Tootsie Yr2: Hartford part 1
Feb. 23rd, 2023 08:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
taz_39A normal travel day, though some luggage was lost and some connections barely made.
The band and crew flew from Huntsville to Charlotte and then Hartford, but cast was flown to CHICAGO with a basically nonexistant layover. Somehow everyone made the connection, I guess they just ran Home Alone-style, but their luggage was not as swift as they so some people will need a return trip to the airport tonight or tomorrow.
Anyway, for the second flight I had a window seat, and the clouds were puffy and nice.
30 Seconds of Clouds:
Also, some container ships off the New England coast as we approached for landing.
The hotel is a Holiday Inn, and it's "normal", not scuzzy and not fancy.
But if you EVER think your hotel carpet is clean, try this Pro Tip:
take one of those sticky lint rollers and rub it back and forth on the carpet, especially near the bathroom or the foot of the bed.
You'll never walk barefoot in a hotel room again.
AAAAaanyway, we have rental cars again so right away I asked Paul and Jared (drummer and guitarist) if they wanted to carpool over to Whole Paycheck for groceries as there are no grocery stores in walking distance. I also brought our covid officer Katie. The Whole Paycheck was in a plaza that also had a Target, CVS and Walgreens, and something called "Big Y" that seemed to be a grocery store too.
I went to Walgreens for Core Power protein shakes, which I prefer to the watery flavorless Iconic shakes sold at WP.
The rest of my groceries for the week:
Gelato and croissants and big pastrami sandwiches are just fine. Once.
We drove back laughing and talking about this and that. It was nice.
At the hotel miraculously no one was using the washer so I did a load, then Sam (keys) asked in the group chat if he could pay someone to take their microwave as I guess he didn't get one in his room. I was happy to offer him mine because I've got the Itaki and it can do everything a microwave can :)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday morning, woke to find that my fridge had frozen my snap peas, a yogurt, and a few other things. Very annoying. If you have ever frozen veggies without blanching them, they turn into disgusting mush. Yogurt becomes grainy and sandy when thawed as well. So I threw those two items out.
At least most things aren't harmed by freezing. I cooked my chicken and a serving of rice for lunch with salmon and frozen tabouli (weird but at least not ruined). Spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning up from cooking, trying to finalize my Cincinnati Foodie Finds, and trying to get this refrigerator to be a FRIDGE and not a FREEZER. I might have to just accept that my stuff will be frozen, and maybe move my yogurt to my tiny travel fridge so it isn't damaged.
This is the first time I've cooked with the Itaki in a while, and I forgot how nice it is.
Yes, the microwave is convenient. But a nice slowly-steamed chicken breast in broth just comes out so much BETTER.
And grains like rice and oatmeal are just so lovely when cooked in the Itaki, the texture is much improved.
Anyway, for sound check we drove to the theatre. This is an old theatre and the backstage is cramped and dirty, heated with radiators and hot pipes so that it alternates between over-hot and slightly chilly as the heat cycles.
But the house itself is GORGEOUS.
That's the ceiling mural, with one of the images flipped so you can better see the art.
The wall sconces, and the view from our dressing room:
The huge Deco mural features a personification of Drama, surrounded by constellations, 1920s-era symbols of America (airplanes, skyscrapers), musical instruments, and performance arts people performing their crafts.
Golden suns, moons, and stars march along the walls in bands of ribboned gold, ending in large bright Deco wall sconces backed with red curtains.
It was a sight to behold, and we all took some time for photos before beginning sound check.
After the check I stayed at the theatre to post a Miss Piggy update and eat a packed dinner.
And since there was a large sink backstage I borrowed some dish soap from Wardrobe and washed my trombone.
I always like to leave it clean before layoffs, so stuff isn't...festering.
The show went well, nothing to report. I suspect people are doing their "best-or-better" because we are so close to NYC, and some Troika people are in the audience, and who knows whether some talent scout might show up!
I'm sure the bigwigs in the city are always scanning for mediocre trombonists :p
----------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, I was happy to have a pretty relaxed day ahead of me.
After breakfast I did an hour of data entry, then walked to a local bakery.
There is a pedestrian walkway across the river.
Another short decorative bridge near the Science Center.
I remember this from previous circus visits.
I even remember this tiny halal food truck.
Circus people ate here DAILY when we played Hartford, it was very good and a great price for the amount of food.
Good on them for surviving the pandemic!!
(fun fact: this pic is from 2017, from a post I made during the circus's last visit to Hartford. That post is full of awesome memories...this food truck, cuddling the animals, our No Talent Talent Show...CLICK HERE to read it)
The bakery didn't have much, maybe because it's a weekday. But I got some nice flower-themed cards to send to friends and family, and a shortbread cookie that had pansies pressed into the top (it will probably taste like normal shortbread, but it's a cute visual).
It was nice to walk around a bit, and made me think that I should plan to do something tomorrow, too.
Back at the hotel I had lunch and watched The Last of Us before working on my taxes and doing more data entry.
At show time we drove in since it was sleeting, then had a nice and well-attended show.
For tomorrow, I'm thinking a walk to The Kitchen (restaurant of course) and possibly going to the art museum, which despite being to Hartford several times I've managed to avoid visiting.
-----------------------------------------------
Other stuff:
Jameson left on a cruise with his friends to celebrate our friend Simon's 50th birthday!
He also sent me this pic of the arena at Miami while they were pushing away.
I guess it's a week of circus memories :)
The band and crew flew from Huntsville to Charlotte and then Hartford, but cast was flown to CHICAGO with a basically nonexistant layover. Somehow everyone made the connection, I guess they just ran Home Alone-style, but their luggage was not as swift as they so some people will need a return trip to the airport tonight or tomorrow.
