Last weekend I made a quick trip up to Philadelphia for two performances of The Emperor's New Clothes. I drove up from Charlotte on Saturday, spent the night in the heart of the City of Brotherly Love, did the shows on Sunday and buzzed on back home right afterwards. It was great. I love the life of the puppet troubadour!
I left Charlotte around 9:00am, equipped with a K.R. Special from Owen's Bagels, three litres of Raspberry Lime Sparkling Water, some Stacey's TexArkana Hot Pita Chips and a recently downloaded album of Lord Kitchener, King of Calypsos.
From the onset I had several altercations with Eva, the nice girl inside my GPS. She was hellbent that I go up I-85 and I was just as hellbent to take the laid back, pastoral trip through the Shenandoah Valley via I-77 and I-81. I finally convinced her.
The trip up was great. I can never get enough of the bucolic wonder of those gentle hills that roll through Virginia. I saw an amazing vertical line of cows grazing up the side of one hill and thought of my father telling me when I was a boy that mountain cows were bred with their legs shorter on one side so they can stand on the mountainside just right. I believe him.
I drove on and thought about the performances coming up tomorrow and marveled at whoever the clever person was to book The Emperor's New Clothes in conjunction with a Textile Exhibit at the museum. That's just hilarious to me.
Just like that I was there and checked in and wandering around the Avenue of the Arts on a Saturday night, and Valentine's Day no less. I thought of my Valentine Peggy, who was home alone with our dog Jessie. Then I realized that dinner might be a problem; swooning couples were streaming, arm in arm, into every eatery in sight.
I peered through the windows at an Italian place right next to my hotel and saw what I had been searching for; a lone seat at the bar. The Traveling Man's Shangri-La! I had my newspaper pacifier folded neatly under my arm as I strolled confidently inside the welcoming confines of Sotto Varalli.
I sat down and order a nice glass of Montepulciano. I scanned the crowd, noting the different temperatures of the Valentine Lovers around the bar. Some were new and excited, others where assured and complacent. Two old black guys played the piano and upright bass off in the corner and the place was filled with their wonderful crooning. It was nice.
I chatted with this guy Mike who was waiting with a party of 10 couples for their table. He was a physicist. A fusion (not fission!) physicist no less. Quite a guy. Then I chatted with the couple on the other side of me. I told the gentleman that he looked like a cross between Bil Baird and Anthony Hopkins. I was amazed when he responded, "who is Anthony Hopkins?"
After more observing and another glass of the Red, I left with some gnocchi for the room and a good night's rest before the shows the next day.
The performances were a blast. Everyone at the Museum was fantastic to work with. The houses were full and the audiences had a passion that was great. The Emperor's New Clothes relies heavily on 5 volunteers from the audience and both shows provided excellent "townspeople."
Before I knew it, I had struck the show and the truck was headed South once again. Some more pita chips and sparkling water and another tank of gas. It was a quiet, uneventful trip highlighted by my iPod on a full shuffle of all the music on there. What a wild ride that was. It would go from a Beethoven Sonata to Todd Snyder to Lucinda Williams to the aforementioned Lord Kitchener to Jimmy Buffett to Charlotte Church to etc. etc. etc. Man, it was something.
Towards the end of the trip, some beautiful snow fell in the mountains of Virginia, just before crossing into North Carolina. I pulled back in front our our house at midnight and all was well. Great trip!
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