Oklahoma City and Wichita

Lunch stop, ordering in at a Sonic...don't get salads at Sonic...

stick with what they do best...Burgers...just sayin'

We left Bossier City and the Ramada Inn an hour earlier than what had been scheduled…it feels like most of our bus rides are averaging about 5.5-6 hours…we usually stop for lunch about noon and have a 45 minute break. There is a little grumbling about where we’ve been stopping. Let’s just say they are not the healthiest of choices … think truck driver…anyways…we had a day off and Shay and Shawna and I were looking forward to getting to Oklahoma City. We heard there was a big shopping/tourist area there within walking distance of the hotel. We checked into the Sheraton and I promptly jumped in the shower (as did most of the rest of the tour) to wash off the grime of Bossier City! I have never felt better…it was a short walk to “Bricktown” though we didn’t see much shopping. It’s very much like the river walk in San Antonio, there were river taxi’s and trolley’s. We were a little bummed from the lack of shops but wanted to sit down to a nice dinner…relaxed and chill so when we saw the Mickey Mantle 7 Steak restaurant we thought when in Oklahoma! Shay and I had both been craving beef and it we were not disappointed with MM7. We ordered fried pickles, something I had never had and LOVED and fried mushrooms. We both got the fillet but I resisted the urge to add the potato...it’s a good thing because we were stuffed by the end of the meal. It was pretty pricey, though a good meal, but if you know Mick and I at all you know that we love to go to our local Long Horn Steakhouse and I actually think it’s better and half the price. After we gorged ourselves on steak we hopped on the trolley (it’s only a quarter to ride) and went to the site and now memorial of the Oklahoma City bombings… If you ever get a chance to go there I highly recommend it. It’s a beautiful tribute to those lost there. The memorial park is flanked by two huge walls displaying the time of the minute before the bombing 9:01am and after 9:03, symbolizing the innocence before and the time their life changed after. A reflecting pool spans the distance between the two walls where the old 5th street used to be. Remnants of the old building are still visible and in the museum next door this is suppose to be a room that is left exactly as it was after the bomb went off so you can see the impact the explosion had on the buildings in the immediate area. On the grass where the building used to stand are bronze chairs, each representing a life lost, the smaller chairs represent children. They are arranged in 9 rows and represent the lives lost on each of the 9 floors. On the other side of the reflecting pool is the Survivor Tree. This tree was practically blown away during the blast. Debris and shrapnel were embedded in the trunk and for a while it looked like this tree would not make it…but miraculously it did come back and stands as a living reminder of triumphing over this terrible event. Across the street is a church, and they have set up their own memorial. I found their statue of a weeping Jesus particularly moving. All in all Oklahoma City was pretty amazing.

 

Mickey Mantle 7 - Fillet

Me at the back of the trolley.  This one was not as authentic as the Memphis one but was pretty cool and cheap none the less!

 

Survivor tree to the left.  9:03 wall to the right.  Reflecting pool in front.  I love how they paid tribute to the minute before the minute after but the minute that the bomb actually went off. 

 

9:03 am...

Memorial chairs, the clear parts are engraved with the names of those who were killed.

They glow at night giving the illusion of floating.

Remnants of the old building foundation.

The sun started to set as we were leaving.

Weeping Jesus.