Anyway, for the second flight I had a window seat, and the clouds were puffy and nice.
30 Seconds of Clouds:
Also, some container ships off the New England coast as we approached for landing.
The hotel is a Holiday Inn, and it's "normal", not scuzzy and not fancy.
But if you EVER think your hotel carpet is clean, try this Pro Tip:
take one of those sticky lint rollers and rub it back and forth on the carpet, especially near the bathroom or the foot of the bed.
You'll never walk barefoot in a hotel room again.
AAAAaanyway, we have rental cars again so right away I asked Paul and Jared (drummer and guitarist) if they wanted to carpool over to Whole Paycheck for groceries as there are no grocery stores in walking distance. I also brought our covid officer Katie. The Whole Paycheck was in a plaza that also had a Target, CVS and Walgreens, and something called "Big Y" that seemed to be a grocery store too.
I went to Walgreens for Core Power protein shakes, which I prefer to the watery flavorless Iconic shakes sold at WP.
The rest of my groceries for the week:
- Boneless skinless chicken breast in BBQ marinade
- carton egg whites
- one salmon filet
- fat free Greek yogurt
- Strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and kumquats
- sumo orange
- banana
- rice cakes
- wheat sandwich rounds
- oatmeal (I was out)
- snap peas
- tabouli salad
- vegetable soup
- nut butter
- avocado
- vegan potstickers (didn't know they were vegan but not complaining)
- beef in a pouch!
- local canned coffee
Gelato and croissants and big pastrami sandwiches are just fine. Once.
We drove back laughing and talking about this and that. It was nice.
At the hotel miraculously no one was using the washer so I did a load, then Sam (keys) asked in the group chat if he could pay someone to take their microwave as I guess he didn't get one in his room. I was happy to offer him mine because I've got the Itaki and it can do everything a microwave can :)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday morning, woke to find that my fridge had frozen my snap peas, a yogurt, and a few other things. Very annoying. If you have ever frozen veggies without blanching them, they turn into disgusting mush. Yogurt becomes grainy and sandy when thawed as well. So I threw those two items out.
At least most things aren't harmed by freezing. I cooked my chicken and a serving of rice for lunch with salmon and frozen tabouli (weird but at least not ruined). Spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning up from cooking, trying to finalize my Cincinnati Foodie Finds, and trying to get this refrigerator to be a FRIDGE and not a FREEZER. I might have to just accept that my stuff will be frozen, and maybe move my yogurt to my tiny travel fridge so it isn't damaged.
This is the first time I've cooked with the Itaki in a while, and I forgot how nice it is.
Yes, the microwave is convenient. But a nice slowly-steamed chicken breast in broth just comes out so much BETTER.
And grains like rice and oatmeal are just so lovely when cooked in the Itaki, the texture is much improved.
Anyway, for sound check we drove to the theatre. This is an old theatre and the backstage is cramped and dirty, heated with radiators and hot pipes so that it alternates between over-hot and slightly chilly as the heat cycles.
But the house itself is GORGEOUS.
That's the ceiling mural, with one of the images flipped so you can better see the art.
The wall sconces, and the view from our dressing room:
The huge Deco mural features a personification of Drama, surrounded by constellations, 1920s-era symbols of America (airplanes, skyscrapers), musical instruments, and performance arts people performing their crafts.
Golden suns, moons, and stars march along the walls in bands of ribboned gold, ending in large bright Deco wall sconces backed with red curtains.
It was a sight to behold, and we all took some time for photos before beginning sound check.
After the check I stayed at the theatre to post a Miss Piggy update and eat a packed dinner.
And since there was a large sink backstage I borrowed some dish soap from Wardrobe and washed my trombone.
I always like to leave it clean before layoffs, so stuff isn't...festering.
The show went well, nothing to report. I suspect people are doing their "best-or-better" because we are so close to NYC, and some Troika people are in the audience, and who knows whether some talent scout might show up!
I'm sure the bigwigs in the city are always scanning for mediocre trombonists :p
----------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, I was happy to have a pretty relaxed day ahead of me.
After breakfast I did an hour of data entry, then walked to a local bakery.
There is a pedestrian walkway across the river.
Another short decorative bridge near the Science Center.
I remember this from previous circus visits.
I even remember this tiny halal food truck.
Circus people ate here DAILY when we played Hartford, it was very good and a great price for the amount of food.
Good on them for surviving the pandemic!!
(fun fact: this pic is from 2017, from a post I made during the circus's last visit to Hartford. That post is full of awesome memories...this food truck, cuddling the animals, our No Talent Talent Show...CLICK HERE to read it)
The bakery didn't have much, maybe because it's a weekday. But I got some nice flower-themed cards to send to friends and family, and a shortbread cookie that had pansies pressed into the top (it will probably taste like normal shortbread, but it's a cute visual).
It was nice to walk around a bit, and made me think that I should plan to do something tomorrow, too.
Back at the hotel I had lunch and watched The Last of Us before working on my taxes and doing more data entry.
At show time we drove in since it was sleeting, then had a nice and well-attended show.
For tomorrow, I'm thinking a walk to The Kitchen (restaurant of course) and possibly going to the art museum, which despite being to Hartford several times I've managed to avoid visiting.
-----------------------------------------------
Other stuff:
Jameson left on a cruise with his friends to celebrate our friend Simon's 50th birthday!
He also sent me this pic of the arena at Miami while they were pushing away.
I guess it's a week of circus memories :)
