Hot Springs, Arkansas

Darrel and I had a Golden Day on Thursday when we were in Little Rock (no travel and no show), and I convinced him that we wanted to go to Hot Springs for the afternoon! I of course read about it in my book.

Hot Springs was a destination for the wealthy and others in the 19th century. They went to visit "America's first spa". There are hot springs there that were supposed to heal ailments. Doctor's actually prescribed people to go there, for things like hemorrhoids!! It has the best collection of bath houses in America, called Bathhouse Row. These bathhouses have stained glass windows, billiards rooms, bronze statues, marble- unreal. Most of them are closed now (the "grandest" of them is now the visitor's center), but the Buckstaff Bathhouse remains open, and that is where Darrel and I went. It has been open since 1912!


I wasn't sure what to expect, because the only similar experience I had was when I was in Baden Baden, Germany, and I was totally neked and was with other people. This was totally different. Darrel and I were on separate floors, and you are assigned a person who takes you, privately, to each station. It starts with a 20 minute whirlpool bath, and then you do things like hot packs on your back, sitz baths, steam cabinets (see below- you sit in them with your head sticking out- I felt like a David Copperfield illusion), and it ends with an awesome Swedish massage. It took about an hour and a half, and it only cost $55.00!

The weather was beautiful, and it was a fun experience. We didn't make it to the National Park, simply because we could not find the entrance, but the little town was very pretty, and when the heck am I ever going to be in Arkansas again!?

Bartlesville, OK

We had quite an exciting time here today in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. (Where, you ask)? It was really nice out earlier today. Then there we are hanging out in the hotel lobby when the tornado drills started. The only tornado drill I had ever heard until today was in elementary school when we used to practice what we would do if one hit. A little different. This is a huge city siren that goes off along poles up and down the street. Freaky! The sky was totally black and the wind was whipping. I guess this is a common thing here in Oklahoma, but all of us were in awe! Then it started to pour rain. Unfortunately, some of our friends were walking home from lunch when it started- they had to mop the lobby after they went back to their rooms.

Needless to say, we are all alive and well. Headed into St. Louis tonight for about 24 hours, then off to Muncie, IN!

Little Rock, AR

This past week we spent four days in Little Rock, AR. I was really pumped to go there because it's actually a city we have never been to before. Turns out it was really nice!

The weather was beautiful the entire time we were there. In the 70's and 80's, and sunny! Tuesday morning I had to wake up at 5:30 to go out and do TV and radio with a few of our cast members. Even though it was way too early (my normal bedtime is around 2am), it was nice to drive around the city (and the suburbs) and check out things other than what I could walk to from our hotel. The PR girl I worked with there was a lot of fun- she told us the places we needed to check out! One of the TV interviews was at a farmer's market, right on the Arkansas River. I bought myself a little handmade bread basket from one of the dudes there. Souvenir memories!

They had amazing bars in Little Rock. Like a whole street of them, right down by the water. One night we went to a dueling piano bar. It kind of became a karaoke bar/open mic night when we arrived though- fun none the less!

Another great place we went was called the Cajun Wharf restaurant. I heard about it, and Darrel, Haley and myself decided to give it a go. It wound up being a three story PARTY on the Arkansas River. No lie- this place was packed! Awesome view, good music, and a huge drink with a jar we could take home! :)

The tourism office of Little Rock was nice enough to offer us free passes to go to the Clinton Library and Museum. Darrel and I decided to walk (bad idea) there and check it out. It was a little further than we thought it was going to be! It was an interesting place to check out, but we were in and out in about a half hour. It has a bunch of artifacts from his time in office, gifts he was given, letters of correspondence from his terms, pictures, etc. It also had a replica of the Oval Office. That might have been the only really cool thing there (at least in my opinion). Maybe it's too recent in history for me to really care?

New England

We finished up our fun week in Newark with me being sick- yay! I am still getting over this cold... but it didn't stop us from eating our way through the rest of the stay.

