St. Paul, city of a lot of enthusiastic Irish people. St. Patty’s day hit while we were in St. Paul, and I’ve never seen so many patriotic Irish folk. I’ve also never seen so many drunk folk. We had our first hint of spring here, too, which was lovely. I don’t remember much about St. Paul except that everyone was really eager to leave – not because it wasn’t lovely city, but because it was our last city before Spring layoff, and we were all eager to go home! All I've got from this city is the gorgeous sunset on our flight in.
St. Louis, city of the Fabulous Fox Theatre. This was a pretty cool city, and a very cool theatre – huge, gorgeous, ornate, magical. Complete with chandeliers and gold frescos and life-sized lions with light-up eyes. The Fox has been around for a million years and most everyone who’s anyone in show business has played there. The walls were covered with hundreds of murals made by casts, rock stars, comedians, bands, ballets, operas, etc. We added our own to a door of the front office (complete with a little pill bottle). Also, St. Louis had a neat sculpture garden near the hotel, and of course, that big arch. I went away for surgery while we were here, so I had a very limited Louisian experience. I did get to see my old friend Sam, who I’ve known since I was a wee babe, and probably haven’t seen in 15 years.
Des Moines, city of “I’ve never been this cold in my life.” We managed to hit Des Moines in the midst of one of the coldest weeks of the year, and it was here that I saw (or felt, rather) the lowest temperature of my life – minus nine degrees! Our hotel was lovely, with those fancy glass elevators that go all the way up inside a huge atrium, and a goofy sports bar downstairs, and a full complimentary delicious breakfast. We overlooked a river (which was partially frozen the entire time we were there), and the theatre was just a short walk across the bridge. However, never has a short walk seemed so long! I actually made use of the hotel shuttle many times to get back and forth, rather than brave the slippery, icy, slushy, frozen windy ferocious tundra between the hotel and the theatre. We all bundled up like Eskimos and slipped and bobbled our way around the rest of the time. There was actually a lovely strip of neat shops and restaurants, and a fantastic t-shirt store that gave us all free t-shirts that said “Des Moines. Hell yes!” Other featured slogans: “America. Only the insured survive.” “Make awkward sexual advances not war.” “Peace.” (I got these last two, and should have bought the insured one, too!) Once again Shannon discovered a delicious Italian restaurant where we spent our Monday evening. Pic below – the lovely purple cloche is from my friend Katie. Very cozy. East Lansing, city of snow. Detroit, city of…a fancy restaurant and a far-away theatre! These two cities were a total blur for me. I flew in, I flew out, I flew in, I flew out, I flew in (and so forth). I remember a lot of snow in East Lansing, and a lot of nothing in Detroit, except for one fancy restaurant and lots of warnings not to walk around on the street by myself. Sorry, with six flights and three cities and two load-ins and two load-outs in one week, I didn’t have time for photos.
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