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Tootsie Yr2: Fort Worth, TX part 1
May. 11th, 2023 07:59 amMonday the travel day.
1.5 hours to ATL, then fighting through the luggage and security process, then a nonstop to Dallas again.
At least from there it was a shortish bus ride to Fort Worth!
We're in an Aloft hotel. It's relatively clean and has working fixtures, = no complaints!
Across the street from the hotel is a newish bakery called 3rd Street Market.
I popped over to see if they had any bread left (it's rare for a bakery to be open on a Monday!)
They did have bread, and the owner was incredibly nice.
Got excited when I said I was there with a tour, even more excited when I was taking pictures of his shop to share in the Foodie Finds group.
And ended up giving me a half-loaf of bread for free! Wow!
I didn't buy anything else there that day, but will be back for either more bread or a sandwich before the week is out.
For groceries I decided to Uber to Central Market, because this would be my last chance to see one on this tour.
And BOY am I glad I did!
( CLICK HERE for Central Market )
The rest of the day, unpacking and winding down.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday after breakfast I visited Doc's Records, a huge vintage and vinyl store.
It was a warehouse packed to the gills with vinyl of all sizes, rare and new, and CDs, cassettes, VHS, Blu-Ray, box sets, and collectibles.
There were also vintage clothing racks from different providers lining the outside edges of the store.
I enjoyed looking around, though Jameson would have appreciated this a lot more than me!
Sadly, none of the items on his list were physically IN the store.
This place uses a distributor for a lot of their listed items. So I ended up walking out and ordering on my phone instead.
Kind of negates the fun of physically sifting through rare vinyl to find your prize. But, that's 2023.
That done, I poked around in a nearby Target before walking 2 miles back to the hotel in the Texas heat.
A shower and a rest before showtime.
We are playing Bass Performance Hall. I have walked past this hall many times while with the circus, but have never been inside before.
The hall is flanked by two giant 48-foot-tall angels carved of limestone.
Inside you can see the "wings" of the angels in the rotunda set in the ceiling, framing a blue sky peppered with fluffy clouds.
(For some reason the phone camera turned the whole thing blue, it's actually only the sky portions that are blue...weird)
The hall is about 25 years old, and is a beautiful modern space.
Once again I find myself with my very own dressing room.
This one is a little odd, though!
The oddest part is this pair of shoes at the corner of the desk. Why are they here? Whose are they?
One of our crew says those shoes have been there "forever".
Well...I'm not going to touch them, then!
Before sound check I had a meeting with Company Management regarding pit temperatures, which recently have been uncomfortably cold. As the "band rep" it's my job to bring whole-band issues like this. They're going to try and get us some space heaters and a regular supply of hand/foot warmers. I think that's all we can realistically ask for; every venue is different and pretty much no pit anywhere has its own thermostat. Mostly, I very much appreciated being heard by our CM ladies. It means a lot to know that someone cares, and is willing to listen seriously, whether the issue can be addressed at the end of the day or not.
Our show went well, we had an enthusiastic audience that made me look forward to the rest of the week playing this lovely hall :)
-------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday I had a normal morning.
For lunch I Ubered out to Rise in east Fort Worth to try French souffle for the first time!
Rise is a French-style cafe specializing in souffles. Check out their Instagram...drool-worthy!
The restaurant is in a snooty-booty shopping plaza where I definitely can't afford anything :p
Inside it was dimly lit, but with cute decor.
Painted rocks lined the windowsills, shelves, and booths.
The snooty-booty set menu and "global" wine list.
Had I been here with Jameson, we probably would have gotten a full meal.
Since it was just me, I only wanted to try a souffle.
There were so many flavors to choose from!
Savory options like crawfish, or mushroom, escargot, or cauliflower brie.
Sweet options like strawberry, pecan praline, grand marnier, or apricot.
I went with classic chocolate, figuring that's a good first-timer flavor.
The souffles have to be made fresh and take a while, so while I waited I was given a small warm loaf of bread (it was very good).
After what seemed like no time at all my piping hot souffle appeared!
You are supposed to poke a hole in the center and pour the sauce in. Here we go:
(CLICK HERE to Watch)
Oh my goodness. It was so good.
The texture was like a fluffy, light, "bready marshmallow" if you can imagine that.
