the Paw Patrol tour and that he loves Elvis, and she got even more excited (“My grandchildren will never believe…”) After pictures she recommended different ticket packages to us. It turns out that there is an option to just tour the museums (option not listed online), which contain over a million archival documents, Elvis’ vehicles, his costumes, exhibits on his philanthropic efforts (he donated $40,000 to various people and causes over the course of two weeks one November), and SO many gold and platinum records. This ticket is under $29! Elvis once did a stint on tour of four shows a day. I thought three was too much, but wow. 

Worn in Tupelo and at the Louisiana Hayride

American Eagle Jumpsuit

Grammy for Best Inspirational Performance, 1974: "How Great Thou Art"

This gift shop scarf is labeled for “ages 14 and up.”

These Elvis quotes stuck with me:

“I always felt that someday, somehow, something would happen to change everything for me, and I'd daydream about how it would be." 

"Talent is being able to sell something you are feeling." 

We made our way to Beale Street! I always keep an eye out for pralines, and Beale Sweets Sugar Shack delivered. This sweet shop specializes in fudge, and Chewy Praline is their top selling flavor. You can also purchase a banana flavored Blue Suede Shoes fudge (Elvis loved bananas.) I bought a square of the Pumpkin Spice fudge and devoured it while Kelsie and Marco talked cotton candy with the candy man. The doorman at Silky O'Sullivan's checked our IDs and told us “You’re twenty one” as we entered (no one is twenty one.) We were entertained with some dueling piano Elvis covers, goats on the patio behind the old street front wall (still free-standing), and a piece of the Blarney Stone. 

Qawha serves up a very cheap very good breakfast.

I went into a Bass Pro Shop for the first time! This one in Memphis is enormous and and contains the tallest free-standing elevator. The outside of the building is shaped like a pyramid, and for years I asked “What is in this pyramid?” but never looked it up. Maybe I liked the mystery. Maybe I wanted to believe that I was the only one that saw it. And now I know that on the inside there is a shopping EXPERIENCE. It looks like the courtyard of a wilderness lodge! There are fish (longnose gar and bigass cat fish)! The first floor is laden with ponds, sweatshirts, toys, Bass Pro Santa, and the Lookout elevator entrance. If you take the elevator up to the Lookout (tickets $10) a voice regals the story of a bet involving a 30lb catfish and the opening of this very Bass Pro Shop. The second floor is where you can buy your cross bow and other hunting/party gear. There is also a collection of duck decoys from the past century and some beautiful duck stamp art. I didn't think much about duck stamps and duck hunting until this experience, but now I know that registered duck hunters must buy the new duck stamps every year, for the proceeds go to wetlands conservation efforts!

View from the lookout

My trip to the city of “Love & Happiness” would not be complete without a trip to Westy's. Every year at the theatre conference I would come into the restaurant around midnight after my callbacks, and I would order from an enormous menu and then reflect on the day and write. The restaurant serves huge plates of rice topped of with combinations of all sorts of goodness, and for dessert you can order a brownie sundae bigger than your face. I walked into Westy's after my last show in the city and was surrounded by fifty people from a church group cutting potatoes. “You’ve been here before right?” the server asked me. I said, “A few years ago [but there were less potatoes?],” then he said, “Welcome back.” Westy's was preparing for their free Thanksgiving lunch. I got a salad and wrote about my day.

I’m thankful that I’m fulfilling my childhood dreams.

“I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual.” 

-Henry David Thoreau

PS

On this part of the tour I learned that some hotels have Governor's Suites. We used one to house microwaves, refrigerators, and luggage, but does the governor usually stay there? Tune in next time. 

PPS

Our next hotel provided us with a delicious Thanksgiving dinner. I usually put a small bite of cranberry sauce on my plate only because it's tradition to eat it, but this sause was sweet like candy and I went back for more. The pumpkin pie was full of spice and mm. My mom told me that two types of mashed potatoes were served at our family Thanksgiving, and I was a little bummed to be missing out on the options, BUT THEN I found that two types of mashed potatoes were being served at our hotel Thanksgiving. #thankful

PPPS
When I worked in the Finger Lakes a few years ago my dad passed down his wool skiing sweater to me. He recently told me that it used to have a matching hat, but it was lost. I hadn't knitted in four years, and I'd never done a hat before, but I decided to replicate the lost hat.