After our day off in OC we hit the road for Wichita where we had two shows. We drove straight to the venue, which is always rough for us musicians, especially the brass. Being on a bus all day and then having to play a double with little to no warm up is a real test of your skills. In addition we have to bring our concert clothes, make up, etc with us on the coach because we usually do not have access to our bags until we get to the hotel. Wichita was a sleepy little town. I heard the arena was new and people were excited because it was bringing in “big acts” like us! HA! Between our shows we perused the Star Wars Merchandise (we are all of course buying shirts, key chains, light sabers..etc) ate dinner and then walked to the hotel which was about a 15 minute walk away. At this point in the tour I NEEDED to do laundry…the principal horn, Tim, and I scoped it out and discovered there were 2 washers and 2 dryers and plotted to get to them first when we returned after the evening show. It was pretty hilarious…you have to imagine…we are two weeks in and pretty much everyone needed to do laundry…and we were in Wichita…what else are you going to do there? We got change ahead of time and literally RAN from the bus up the stairs to get to the laundry. We figured everyone else would have to go to their rooms first so we figured we had a few minutes lead time. Our plotting paid off…while we were loading the washers several other people came in… “oh man!!!” they’d say…that’s right….as Tim said, when it comes to laundry on the road it’s “eat or be eaten” … mentally having clean laundry is life changing..okay road changing … Thank you Wichita!!

Stage door in Wichita...in case you had any bright ideas...

Kansas border and our breakfast stop.

My area at the Wichita concert.  Since we play arena's we are in the same rooms as many famous sports stars...oh yah!!

Shows to date: 8

Number of hotels stayed to date: 9

Best hotel to date: Hutton Hotel, Nashville TN

Miles traveled to date: 3,592 miles

Memphis - Baton Rouge - Bossier City

Me, Peter, Gabe, Shay and Shawna

I am on a bus…again…these last three days has been a whirlwind of bus riding, Star Wars playing, sight seeing and drama filled adventure. To recap…Tuesday morning Shay and I met our old college friend, Gil, for breakfast and then we jumped on our bus to head to Memphis. We hadn’t played the show since the previous Saturday and the schedule for Tuesday was to drive straight to the venue in Memphis for the show. The ride was pretty uneventful. There is a little drama regarding seat saving…I swear we are all over 18 but the things people choose to get into fights about is pretty hilarious to me. Anyway…we drove straight through to Memphis and played for an AWESOME crowd in downtown Memphis. After the show a group of us decided that since we were in Memphis we of course had to try out the ribs. We weren’t very hungry but settled on going to the Blues City Cafe on Beale street to split a rack of ribs. After we checked into the Memphis Marriott we started walking along the trolley tracks to make our way to Beale Street (it’s just like Bourbon street). On the way a trolley came by and we decided to jump on (even though we were only a few block from our destination) it’s only a dollar and while two of the other members of our group weren’t for jumping on we were really glad we did! It’s still manually driven by a guy that sits in the front. There are old wooden seats, and it’s just so quaint! Beale street was sort of crazy…lot’s of people drinking, lot’s of lights, music, and just things to see. Blues City was great. We were recommended to have the tamales with chili as an appetizer then the three girls split a rack of ribs and a apple cobbler dessert…it’s was excellent! The meat really just fell off of the bone…definatley worth the late trip out!

Memphis Marriott - Hotel View

Peter, Shay, Gabe and Shawna on the trolley!

Me on the trolley in Memphis

See how cool this thing was!! and it is still hand operated!

Ribs...need I say more?

Wednesday morning we loaded the buses and got ready to travel to Baton Rouge. A little panic ensued when Shay (who had already checked out of her room) discovered she had left her laptop upstairs…two problems with this…1) would it still be there? and 2) the buses were scheduled to leave right when she discovered this. Why is #2 such a big deal? We are responsible for ourselves. There are no bus checks…no roll calls…if you miss a bus it’s your responsibility to get to the next location and there is no waiting for anyone…we are on a tight schedule! Thankfully the hotel staff was able to help her get it back and she ran back on the bus in time for departure. We were both excited to get to Baton Rouge because we have yet another old BU bassoon friend, Gabe, who now teaches there at LSU, as well as his wife, Diane, whom we also went to school with (she's an artist and did the concert poster for my first college recital!) and for me I was doubly excited to go because my first college teacher, Seth, lives there and also teaches at LSU. Mick and I have visited Seth and his wife, Rachel, there a few years ago but I haven't seen Seth since then and it was so good to have a drink and catch up.  Since downtown BR everything closes during the week we had drinks at the hotel and then walked over to a pizza joint called "Schlitz and Giggles".  It was a nice walk and they had some great pizza!  It turns out as well that Gabe knew several other members of the Star Wars Symphony and so the party grew while we were sitting at the pizza place! To top off the night Shay and I decided to hit up the adjoining casino...I lost $4 and she lost $2 (she has WAAAYYY more will power than I do!) The hotel we stayed at in BR was called "The Belle of Baton Rouge" and the rooms were a little more moist than we would have preferred...also, the bathroom was probably one of the smallest bathrooms I've ever seen...so since our departure time was so early on Thursday for Bossier City and since I knew I could grab a shower at our next hotel right before the concert I decided to wait...BIG MISTAKE...little did I know that the Belle of Baton Rouge would look like the Ritz after arriving at our next hotel...

