Home to Rome

Friday October 12th we pulled into Utica.... my dad came to pick Steve and me up and whisk us to Rome. We met a lot of Bev's family at the Savoy, an Italian restaurant that has been in Rome for as long as I can remember. We had dinner with dad and Bev, Bev's sister Diane and her kids, and Bev's son John and his wife Judy. It was a delicious meal.... then dad took us to RFA where we were going to play our concert. This high school is new, big and beautiful.... but it's not the same building that I went to school in when I went to RFA... Chris Ferarri is also an RFA graduate. It was a nice homecoming. Sara announced us... I especially liked the part where she pointed out that Steve and I are married and that I am his better half! TeeHee. After the concert I got photos with my old junior high band director, Ms. Lab; my old sax teacher, Carol Dumka; my good friend Donna and her daughter and her parents; my good friend Pam and her husband.... and of course my dad, Bev, and her family.

Then we all met up at Applebee's and caught up with each other... talking, laughing, and really enjoying the night. The Steve and I went back to dad's house and did laundry til all hours of the night... or should I say morning!!!!??? I hated to say goodbye!

Ithaca, NY

We got to Ithaca Wed. Oct 10th and played at Cornell that night. Then, Thursday we had a day off.... our first of 3 days off!!!! It's so great to sleep in, hang out... just be.... with no time limits.... no place you have to be at a certain time! You really miss that out here! We ate at the Moosewood Restaurant.... shopped a bit.... just kinda rested and hung out. It was great!!!!!!

Adventure in Syracuse

We went from Rochester to Syracuse on Tuesday the 9th... my old college buddy, Chris and her daughter Shannon, came to hang with Steve and me at our hotel and get some grub. Later, we met them at the concert site.... the Landmark Theater. It's a really old theater that is beautifully painted in the lobby and has some nice stained glass doors. It was fun having friends in the audience.... they kept smiling at me. At intermission I found out my old sax teacher from high school was there too. We all planned to meet in the lobby after the concert and hang out.


We took photos in the lobby and walked back to the cars. Carol, my former teacher, had Steve walk her to her car, and Chris, Shannon and I walked back to theirs. That's when we were accosted by a tall, thin, young, blackman who had a bandana wrapped around his face. He told us to drop our purses and no one would get hurt. He had a knife! I saw that Chris was trapped against her car with Shannon... she was trying to get Shannon into the car.... I realized I had to be the one to run for help. I took off screaming for help and ran into the road to stop a car.... thank God the person stopped and eventually pulled over to help my friends.... that's when the guy ran away. The man who stopped, happened to be Chris' preacher! God provides! We called the cops. They came and drove us around looking for the guy. We didn't find him. Meanwhile, Steve and Carol were waiting for us at Chris' until I called and let them know we were gonna be late.... we finally all met up at Chris' house and we got a little silly, letting out the anxiety of being mugged! Steve and Carol were happy to see us!

Rochester and Eastman!

Monday Oct. 8 we went to Rochester, NY. I got my Bachelor's degree from the Eastman School of Music and was excited about playing in the Eastman Theater that evening. We arrived at the hotel at 2:45 that afternoon. My friends, the Bacon family, met Steve and me at our hotel. Terry was my student when I was at Eastman and he later graduated from Eastman, too. He and his parents, Geri and Ernie, came to take us over to the school to see what's changed since I went to school there, and to get some ESM stuff from the bookstore. The Sibley Library is HUGE... much bigger than I remember.... in fact that whole building didn't exist when I went there. The dorm is new too.... the Tower wasn't there... and my old dorm was gutted out and turned into some arts school for high school students. Culter Union, the old student union, is a restaurant now. Weird! Oh well. After driving around, they took us to dinner at a Greek restaurant which was great.... then they dropped us off early at the theater to get ready for the concert.

It was nice to be back on that stage... the hall is so beautiful! I can't believe I used to rehearse there all the time! The audience was very appreciative... it was nice to be an alumni.

After the concert, we walked around the school so I could see how much things had changed. In a lot of ways, things were pretty much the same... they did have some computers that weren't there... but of course technology has come a long since the 80's! The Bacons took us out for appetizers and drinks and we talked about old times... it was nice!

In some ways it was sad to say goodbye...

Portsmouth to Braintree

It was great to sleep in a bit today. We got to wander around Portsmouth, NH until 3:30 pm, so Steve, Karen, Gerald, and I went to lunch at the coolest restaurant called Friendly Toast. It was kinda like a 1950’s diner, except with a punk twist. There were dolls, taxidermy stuffed animals, strange paintings, and even a funhouse mirror. The food was really good, too. After lunch, Karen and I went perusing the cute shops. I got some nice things at a Life is Good store… and I also found some Life is Crap stuff! They also had a great art glass store that I remember going to 10 years ago with Beth and John Schaefer… the woman in the store remembered us! The church in Portsmouth is so pretty!