Darrel, Jason and I went to lunch on his birthday at one of those Brazilian meat places. You know- where they bring out the meat on a stick and slice it onto your plate. Darrel and I had Easter dinner at a Spanish place where each meal was enough for three. And THEN, Darrel, Ray, myself, and Phil from Hershey (the restaurant owner we love) met in NYC on Monday for dinner at the restaurant Darrel used to work at, called Becco. Becco rocks. They put us at the best table in the place, and treated us like kings! We ate and ate and drank and drank. I mean, really?! Good thing I am unemployed in three weeks- I can join a gym. Not really.

This week we have been in New England:

Tuesday- Providence, RI

Wednesday- Waterbury, CT

Thursday- Springfield, MA

And we have pretty much done.... nothing! I have been catching up on work, we have watched TV, I did laundry, we stopped at Wal Mart and a discount liquor store, and that's about it. A very exciting week out here on the road.

This weekend we are in Easton, PA and then we have about a 1,200 mile drive to get to Arkansas. I am actually excited about Arkansas because I have not been there before. For the last month or so, we have been playing in cities Darrel and I have already been to. Kind of losing the excitement of touring, when it's not new anymore. Hopefully Little Rock will be everything I dream of and more! :)

HAIR!

We are in Newark, NJ for almost a WEEK! Unheard of. Newark kind of sucks, but we can take the train to NYC in about 20 minutes, so that makes up for the little ghetto we are in right now.

We had Wednesday night off, so we of course were busy making plans to go to NY and enjoy a night there. Our friend Craig has a connection with the new Broadway show HAIR (well, old, but new) and got us four tickets for Wednesday night. Then we got three more tickets, and then someone else got three tickets! So we had a little HAIR night together.

I didn't know much about the show, other than it took place during Vietnam, they were a bunch of hippies, and people got naked. Darrel filled me in a little before we went. It was just amazing. The energy the actors gave off was like nothing I have ever seen in a show. They come down into the audience singing, and really make you feel like you are a part of the show, rather than just watching the show. I loved the music, the costumes, the story- everything!

After the show, we went to a bar around the corner for dinner, and to meet up with a few friends from tours past. We all starting talking, drinking, went to another bar, and the next thing you know, it is like 4:00 in the morning! That's the thing about New York- everything closes so late that you don't realize what time it is. And we were having so much fun with our tour friends that it just flew by. Oops.

We realized we had to leave, and a few people thought they knew where an open train station was to get us back to Jersey. They definitely exist, but we had a hard time finding one. About 25 blocks later, Darrel and I bargained with a cab driver, and hopped in his car to get back. Our friends eventually found one and made it back on the train.

As much fun as I had on Wednesday, once again, I have proven to myself that New York City is just not my thing. I had a hard time with the mass amounts of people, stepping around people, my purse getting knocked around, the traffic. I guess I'm an Ohio girl at heart. :)

On a side note, just a little shout out to Darrel- his 31st birthday was yesterday! We celebrated by going to HAIR, and we are planning on dinner together on Sunday night, and going back into the City on Monday. He seems to squeeze a full week out of his birthday every year, but hey- I'm right there having fun with him!

Eating Our Way Through New Haven

As you may know, Darrel and I love to eat. Everything. We talk about what we are going to eat and where we are going to eat it when we wake up in the morning.

New Haven had a few places we wanted to check out. The first was Louis' Lunch. This is a tiny little place right downtown, and they claim to have made the first hamburger EVER in 1900. The story is that a guy rushed into the place and asked for something quick, so they threw a beef patty into a broiler, and slapped it on two pieces of bread. Voila.

There is no ketchup or mustard, but you can get it with cheese and onions. It's pretty much a burger patty on Wonder bread for $5.00. They also sell chips and drinks. The coolest part of it is the building itself. And they cook the burgers to order in this vertical broiler thing. Yum.

The second place we wanted to check out was Little Italy. There is a place called Frank Pepe's that is supposed to have the best pizza ever, and opened in 1925. All they have on their menu is pizza. That's it. We took a walk there in between shows on Sunday, and woah- the line was down the street to get in. And this is a sit-down restaurant! We found out there was another building behind it that was literally walls, tables and chairs, that was also part of Pepe's and served the same pizza. Since the pizza is what we were there for, we skipped the wait and the ambiance, and went to mini Pepe's.