Bell of Baton Rouge, hotel bed...the room had a French Quarter feel to it;)

View from my room

Friends, old and new, but we were all connected to each other somehow!

Scott, Ebonee, Me, Diane, Gabe, Shay, and Elizandro

Yah! We finally saw a promotional poster for this thing!!

Elizandro and Scott picking C3PO and Yoda's noses...classy

Lobby of the Belle of Baton Rouge.  It was this huge windowed atrium.

Bossier City (pronounced, bo-z-shure) was the last stop in our three day whirlwind of a show a day in three different towns!  I was actually really excited to go to this town because it's "across the tracks" from Shreveport, LA where my Grandma Mary grew up.  I should preface this portion on Bossier City with explaining that we on the tour have a pretty extensive contract, some in fact don't believe it's extensive enough! At any rate among issues of payment, time spent on a bus before break, etc, is a clause regarding our 

housing.  The contract states that we will be put up in 3 star or better hotels along our 11 week journey.  I don't think management knew this hotel was, well....extremely sub par...but my first clue that we might have a problem was when I realized  I could spit at the highway from the parking lot...it had an attached casino and three different fast food joints in the parking lot as well.  Well...we'll give it a chance right? But then we walked in...and the lobby while trying to give the impression of a fancy space with worn leather couches still could not mask the odor.   We had about an hour to get to our rooms before we had to be back on the bus to get to the arena for our show. Have you every checked into a hotel with 90 other people...who've been on the road for a week and a half? It's pretty interesting...we crowded the table with our keys laid out and searched for our last names so we could then get in line for the elevator (there's always a line for the elevator) when we travel!  I made my way to the "concierge" and asked oh so innocently where the elevator was exactly...to which she replied "oh I'm sorry we don't have an elevator".  I know what you're thinking...don't be so lazy Jo but I would just like to politely remind you all that we are carrying 3 months worth of luggage, instruments, etc... "It's only 2 flights, it's not a lot of stairs" " I know I just have a lot of stuff" I reply and I start hiking up the, granted it was short, stairs.  I'm not exaggerating when I say this place was more like a motel, dirty, lights flickering...I was searching for my room, lugging my bags through the dank hallway when I noticed a man further down the hallway with a large plastic sheet...of course...of course...he was in front of my room.  He didn't speak English so it took me a few minutes of trying to explain I was trying to get into the room he was blocking and that I had a limited time to get in, shower (because I hadn't earlier in the day), and iron my wrinkled concert out fit.  I get in the room...and well...it was just disgusting...I swear there was blood on the walls...there were dead roaches in the hallway...holes in the bathroom...the mattresses were wrapped in plastic...it was gross...I know, I can be snobby...but when you've been staying at the Ritz this...well...not only was it filthy (some sort of substance was all over the alarm clock) the door didn't shut right and there 

