taz_39 | Tootsie Yr2: Syracuse, NY Part 1 (Reply)

We had about a 5-hour bus ride to Syracuse.

Other than getting off to a late start, it was uneventful.
It'll probably be our last bus transit for a while, and we'll go back to flights again after this week.

We arrived at the hotel around 3:30 I think.
It's an older hotel, but in a fairly quiet area which is a pleasant change from being next to the NJ Turnpike.
The rooms have quite a lot of floor space, too. AND a mini kitchen!!

I am thrilled with the little kitchenette. In addition to the larger fridge and the microwave, it's a great thing to have a sink exclusively for washing dishes instead of having to fight with a shallow and poor-draining bathroom sink. There's no stovetop here, but loads of counter space and I will be very happy to cook some things with my Itaki this week.

Right away I grabbed some tote bags and started walking to the Wegman's 3.5 miles away.
There are grocery stores that are closer, but Wegman's is SPECIAL.
The thing I love about Wegman's is, they have everything that Whole Paycheck would have, but you can also get "normal" groceries like Tide laundry detergent or Froot Loops or Ziploc bags. In other words, Wegman's doesn't "limit" themselves with product quality standards.

Anyway, I had a blast going up and down the aisles and mathing out how much of what to get.
When I was finished I took an Uber back because the walk had been nearly four miles and it was now dark.
I unpacked and watched the latest episode of Great British Bake-Off "with" Jameson before calling it a night.

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Tuesday was Cooking Day!

After breakfast I got started making some fonio that I'd purchased way back in Providence.
Fonio is a tiiiiiiny African grain, a millet grass seed.
You can cook it just like rice and in about half the time as rice. It's very nutritious with a "light and fluffy" texture.

After that I cooked two mustard-marinated chicken breasts (bottom compartment) and some broccolini (top compartment).

Somewhere in there I steamed three eggs.

Still didn't get the cook time quite right, but at least they did cook, and I have three more to practice on later in the week.

Finally Cooking Day ended with a beautiful salmon filet with mushrooms, peppers, and teriyaki sauce (I've made this before, it's in the Wegman's single-dinners section.)

All of this is prep for the coming week. Now I have lots of ready-made foods that can be combined into delicious meals :)

Because I had slept in, cooking and cleaning up afterward took up most of my day.

When it was time for sound check, a half-mile walk to the theater.
Landmark Theatre is another of those Roaring 20s designs, with a gaudy interior and old gold plastered everywhere.
Supposedly this theatre is haunted...but I ask you, what theatre ISN'T?

The lobby.

We are reversed in the pit again, so the horns are to the coductor's left instead of his right.
Our drummer is back in the pit with us, but it sure is a tight squeeze.
And it's a real pit again, so we are at least partially hidden from the view of the audience.
Now I can read my book during tacets again without fear of tisking from the first few rows :D

Josh (our MD) will be leaving us after tonight's show, just for a few months.
In the meantime our MD from last year, Soto, will be back to conduct us and play the Key 2 book.
We've missed him! Well, those of us who were here last year. But he's a great guy and an awesome musician, so we'll have a lot of fun!

The theatre graciously gave all of us two drink vouchers for a nearby bar!
They were only good for tonight, and I had morning plans, so gave mine away.
Sorry, I'm just not a night/bar person.

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Wednesday morning I woke up around 8 feeling well-slept.
I have had terrible luck this year with noisy rooms; rooms next to elevators; uncomfortable rooms.
This is the first room in a long time where I feel like I can relax. And as a result, I'm actually getting sleep. Joy!

I got dressed and walked a mile and a half, part of that uphill, to Rise n' Shine Diner for breakfast.
It's funny because if you were to ask me to just get up and go for a morning walk or jog with no destination in mind--just for the exercise--I'd turn you down cold. But put food at the end of the rainbow? By god, let's GO. Uphill, off-road, raining, sweating...don't care.

I guess humans are succeptible to reward-and-repetition as well :)

It was cold but sunny, so it was a pleasant walk even if a little tough on the hills.
The diner was easy to spot because there was a colorful bus parked outside.

It looks like when the weather is nice, you can eat inside the bus too.

Inside the diner it was VERY busy on this random weekday, a testament to how good the food must be.
Despite how busy it was, I was given a booth because "You're wearing a mask, wow!"
Yes, that's right, I'm one of those freaks who still makes an effort at being considerate of others in a confined space.

I ordered plain coffee and sucked it down, got a refill and sucked that down too, and felt my soul coming back into my body.

And then...pancake sushi.

A fluffy buttermilk pancake stuffed with raw cookie dough and rice krispies, topped with berries and kiwi, and drizzled with blueberry maple syrup and a little matcha powder (I couldn't see the matcha but supposedly it was there).

Close-ups so you can see the deets:

This is not that innovative; you could easily make pancake sushi at home with whatever ingredients you like.
Stuff your pancake with eggs and veggies, top it with bacon crumbles and honeyed sriracha!
Or how about a filling of fruit and whipped cream cheese, topped with crumbled cookies, chocolate syrup, and whipped cream!
The fun and creativity here is more from the presentation than the ingredients themselves.

I enjoyed it very much, nice pile of carbs and sugar to start the day. Yay dopamine!
I ate half and got a box for the other half, and went on my way again.

Google Maps took me through a lovely little park on the way back, where I saw a large golden ginkgo sitting on a hill and stopped to admire it.

Too late I realized that it was a FEMALE ginkgo, so spent some time scraping my shoes in the grass trying to get those stinky berries out of the tread before moving on. Pictures of the tree will be in Part 2 of my Syracuse posts, I think.

I stopped at a thrift store on Syracuse University campus. It was fun to look, but not much in my size today.

Back at the hotel I threw in a load of laundry and did some data entry and had a generally slow evening.

The evening show was good.
Josh (Key 2 and MD) has flown back to Orlando for a short break, and he moved his flight earlier and was able to beat out the storm too.
Soto (our MD from last year) did a fantastic job on his first night back. He said it was like really weird de ja vu, playing this show again.
I'll bet!

Oh, and Troika has asked us to nominate a "band representative", and the guys unanimously requested that I do it.
Choosing to take that as a compliment!

Tbh having a band rep seems a little redundant, when there's no Union and with all of us able to bring concerns to the MD. But I think if something comes up that impacts the band directly, it would be good to have someone to speak to Troika about those concerns instead of the MD and other creative leadership, so that those folks can continue doing their jobs without having to tackle non-show issues as well. That hasn't happened so far and hopefully it never does.

Either way, it doesn't matter, because if someone in the band (or the cast for that matter) needs help or support, I would absolutely give it.
So in that sense I am the right person for the job :)

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Today is Thursday, and I am steaming my last three eggs in the Itaki.

Plan for today is to do some data entry this morning, then go get homemade pierogi (and hopefully a cup of borscht) for lunch before walking to the big mall, Destiny USA.

I don't need anything, but enjoy window shopping and with Christmas coming up I might get some good ideas.
Plus it's good exercise.