Vegas Baby!

I will try and get more updated than I did in Phoenix...again, no promises! But I am enjoying my days off with having nothing to do...especially with our last split week of the tour next week (Bakersfield and Hollywood)...but I'll try and update while in Vegas.

The weather is beautiful and the strip is as alluring as ever...there have been a number of changes since I was here 10 or so years ago...I will try and go out tonight and take some pictures of the strip...surprisingly (is that a word?) I haven't gotten out as much as I have wanted to.

What? I'm in Phoenix...and I have a couple of days to myself?

No promises...but I'm going to try and get caught up with my entries in the next few days...no promises because we had a 5:15am luggage call this morning to get to the airport for our flight to Phoenix (with a stop in El Paso) and so I took my time packing last night and have yet to go to sleep.

It is currently 83 degrees and sunny here in Phoenix...and we're only a couple of blocks away from the BOB. The what? The Ball One Ballpark...home of the Arizona Diamondbacks. I am looking forward to going to a game on Saturday after our three shows...that's the nice thing with this gig, our last show will be at 5:30pm...which means that we'll be getting out of work at 7pm...which means that I can get over to the ballpark and see the game and only miss an inning or two!

I should probably catch a nap...but feel like going out and exploring the immediate neighborhood.

BTW...I don't know if the BOB helped to spur a revitalization of downtown Phoenix...but I remember being in this area the last time I was in Phoenix...and it wasn't much to look at or do...it's near the downtown mall...with the eateries...by the weird looking sculpture that looks kind of like a spire with spheres all over it (not the mall with the roller-coaster) and it seemed like a depressed area...then again this was 1991 I believe...14 years CAN make a difference!

When I get back, I'll try to post an entry on Mobile, AL...if sleep doesn't claim me first.

Baton Rouge

Baton Rouge was interesting and nice for few different reasons. First off, we performed at the Centroplex, which is right by the Mississippi River…and while that’s nice on its own, that was where we docked while on board one of the Queens (Mississippi, Delta and American) and stopping in Baton Rouge…also on Sunday, the American Queen was docked there for a while before they headed back downriver to New Orleans…so the area was a place that I was quite familiar with. The best reason that Baton Rouge was so enjoyable was that I got to spend time with my cousin Joel (OK…maybe not cousins in the legal or strictest of senses…but our families have been so close for so long that we are like cousins) and his family. I got the chance to come over to their house on Wednesday and spend time with them and talk for awhile over margaritas and kabobs…they were kind enough to also allow me to do my laundry…actually they wouldn’t even let me touch it, which got a little embarrassing while the um…unmentionables were being folded. They also stopped out the next night at the venue after the show just to hang out together for a while and we went to a cool place called Playland to eat…like a pizza and sandwich place…lot’s of sports stuff…mostly LSU. On Saturday, I got to see what kind of connections that I had (using the comp tickets that I had) and got them front row center seats for the Saturday evening performance…I was even able to squeeze in a meet and greet with Elmo for the girls (I’ll post the picture soon…when I have the proper spelling of the girls names…just want to make sure I get it right) and they were very pleased with the show. After the show we went out to a fabulous restaurant called TJ Ribs. It was great getting to spend time with them as I had only really seen them on holidays when they would visit in Cleveland. I can’t begin to thank you for the true southern hospitality.

It also allowed me to receive something that my Uncle Elmer wanted to pass down to me for good luck (it was easier for him to send it down to his son than to try and catch me at a hotel address)…and it’s on my keychain, I treasure it dearly…as I do the conversations that I have previously had with him both at home and on the road and the ones that I will have with him in the future.

New Orleans

After that long night in Lafayette we had a day trip to New Orleans that was leaving at 9:30am…since my eyes did not want to open so early in the morning, I was able to hitch a ride down to N’awlins with Keith who was leaving at 2:00 PM…which was a bit more palatable. So I rode down with Keith, Casey and Seth (one of our Professor Arts) and we got there around 3PM…unfortunately Keith wanted to leave around 7PM…four hours in New Orleans? NO WAY! So I called Rebecca to see if I could get a ride back to Baton Rouge…since I was supposed to have gone down with that group…I got a call back from Rebecca saying that there was indeed room for me in the first van. So, I acted as a bit of a tourist guide (me? In New Orleans? Never…) for Seth…we started by going to Jackson Square and then had lunch and drinks at Pat O’Brien’s afterwards we took a little walk down Bourbon Street and stopped a couple of times to listen to some music (one was a traditional Jazz band and the other was a rock band which had a lead singer that kind of looked like a worn out Brian Setzer) and of course also proceeded to have a few beers and a frozen drink or two…I had a Jester…touted to be the strongest drink on Bourbon Street and was feeling pretty good for a good while after. We went shopping and looked at some art and then made our way over to the world famous Café Du Monde for café au lait and beneigts (how Do you spell that?)…I then got together at Pat O’Brien’s with Rebecca, Andy, Dani and Kevin after letting Keith know that I wasn’t joining them for the ride back. We then enjoyed the city while waiting for the Vampire tour to start. We had a fun time walking around the French Quarter and hearing stories about some of the buildings. Speaking of which…there’s a pretty gruesome story about the building that was diagonally across the street from the restaurant where Uncle Bill ended up with the shrimp tail in his coffee. During the tour we stopped for a drink and potty break…I got a frozen drink called the Vampire…of course. A side note about my attire…I was wearing shorts and a button down short sleeve shirt...and while it was fine during the daylight hours, it did get a bit chilly at night…which is why I needed to make sure that that I well stocked in an alcoholic anti-freeze. After the vampire tour was over I stopped for a quick take out order at the Café Du Monde and then made our way to the van for the trip back to Baton Rouge. After a quick potty stop before getting to the van we found out that not only was I looking for a ride back but also Casey who came down with me in the other van was looking for a ride home as well…and he had talked to someone else in the van about having a ride back. Luckily the van had a big luggage area so I rode back there and was even able to stretch out a bit and take a nap.