Or, like, if a meringue and a bread pudding had a baby.
Souffles are mostly egg-based, so despite how big it looks it was not heavy or overly filling yet still managed to be indulgent and decadent. I took my time and savored each bite, describing it all to Jameson because I wished he could be there with me.
It was very very good, and I'm glad I got to try it!
The only thing I would have done differently in retrospect is perhaps get a fruit-flavored one with chocolate sauce.
The chocolate-on-chocolate was fabulous, but it WAS kind of one-note, and I could have done with some tartness along the way.
Well, maybe there will be a next time! But for today, it was so nice :)
Back downtown I had wanted to go window shopping/exploring, but it was raining steadily so I opted to stay in.
Oh, I did pop back over to 3rd Street Market because Kathy (actress who plays Rita now and is a former Ringmaster) informed me that my Ringling friend Roger (former clown) works there!! I grabbed my umbrella and ran out to find him!
Success!
I met Roger at the start of my circus life, in 2012.
He was an excellent clown and a great travel companion.
Since then a lot has happened for all of us.
For example, Roger has gotten married and has kids, and now lives here and works at this beautiful bakery!
We chatted for a bit but since Roger was still on the clock I let him go after a short time, then picked out a few items because how rude would it be to come in here TWICE and STILL not buy anything! I got some pho-flavored beef jerky and a bottle of local pressed juice.
It was so cool to find Roger here, and working in this great bakery! I'm actually a little jealous of that!
Back at the hotel I finalized some plans with friends, including Jessi and Adria who will be kidnapping me on Thursday for the Fort Worth Zoo, and the Everharts who are friends of my grandmother's and who'd like to share a meal with me.
I went to the theatre just a little early to get rush tickets for Jessi and her friend Mel to see the show.
We didn't get much time to talk, but that's ok, I'll see Jessi tomorrow.
The show went well.
The band mascot, David Hasselsloth, did a great job hyping us up for a great performance!
(photos by Andrew Sotomayor and possibly others)
Tomorrow (Thursday) Jessi is bringing me to the zoo where I'll get to meet her enrichment animals!
The second half of the day will be with Adria, to meet A BABY ELEPHANT and also her own pet kittens!
1.5 hours to ATL, then fighting through the luggage and security process, then a nonstop to Dallas again.
At least from there it was a shortish bus ride to Fort Worth!
We're in an Aloft hotel. It's relatively clean and has working fixtures, = no complaints!
Across the street from the hotel is a newish bakery called 3rd Street Market.
I popped over to see if they had any bread left (it's rare for a bakery to be open on a Monday!)
They did have bread, and the owner was incredibly nice.
Got excited when I said I was there with a tour, even more excited when I was taking pictures of his shop to share in the Foodie Finds group.
And ended up giving me a half-loaf of bread for free! Wow!
I didn't buy anything else there that day, but will be back for either more bread or a sandwich before the week is out.
For groceries I decided to Uber to Central Market, because this would be my last chance to see one on this tour.
And BOY am I glad I did!
( CLICK HERE for Central Market )
The rest of the day, unpacking and winding down.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday after breakfast I visited Doc's Records, a huge vintage and vinyl store.
It was a warehouse packed to the gills with vinyl of all sizes, rare and new, and CDs, cassettes, VHS, Blu-Ray, box sets, and collectibles.
There were also vintage clothing racks from different providers lining the outside edges of the store.
I enjoyed looking around, though Jameson would have appreciated this a lot more than me!
Sadly, none of the items on his list were physically IN the store.
This place uses a distributor for a lot of their listed items. So I ended up walking out and ordering on my phone instead.
Kind of negates the fun of physically sifting through rare vinyl to find your prize. But, that's 2023.
That done, I poked around in a nearby Target before walking 2 miles back to the hotel in the Texas heat.
A shower and a rest before showtime.
We are playing Bass Performance Hall. I have walked past this hall many times while with the circus, but have never been inside before.
The hall is flanked by two giant 48-foot-tall angels carved of limestone.
Inside you can see the "wings" of the angels in the rotunda set in the ceiling, framing a blue sky peppered with fluffy clouds.
(For some reason the phone camera turned the whole thing blue, it's actually only the sky portions that are blue...weird)
The hall is about 25 years old, and is a beautiful modern space.
