Tootsie Yr2: Wilmington, DE
Oct. 10th, 2022 11:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
taz_39We've been in three different hotels in as many days, and it's a miracle I haven't walked directly into a wall when I've gotten up to pee in the middle of the night!
This hotel room is very nice, with a separate little sitting room and kitchenette with small fridge, microwave, and sink.
I don't plan to break out the Itaki this week as we've only got four days, plus I want to enjoy the microwave for once.
I was happy to see that someone posted a food recommendation in my group this morning :)
That's the first time someone besides me has done that!
For lunch I took an Uber to Rosenfeld's Big Fish, a Jewish deli and restaurant outside of town.
They used to have a location downtown, but closed it I assume due to cost.
The deli was very nice, lots of spreads and dips and pickles and imported Jewish and kosher foods.
I was excited to find "Cel-ray" soda in the drink cabinet!
Celery flavored soda. I've always wanted to try it!
It was VERY sweet, and only tasted mildly of celery. Very refreshing, actually. I liked it pretty well :)
One can has 34 grams of sugar, and I usually have 45 grams of sugar per day, so that's probably why it seemed excessive to me.
Weird how our bodies change like that.
(Also, I only drank half the can. The server had never had it before, so I poured half into a cup and gave him the rest. He hated it lol)
For lunch I got matzoh ball soup and a potato knish.
The soup was lovely if a bit salty, with bits of shredded chicken and chopped carrots, celery, and onions.
Sprinkled with dried dill, and of course that big fluffy matzoh ball! Yum.
The knish was very flavorful and very big!
Cross section: delicate golden pastry wrapped around some flavor-packed mashed potatoes.
It was peppery, and I tasted lots of garlic and onion. I don't think there was cheese, but as you can see there was a lot of oil involved so it was very rich. I ate half and saved half for later, then picked up some deli turkey breast and some rosemary thyme crackers (they didn't have half-loaves of bread and I didn't want to waste food). All in all a lovely taste of the northeast, something I haven't experienced in a long time.
Back at the hotel I worked on my data entry and got ready for sound check and the show.
This is a small older theater, and we have to enter the pit via a little crawl door.
A ridiculous Oompa Loompa door like this is always an indication that there will not be much space to work with.
My ass in the doorway, for scale.
I'm 5'5" and have to duck-walk or do a deep crouch to get in.
Kyle (trumpet 2) and Josh (MD/keys) wanted to photobomb it :)
Kyle had to be squished back a row so that we could all fit, but we made it work in the end.
Sound check was fine, and the show was fine.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday was mostly a free day, which was nice.
I did data entry and updated some of my foodie lists based on recent changes.
In the next two cities, restaurants have closed or relocated or changed their hours, and then there was also a hotel update which required me to reevaluate distances from this-or-that place and research some new options. It was fun and killed time nicely until lunch, when I pulled out the Itaki to make barley since I didn't get bread this city. Had it with deli turkey and salad greens and peanuts.
The weather was unseasonably warm, so I had a nice walk down to Brandywine Creek, only a few blocks away and with a walking trail through the woods. Some cast members posted pictures of wildlife they encountered (a deer and a snake), but I didn't see anything exciting, just plants and water and squirrels.
The creek has some nice water features, small and large man-made waterfalls and a sort of canal-thing running alongside the actual creek.
Here's an embed from Instagram, as usual if you click on the little right-arrows you can see more pictures and the footage that I took of the waterfalls and crossing the foot bridge.
The canal-thing:
There was a black hanging pedestrian bridge which was fun to cross (see Instagram), and on the other side was a rose garden (see Instagram).
Obviously it's not the season for roses, but there were a few fading flowers still turning toward the sun.
The purple asters, however, were in full bloom (see Instagram).
At some point I crossed back across the river using another bridge, and came to the Wilmington Brandywine Cemetery.
Right at the entrance is the grave of John McKinly, who was Governor of Delaware in 1777.
Even in the graveyard this poor dude has to play politician and greet visitors.
Like with all cemeteries, there were graves of varying ages and in varying states of upkeep.
The oldest stones that I saw were early 1800s, like 1804. But I also wasn't looking very hard.
The cemetery was on quite an upslope, which gave me an idea of how out of shape I am.
But huffing and puffing aside I certainly climbed it to the top without issue, so there.
