Tootsie on Tour: Washington DC (long post)

**Disclaimer: The content of this post reflects my own personal views, opinions, and experiences.
This post does NOT express the views or opinions of my employer.**

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The venue: National Theatre


(stock photos)

Covid Tests to Date: 25

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TL;DR: A slapdash TikTok summarizing the week in DC.

TikTok by @tromboneontour

For the past week I have been home visiting family and trying to help with my dad's funeral.
As you can imagine that took up a lot of time and energy for all of us, and so I didn't keep up with happenings on the tour while they were in Baltimore. But according to all sources my substitute trombonist did well, and there were no problems, just a regular week. Yay!

Being home was difficult. Not only because we were mourning my dad's passing, but also because so many in our hometown are STILL not vaccinated, and still seem to believe that covid-related deaths have nothing to do with them or their choices. It was very frustrating, especially since a lot of these folks are good friends who I've known since I was a toddler, and they are people that I care about and wish would take these incredibly minor steps to protect themselves.

As the daughter of someone who refused to vaccinate and is now dead because of that decision: if you are unvaccinated, please reconsider vaccinating. Everyone has their own reasons for not doing so, so I'm not sure what each person might need to hear in order to rethink this. But if you need to talk about it with someone, absolutely message me any time. Maybe there actually is a good reason for you personally to vaccinate. Or if someone in your life has not yet vaccinated, and has no medical reason for not doing so, please continue to respectfully offer information and perspective to that person. I would really, really hate for anyone else to have to go through what my family is going through right now (although I know a lot of people have already).

Thank you for considering, and again, please reach out if this is something you'd like to talk about.

Here are a few pictures of myself with my sisters' kids.
I'm never having kids, can't stand 'em, but it was nice to have a little time and see how much they've grown over the past two years!




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After the service was over I traveled back to Baltimore, returned my rental car, and checked in to a hotel.
The next morning I dragged my luggage to the lobby of the tour's hotel, where Erin (our Covid Safety Officer) was waiting with a rapid test for me. We sat and waited while it processed, and eventually it showed a red line for negative. Now I could safely get on the bus and ride with everyone to Washington DC!

The ride was short, only an hour, and we got there at noon.
Surprisingly the hotel was ready for us that early. It was also a very nice hotel, modern and clean, with a microwave and minifridge in each room. It's amazing what a difference these two appliances can make convenience-wise!

I dumped my luggage and took a walk to the nearest grocery, which this week happens to be Whole Paycheck*ahem* I mean, Whole Foods.
Oh, Whole Foods during the holidays!
So many temptations. Holiday themed products, unique and inviting pastries, so much fresh delicious produce!
I got all of my usual suspects: eggs, yogurt, chicken, veggies, fruit, water, plant milk, and replenished some nonperishables. I also found my local bread for the week in the form of a rye teff rustic loaf from Bread Furst.

This was kind of cheating...Bread Furst was over three miles away, and I didn't want to walk all the way there and back :P But Whole Foods often carries locally-baked breads, so I lucked out! According to the bakery's website, teff is an ancient grain that is gluten free, and it's also the smallest grain in the world. It has a sweet and complex flavor like molasses or dark chocolate. The loaf was indeed very dark, and also flatter than other loaves I've had, probably due to a lower gluten content. The crumb was tighter too, but it was still very delicious bread, slightly bitter in the crust with a sweet middle. This will be very enjoyable to eat :)



Friendly reminder that when I buy a loaf of bread each week, that is pretty much my main carbohydrate for the entire week, almost all 18 meals. That is how I'm able to get through a loaf of bread in a week. I'm not sitting over here munching on a whole loaf in one sitting, lol.

Anyway, because there are always exciting new things to discover at Whole Foods, I also got an ume plum soda (which was fantastic), a jar of pomegranate beet soup (intriguing!), and a bar of pine-and-berry scented holiday soap! I'm out of soap this week anyway, and who doesn't want to smell like a Christmas tree ;)


Back at the hotel I put everything away. It's always satisfying to see the fridge stocked for a week of shows.
Then I walked to what was supposed to be a nearby Christmas market but it was closed so the vendors could restock. So instead I picked up some pork bao buns to have for dinner later. DC has an incredible Chinatown, and I intend to have a few delicious Asian meals before we leave!


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