I was in the bathroom when the waitress came, and came back just in time to tell her that I wanted onions and peppers on my half. About ten minutes later, I start looking around at the size of these pies, and I ask Darrel, "what size did you order? A small, or a medium"? "A large". He didn't ask the waitress how big the sizes were, so here is Darrel with the best pizza we have ever had. And the largest:

?????

Looking at the pictures below, can you guess where we are this weekend??

Nope, not Europe. It's actually Yale University, in New Haven, CT! The campus is just beautiful!

Hershey, PA Part II

I call this part two, because we were in Hershey LAST year, and did the whole tourist thing then. The Chocolate World, the museum, the gift shops. But you know what the best thing to come out of Hershey last year was? PHIL!!! Meet Phil:

Phil owns a restaurant called Fenicci's. He is the best business owner we have ever met. We went there both nights this week.

He keeps the place open late when shows are in town (literally until everyone has eaten). He will open early if you want to eat before the show. He remembers everyone's name. First drink is on him. He shoves food and drinks down people's throats because he just wants you to try it, and have fun. His menu is outstanding. He has 50 cent meatball madness, and when you order them, he'll yell out "SHANNON NEEDS TWO BALLS!!!". You only want a half order of something? OK. He opens bottles of wine for us to try them, and then finishes them with us. He is opening an ice cream parlour (the only one in Hershey believe it or not) that he took us into late at night, and gave us ice cream and candy. He says he does not care if it makes money- he just wants to do it. Phil is awesome, and is the sole reason Darrel and I were looking so forward to going back to Hershey! We have already said that we want to take a road trip one summer to see Phil, and go to Hershey Park. I guess the Hershey Hotel is somethin' else too.

Oh, and on Wednesday night, the town really smelled like chocolate. Kind of more like cocoa mix, but chocolate either way!

Yankees Night!

This post is a bit overdue (like all of mine recently because I'm so busy with work) but.... last Friday night was probably the BEST night of this year's tour so far.

One of the girls on this tour is part of the family that owns the Yankees. I'm not going to get into it, but due to her "family business" if you will, she invited the entire company to a Yankees/Reds pre-season game. Nice, right?! But here's the kicker- we sat in the owner's box! Swanky, let me tell you!

About 50 of us arrived at the game on our big bus, and parked in the players lot. No big deal. Just some crummy Escalades and Benz's. We then walked up through the stadium, and up to Box 1. That would be George Steinbrenner's box. It was beautiful! Plenty of room for everyone inside, and about 20 seats outside to watch the game. Darrel was in absolute heaven.

Our Judas sang the National Anthem, and then Richard Gere threw out the first pitch. We all ate wonderful food (I'm talking a never ending supply of beef, turkey, burgers, hot dogs, shrimp, veggies, Mexican food, salads) and enjoyed the open bar. You want a Bacardi? They don't have it? They'll get in within five minutes. Beer is getting low? It will magically appear within minutes. It was so generous of them to have us!The cast was getting ready to head down to the field to sing Take Me Out To The Ball Game for the 7th inning stretch when you guessed it... Richard Gere comes strolling in to say hello! It was too much! I didn't get a picture with him though. Oh well.

After prying some people off Richey, they all ran down and sang on the field, and we enjoyed the rest of the game. Especially the dessert cart they rolled in there with Bailey's and Sambuca that you could drink out of little chocolate edible cups!THEN, when we thought this dream was all over, they had a big fireworks show after the game was over.
Can you even believe this was our night off!? We can't. :)

If you want to check out other photos and (pretty damn funny) videos, check out Mark's blog.

Larger Than Life

This is how I live right now- larger than life.

That being said, one week in D.C., one week of one nighters in FL and CT and PA since then, has made me a.... fatty!! My jeans are so terribly tight- legging outfits are on the rise. My shirts are too tight... dresses here I come!

I tell myself that our way of life makes this happen, and it does. I eat dinner every night at 11:00pm. I have drinks with dinner. I have not had a vegetable not cooked in oil in months, and I actually usually pick the potato instead. A home cooked meal happened once in February, and once in March.

I'm sure the fact that I am in Hershey, PA right now, and there is free chocolate at the theatre, is really going to help.

My next bog will be about the fabulous night I had in Tampa at a Yankees game (lots of food and drink there!).... until then, over and out with my sweat pants!