We all got on the buses at 3:30 and left for Worcester, MA… we got there at about 5:00. Steve, Karen, Joe, Heather, and I got dinner at Pizzeria Uno then warmed up for the concert at 7:30. I talked to a man that worked for the theater, and he said that Sousa brought the US Marine Band to the same theater on their first nationwide tour in 1891. That’s pretty cool… it’s neat to be a part of history. This was our last concert of 1’s. Tomorrow is a day off and we start rehearsals Wednesday and rehearse through Friday… the rehearsals are to learn our 2 concerts. It’ll be nice to have some new music… although I’ll miss “Vientos y Tangos” and “The Devil and Daniel Webster.”

After the concert, we all piled on the bus and drove to Braintree, MA. There’s a mall across the street…. but it’s a pretty good distance from Boston. We checked in at 11:15 pm… it was a pretty long day! I’m so glad we get to stay in one place for the whole week!

Excursion to Niagra Falls

Sunday evening we were in Buffalo, NY. We were so close to Niagra Falls, that Monday morning some of us piled on one bus and headed up to see the falls! Olivia had never seen Niagra Falls and she was extremely excited, even though it was so early! It only took 30 minutes to get there... a bunch of us bought tickets to the Cave of the Winds. We had to get into yellow plastic ponchos and blue sandals... we put our shoes into a plastic bag and carried them with us. They didn't have a poncho small enough for Olivia!

We went down 8 stories in an elevator that was dug by hand many years ago. We walked down a tunnel to the light. There was a mist surrounding us as soon as we got outside. The falls were beautiful and very noisy! We walked on wooden walkways... over the falls AND under the falls! Some of us made it up to the Hurricaine Walkway.... water flowing everywhere! Amazing!

We decided to walk over to the Canadian side next. Walking over the bridge from one side to the next was really neat. We had a great view of both the American falls and the Canadian horseshoe falls. We had to go through customs into Canada... to check in. We walked to the edge of the viewing area and took some photos....

Karen and I checked out the gift shop quickly... then we walked back to the US. We had to go through customs once we got back to the US side. Then we checked out the giftshop there too! Then back on the bus and the hotel to hurry and pack up for the next town!

I Love Lucy!

Friday and Saturday Oct 5-6, we were in Jamestown,NY... birthplace of Lucille Ball. Steve, Karen and I went to the Lucy museums and giftshops on Saturday. There's nothing flashy... people talking about when they knew Lucy growing up... letters between Lucy and an old friend talking about life.... some costumes, records, photos, and a set reconstructed to look like the "I love Lucy" set. We weren't allowed to take any photos!



Karen was very excited about the BIG LOTS store! That's one of Karen's favorite stores. We found a few restaurants... I would describe them as the oasis in the desert! Lunch at Timothy's and dinner at Forte's.Too bad Steve and I had to hurry our culinary experience... the restaurant didn't open 'til 5:00 and the bus left at 6:20...not enough time to really relax... but it was still good.

New at This Blogging thing!

I know it's already 21 days into tour, but I had a lot of people wanting updates and photos, so I thought a blog would be the easiest way to communicate with everyone!

We left from Washington, DC on Monday Oct. 1st... eveyone said goodbye and loaded their luggage onto their home away from home... the bus.













Our first stop was Chambersburg, PA. We ate at a Cracker Barrel... always pretty decent food. We played at the Chambersburg Area Senior High School.

Tuesday we moved to Lebanon, PA and played in the Lebanon High School auditorium. A bunch of us ate at a cool restaurant... it reminded us of a diner from the 1950's... it was called Shane's Grill.



Wednesday we traveled to Wilkes Barre, PA. The weather has been so warm! We were lucky to be close enough to walk to the hall. We played in the Kirby Center. Karen and I shopped at the Boscov's and got some great deals!

Thursday we got into Lewisburg, PA at 2:30pm. The Country Cupboard was a cute country restaurant with a lot of country-style shops. The concert was more exciting for me since my Aunt Renee, Uncle Joe, cousin Eric and his wife, Bert were there. Eric plays drum-set and thought that Chris Rose, percussion soloist, was amazing! I really felt a lot of energy that night. We went out to Damon's for another dinner.

Leaving those we love behind....

The hardest thing about tour is having to leave our loved-ones for such a long time! Our husbands and wives, our children, our pets.... and our homes... We certainly miss being in our own homes... there's nothing like going to sleep in your own bed, and tour really helps one realize this! Here are some photos of the loved ones we left behind... our son, Jacob and our family dog, Harvey.