Baltimore, MD Week 1

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After the last Sunday show Jameson and I went to his parents' house in Virginia.
There we were able to rest and enjoy a few activities. We ate at Seasons 52, a grill and wine bar specializing in seasonal meals all under 500 calories. The food was simple and fresh, and very enjoyable. For an appetizer we shared a lobster flatbread (flatbread is one of their specialties). For my dinner I combined the cider-glazed chicken skewers with a quinoa citrus side salad. My photos turned out too dark, so here are some from other sources so you can get an idea of presentation, which was lovely.



Desserts are served in shot glasses, for guilt avoidance I suppose. It was tempting to have them leave the tray.
I picked the red velvet.

(photo courtesy shescookin.com)

After that fantastic meal, we watched the new Muppet movie! It was very funny, lots of celebrity cameos. The next day we shopped for green curry ingredients at H-Mart, an asian grocery. I was tempted to buy lots of things but was able to exercise restraint. This time :P Jameson's Mom made us a wonderful green curry using fresh herbs, shrimp, Thai eggplants, baby corn, and red peppers over jasmine rice. It was absolutely delicious!

I also had the chance to do a little classical music geeking with Jameson's Dad. He sings with the Fairfax Choral Society, and they've just finished a concert series with Morten Lauridsen. That guy is AWESOME. Anyway, it was a wonderful time. I really enjoy spending time with Jameson's parents!

After a quick Walmart run we returned to the train. I immediately recognized the yard...this was the place where I first saw the train on March 29th, 2012 while dropping stuff off in my new room and filling out paperwork at the arena. I remember pulling over at this crest on the hill, and staring at the circus train, and telling myself, "This is really happening".


Yep, this week I am hitting my two year mark. I have now done a full two year cycle with the circus, and will be repeating cities from now on. I think that being able to recognize the workplaces will make my life easier!

I remember this arena fondly too. This was where I first met Asia the elephant, and was overwhelmed by the kindness of the people I was going to be working with, and the scale of the show. And faced the horror of learning the music so quickly, LOL.


Working here turned out OK :) At times I get tired of all the movement and noise, the dirt and drama. Some days I just don't want to do my job or deal with people. But these days are few and far between. Overall I still love it here, still get a thrill from the experience of working for Ringling. It is wonderful to see so many new places, meet new people, and experience so much in addition to playing music for a living. I'm proud to work with this group of people and for this company.

That said, Wednesday night into Thursday was pretty awful on the train :P Once again our generator is breaking down, so all night it was surging on and off. It is still very cold here, and it was no fun to wake up knowing that the room would be below 50 degrees. During a lucky moment where the power was on for about five minutes, I was able to make a cup of coffee and microwave some eggs, and was very grateful for that. Then I threw on a coat and waited to see if the problem would be fixed. When lunch time came around and there was still no power, I packed up my hot plate, utensils, and meats I'd been planning to cook and dragged it all to the arena to cook there.


That evening after the show we did have power. Yay!
On Friday after the morning show, Jameson and I visited Lexington Market for lunch.
The market is over 230 years old!! It's open every day except Sunday.
For lunch I got a crab cake from Faidley's. It was about the size of a baseball, baked not fried, very yummy!


(close-up courtesy wordpress.com)

Another local favorite is the "Berger", a sort of shortbread cookie buried in fudge icing.
It's ugly but beautiful in your mouth :D

(photo courtesy bergercookies.com)

Back at the train, I had time to eat lunch and clean up a little before my Uncle Andy arrived with my sister and his kids to see the train. I showed them my room and the car in general, then we went to the arena for a glimpse at the tigers before the show. I think they had a great time and it was wonderful to see them!

Saturday's shows went smoothly. Our ringmaster has a broken(?) foot so he's riding the float a little more often, but otherwise it's the usual show. Oh yeah, and during the high wire act the chain fell off one of the bikes while the dude was riding it. He had to climb off of it onto the wire while carrying a balance beam, and let the bike fall. Crazy! But successful :)

On Sunday we only had two shows, that was nice. It was raining very hard, and our power went out again. I wonder at what point the generator will be fixed or replaced...hopefully sometime before Mexico??

We have two weeks here in Baltimore, and so Monday is a day off. I am very excited to have time that doesn't involve travel. If the weather clears next week, maybe I can do a little sightseeing!!