I mostly stuck to the righthand side of the cemetery, for no reason except it was a fairly large grounds and I knew I probably wouldn't cover it all today. Perhaps tomorrow I'll go back and have a look at the left side.
From there it was only a few blocks from the hotel, where I cleaned up and had a snack and chatted with Jameson and watched a little anime.
The new season of Made in Abyss is finally out, so I'm rewatching Season 1 to refresh myself before diving in.
When dinnertime rolled around I placed an order from Wilma's, a newish bowling alley and tapas spot down the street.
Their menu looked interesting, sort of modern Creole.
I got the fried catfish with seafood broth, maque choux, and pickled greens.
The fish was perfectly cooked. Sadly not as crunchy as usual because I got it as takeout, but extremely delicious despite that.
At $23 plus tip, my first impulse was to think, "This is overpriced".
But then, a serving of fried catfish is 3 ounces, and there were TWO 3 ounce filets (thanks food scale!) so I was given two servings.
I can eat the other filet with another meal over the weekend. And the flavors were elevated and so skillfully balanced. The maque choux had a rich seafood flavor and was just slightly spicy, and the pickled greens were tart and cooked perfectly and tied everything together so beautifully.
The thing is, nobody likes to pay a lot for food. But if someone is pouring their skills and experience into making a dish something special...well, the price is probably well-thought and well worth it once in a while.
Anyway, ordering mediocre fast food via DoorDash costs $23 too.
The evening show went all right, there was a weird issue with the lighting but otherwise I think it was a normal show.
A cold front is moving in, so there goes our lovely warm weather.
-----------------------------------------------------
Saturday, I slept poorly and was awoken at 4am by some rowdy people in the hallway.
An absolutely MASSIVE church group moved in last night, and when we got back from the show they were having a GREAT time in the hotel lobby. So it was not surprising to hear some of their members cheerfully heading to bed in the wee morning hours.
I was struck by an irony.
Today is the one-year anniversary of my dad's death...and he died sometime between 4am-6am, a year ago today.
To be woken up at just that hour, by some people loudly enjoying life in the hallway, was ironic and amusing.
Contemplating all of this kept me awake for another hour.
Eventually I got back to sleep, but woke up at 7:30 anyway.
I did a load of laundry (the nice thing about waking up early is that the hotel washer is usually available) and did some more contemplating about my dad and my messed-up little family.
Today my stepmom is having my dad's ashes buried underneath his small headstone in a local church's grounds.
I think that's good, to help bring some closure.
It is certainly a hard day for her, and for all of us.
On top of that, tomorrow is the anniversary of my mother's death in 2001, from pancreatic cancer.
An old grief at this point, but ever present.
Naturally all of this had me feeling a bit moody and pensive, and I let those feelings was over me as I went about my day.
We got the info sheet for our next city, Grand Rapids, so I busied myself with trying to get a good seat on the plane.
I got lucky and ended up snatching an exit row seat (wow, score!).
Then I made a short trip to Walgreens for some travel foods as it'll be a longish flight.
I also sent out the weekly Megan's Foodie Finds sheet to my group, this time including not only a link to the restaurant menus but also directions, which people "liked" and appreciated.
The matinee went well, no issues.
Bill (trumpet) took another picture of us after realizing that for three whole years we used to stand next to each other just like this on the circus, and this is the first time since 2017 that we're playing directly next to each other again. Kinda cool.
The evening show was fine too, though I felt distracted and tired (that's what you get for getting up early)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday was a slow morning, which was good because it's the anniversary of my mom's death and I wanted to have some contemplative time. A slow breakfast and thinking about what, if anything, to post to social media.
Eventually I put something up, then did some data entry work, packed as much as I could, ate lunch, and chatted with my siblings, sharing memories like we always do on this day.
When it was time for the last show in Wilmington I walked to the theater and, ya know, did the show.
It went well. A little group came down to the pit afterward and complemented our playing, super nice :)
I'm always the first out of the pit by virtue of having the least to pack up.
Considered a walk but decided to be lazy instead.
Cup of hot tea and leftover groceries for dinner while listening to playlists that my sister has made, one full of music that our mom loved and another music that our dad loved.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
It is Monday and it is EARLY.
I got up at 5am, because we leave around 7am and I like to have time to gather myself.
It'll be a 20-minute bus ride to PHL, a 2-hour flight to Detroit, and a 2.5 hour bus ride into Grand Rapids.