Once again I find myself with my very own dressing room.
This one is a little odd, though!
The oddest part is this pair of shoes at the corner of the desk. Why are they here? Whose are they?
One of our crew says those shoes have been there "forever".
Well...I'm not going to touch them, then!
Before sound check I had a meeting with Company Management regarding pit temperatures, which recently have been uncomfortably cold. As the "band rep" it's my job to bring whole-band issues like this. They're going to try and get us some space heaters and a regular supply of hand/foot warmers. I think that's all we can realistically ask for; every venue is different and pretty much no pit anywhere has its own thermostat. Mostly, I very much appreciated being heard by our CM ladies. It means a lot to know that someone cares, and is willing to listen seriously, whether the issue can be addressed at the end of the day or not.
Our show went well, we had an enthusiastic audience that made me look forward to the rest of the week playing this lovely hall :)
-------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday I had a normal morning.
For lunch I Ubered out to Rise in east Fort Worth to try French souffle for the first time!
Rise is a French-style cafe specializing in souffles. Check out their Instagram...drool-worthy!
The restaurant is in a snooty-booty shopping plaza where I definitely can't afford anything :p
Inside it was dimly lit, but with cute decor.
Painted rocks lined the windowsills, shelves, and booths.
The snooty-booty set menu and "global" wine list.
Had I been here with Jameson, we probably would have gotten a full meal.
Since it was just me, I only wanted to try a souffle.
There were so many flavors to choose from!
Savory options like crawfish, or mushroom, escargot, or cauliflower brie.
Sweet options like strawberry, pecan praline, grand marnier, or apricot.
I went with classic chocolate, figuring that's a good first-timer flavor.
The souffles have to be made fresh and take a while, so while I waited I was given a small warm loaf of bread (it was very good).
After what seemed like no time at all my piping hot souffle appeared!
You are supposed to poke a hole in the center and pour the sauce in. Here we go:
(CLICK HERE to Watch)
Oh my goodness. It was so good.
The texture was like a fluffy, light, "bready marshmallow" if you can imagine that.
Or, like, if a meringue and a bread pudding had a baby.
Souffles are mostly egg-based, so despite how big it looks it was not heavy or overly filling yet still managed to be indulgent and decadent. I took my time and savored each bite, describing it all to Jameson because I wished he could be there with me.
It was very very good, and I'm glad I got to try it!
The only thing I would have done differently in retrospect is perhaps get a fruit-flavored one with chocolate sauce.
The chocolate-on-chocolate was fabulous, but it WAS kind of one-note, and I could have done with some tartness along the way.
Well, maybe there will be a next time! But for today, it was so nice :)
Back downtown I had wanted to go window shopping/exploring, but it was raining steadily so I opted to stay in.
Oh, I did pop back over to 3rd Street Market because Kathy (actress who plays Rita now and is a former Ringmaster) informed me that my Ringling friend Roger (former clown) works there!! I grabbed my umbrella and ran out to find him!
Success!
I met Roger at the start of my circus life, in 2012.
He was an excellent clown and a great travel companion.
Since then a lot has happened for all of us.
For example, Roger has gotten married and has kids, and now lives here and works at this beautiful bakery!
We chatted for a bit but since Roger was still on the clock I let him go after a short time, then picked out a few items because how rude would it be to come in here TWICE and STILL not buy anything! I got some pho-flavored beef jerky and a bottle of local pressed juice.
It was so cool to find Roger here, and working in this great bakery! I'm actually a little jealous of that!
Back at the hotel I finalized some plans with friends, including Jessi and Adria who will be kidnapping me on Thursday for the Fort Worth Zoo, and the Everharts who are friends of my grandmother's and who'd like to share a meal with me.
I went to the theatre just a little early to get rush tickets for Jessi and her friend Mel to see the show.
We didn't get much time to talk, but that's ok, I'll see Jessi tomorrow.
The show went well.
The band mascot, David Hasselsloth, did a great job hyping us up for a great performance!
(photos by Andrew Sotomayor and possibly others)
Tomorrow (Thursday) Jessi is bringing me to the zoo where I'll get to meet her enrichment animals!
The second half of the day will be with Adria, to meet A BABY ELEPHANT and also her own pet kittens!