With good luck we should arrive between 3-4pm.
This hotel room is very nice, with a separate little sitting room and kitchenette with small fridge, microwave, and sink.
I don't plan to break out the Itaki this week as we've only got four days, plus I want to enjoy the microwave for once.
I was happy to see that someone posted a food recommendation in my group this morning :)
That's the first time someone besides me has done that!
For lunch I took an Uber to Rosenfeld's Big Fish, a Jewish deli and restaurant outside of town.
They used to have a location downtown, but closed it I assume due to cost.
The deli was very nice, lots of spreads and dips and pickles and imported Jewish and kosher foods.
I was excited to find "Cel-ray" soda in the drink cabinet!
Celery flavored soda. I've always wanted to try it!
It was VERY sweet, and only tasted mildly of celery. Very refreshing, actually. I liked it pretty well :)
One can has 34 grams of sugar, and I usually have 45 grams of sugar per day, so that's probably why it seemed excessive to me.
Weird how our bodies change like that.
(Also, I only drank half the can. The server had never had it before, so I poured half into a cup and gave him the rest. He hated it lol)
For lunch I got matzoh ball soup and a potato knish.
The soup was lovely if a bit salty, with bits of shredded chicken and chopped carrots, celery, and onions.
Sprinkled with dried dill, and of course that big fluffy matzoh ball! Yum.
The knish was very flavorful and very big!
Cross section: delicate golden pastry wrapped around some flavor-packed mashed potatoes.
It was peppery, and I tasted lots of garlic and onion. I don't think there was cheese, but as you can see there was a lot of oil involved so it was very rich. I ate half and saved half for later, then picked up some deli turkey breast and some rosemary thyme crackers (they didn't have half-loaves of bread and I didn't want to waste food). All in all a lovely taste of the northeast, something I haven't experienced in a long time.
Back at the hotel I worked on my data entry and got ready for sound check and the show.
This is a small older theater, and we have to enter the pit via a little crawl door.
A ridiculous Oompa Loompa door like this is always an indication that there will not be much space to work with.
My ass in the doorway, for scale.
I'm 5'5" and have to duck-walk or do a deep crouch to get in.
Kyle (trumpet 2) and Josh (MD/keys) wanted to photobomb it :)
Kyle had to be squished back a row so that we could all fit, but we made it work in the end.
Sound check was fine, and the show was fine.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday was mostly a free day, which was nice.
I did data entry and updated some of my foodie lists based on recent changes.
In the next two cities, restaurants have closed or relocated or changed their hours, and then there was also a hotel update which required me to reevaluate distances from this-or-that place and research some new options. It was fun and killed time nicely until lunch, when I pulled out the Itaki to make barley since I didn't get bread this city. Had it with deli turkey and salad greens and peanuts.
The weather was unseasonably warm, so I had a nice walk down to Brandywine Creek, only a few blocks away and with a walking trail through the woods. Some cast members posted pictures of wildlife they encountered (a deer and a snake), but I didn't see anything exciting, just plants and water and squirrels.
The creek has some nice water features, small and large man-made waterfalls and a sort of canal-thing running alongside the actual creek.
Here's an embed from Instagram, as usual if you click on the little right-arrows you can see more pictures and the footage that I took of the waterfalls and crossing the foot bridge.
https://instagram.com/p/CjbM416A0KG (click link to see photos and videos)
The canal-thing:
There was a black hanging pedestrian bridge which was fun to cross (see Instagram), and on the other side was a rose garden (see Instagram).
Obviously it's not the season for roses, but there were a few fading flowers still turning toward the sun.
The purple asters, however, were in full bloom (see Instagram).
At some point I crossed back across the river using another bridge, and came to the Wilmington Brandywine Cemetery.
Right at the entrance is the grave of John McKinly, who was Governor of Delaware in 1777.
Even in the graveyard this poor dude has to play politician and greet visitors.
Like with all cemeteries, there were graves of varying ages and in varying states of upkeep.
The oldest stones that I saw were early 1800s, like 1804. But I also wasn't looking very hard.
The cemetery was on quite an upslope, which gave me an idea of how out of shape I am.
But huffing and puffing aside I certainly climbed it to the top without issue, so there.
I mostly stuck to the righthand side of the cemetery, for no reason except it was a fairly large grounds and I knew I probably wouldn't cover it all today. Perhaps tomorrow I'll go back and have a look at the left side.
From there it was only a few blocks from the hotel, where I cleaned up and had a snack and chatted with Jameson and watched a little anime.
The new season of Made in Abyss is finally out, so I'm rewatching Season 1 to refresh myself before diving in.
When dinnertime rolled around I placed an order from Wilma's, a newish bowling alley and tapas spot down the street.
Their menu looked interesting, sort of modern Creole.
I got the fried catfish with seafood broth, maque choux, and pickled greens.
The fish was perfectly cooked. Sadly not as crunchy as usual because I got it as takeout, but extremely delicious despite that.
At $23 plus tip, my first impulse was to think, "This is overpriced".
But then, a serving of fried catfish is 3 ounces, and there were TWO 3 ounce filets (thanks food scale!) so I was given two servings.
I can eat the other filet with another meal over the weekend. And the flavors were elevated and so skillfully balanced. The maque choux had a rich seafood flavor and was just slightly spicy, and the pickled greens were tart and cooked perfectly and tied everything together so beautifully.
The thing is, nobody likes to pay a lot for food. But if someone is pouring their skills and experience into making a dish something special...well, the price is probably well-thought and well worth it once in a while.
Anyway, ordering mediocre fast food via DoorDash costs $23 too.
The evening show went all right, there was a weird issue with the lighting but otherwise I think it was a normal show.
A cold front is moving in, so there goes our lovely warm weather.
-----------------------------------------------------
Saturday, I slept poorly and was awoken at 4am by some rowdy people in the hallway.
An absolutely MASSIVE church group moved in last night, and when we got back from the show they were having a GREAT time in the hotel lobby. So it was not surprising to hear some of their members cheerfully heading to bed in the wee morning hours.
I was struck by an irony.
Today is the one-year anniversary of my dad's death...and he died sometime between 4am-6am, a year ago today.
To be woken up at just that hour, by some people loudly enjoying life in the hallway, was ironic and amusing.
Contemplating all of this kept me awake for another hour.
Eventually I got back to sleep, but woke up at 7:30 anyway.
I did a load of laundry (the nice thing about waking up early is that the hotel washer is usually available) and did some more contemplating about my dad and my messed-up little family.
Today my stepmom is having my dad's ashes buried underneath his small headstone in a local church's grounds.
I think that's good, to help bring some closure.
It is certainly a hard day for her, and for all of us.
On top of that, tomorrow is the anniversary of my mother's death in 2001, from pancreatic cancer.
An old grief at this point, but ever present.
Naturally all of this had me feeling a bit moody and pensive, and I let those feelings was over me as I went about my day.
We got the info sheet for our next city, Grand Rapids, so I busied myself with trying to get a good seat on the plane.
I got lucky and ended up snatching an exit row seat (wow, score!).
Then I made a short trip to Walgreens for some travel foods as it'll be a longish flight.
I also sent out the weekly Megan's Foodie Finds sheet to my group, this time including not only a link to the restaurant menus but also directions, which people "liked" and appreciated.
The matinee went well, no issues.
Bill (trumpet) took another picture of us after realizing that for three whole years we used to stand next to each other just like this on the circus, and this is the first time since 2017 that we're playing directly next to each other again. Kinda cool.
The evening show was fine too, though I felt distracted and tired (that's what you get for getting up early)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday was a slow morning, which was good because it's the anniversary of my mom's death and I wanted to have some contemplative time. A slow breakfast and thinking about what, if anything, to post to social media.
Eventually I put something up, then did some data entry work, packed as much as I could, ate lunch, and chatted with my siblings, sharing memories like we always do on this day.
When it was time for the last show in Wilmington I walked to the theater and, ya know, did the show.
It went well. A little group came down to the pit afterward and complemented our playing, super nice :)
I'm always the first out of the pit by virtue of having the least to pack up.
Considered a walk but decided to be lazy instead.
Cup of hot tea and leftover groceries for dinner while listening to playlists that my sister has made, one full of music that our mom loved and another music that our dad loved.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
It is Monday and it is EARLY.
I got up at 5am, because we leave around 7am and I like to have time to gather myself.
It'll be a 20-minute bus ride to PHL, a 2-hour flight to Detroit, and a 2.5 hour bus ride into Grand Rapids.
With good luck we should arrive between 3-4pm.
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