was a gap in the wall where the Ac went to the outside.  I will tell you, you've never seen anything like 90 people checking in and meeting in the lobby with in minutes of dropping their stuff in their rooms!  Other people had holes in their walls, "love stains" on the couch in the room, and one  person's shower tiles fell off of the wall when he got in to shower.  By the time I made it to the lobby a mutiny was already started...we were in agreement, we'd rather drive through the night then stay here! I felt bad, we were dissing this place in front of the staff, but then I think, you know, it doesn't have to be the Ritz, but it does have to be clean...and it just wasn't.  Unfortunately we could not leave that night...but we did get management to agree to let us leave the next morning an hour earlier than scheduled.  It was an experience...and probably the grossest hotel I've ever been...including the hotel Mom, Mick and I had to stay at when our car broke down on a road trip a few years ago...it had a bloody towel in it...but walls trump towels, and lets be honest there were three of us in one room...there's safety in numbers...

This might also be a good time to sort of talk about how a tour like this works.  All the musicians in the show were "contracted" by a contractor that asked us for our availability, etc... once it was confirmed that we were on the show we were all emailed the same contract.  It was 17 pages and as I mentioned above it covers everything from the hotel standards expected to our wages, per diem, even how long we can be on a bus before stopping for a break (it's 5 hours by the way!)  In addition to the contract we all have to be members in good standing with the American Federation of Musicians (they negotiated our contract with the production company, Another Planet). As with any union gig or orchestra we are suggested to nominate a "union rep" or "union steward".  The union rep checks in with production and the union to make sure that our contract is being up held.  Well our union rep is awesome.  He is on the ball and keeps us all well informed.  He immediately let management know that that hotel was a safety hazard, and not 3 stars according to our 

contract.  In addition to the hotel situation he is who members go to when dealing with other pressing issues such as the "saving of the bus seat" saga...really...it's been a subject of much tension this last week...even today someone was upset because they didn't get down to the buses early enough to get a coveted roomy seat. I learn something everyday...either about by playing, my colleagues or just how the business 

end of a tour like this works.  I never really got to see any of this type of stuff while travelling with Phantom...it's been eye opening...and while there have been some less than thrilling moments I would say yes again in a heart beat..because...I am getting paid for all this fun!

P.S.  There are no pictures of Bossier City...for obvious reasons...we got the hell out of there...I will say though that the crowd at the show was awesome.  That did make up for some of the hotel hell we were in.

Atlanta to Nashville

Monday we woke up from the Ritz to hit the road for Nashville.  Another stop on the way to our next show in Memphis.  I am going to see quite a bit of this great country on this excursion of mine!  Shay and I hit up a diner that was downtown for breakfast.  It was okay.  There was a really bad smell of chemicals in the diner...a bunch of people complained and they eventually took care of it.  Before we loaded up on the bus we stumbled into "191 Bistro" It's a high rise attached to the Ritz.  It was gorgeous with giant chandeliers and a even more beautiful tapestry.  I snapped the above picture on my phone...and then I was promptly told by security there was no photos allowed...oh well...you'll just have to take my word for it...it was very 'grand' in there.  We headed out to Nashville...it was suppose to be a shorter ride than our previous days... but there was a big accident on the road and we sort of came to a crawl before we even hit Chattanooga.  I was able to snap this pict from the bus as we were rounding a corner...at a snails pace...

We rolled into Nashville at around 3pm.  It's a lot smaller than I thought it would be.  And due to the recent floods there was a lot shut down...I grew up on country music and would have loved nothing more than to go the the Grand Ole Opry...but it's under 12 feet of water...At any rate we were staying this night at the 4 star, "green" Hutton Hotel.  My room was the smallest I've had in a long time but it was awesome!  It is what I imagine an apartment in Manhattan would look like...decorated in West Elm like furnishings.  The sink in the bathroom was a single piece of glass(above left))  and to turn on the electricity in the room you had to place your card key in a slot next to the door (above right).  The shower had a panel of frosted glass in it that allowed the natural light from the room to filter into the shower and bathroom... (below left, as seen from room area)  

Just after we got in Shay and I decided to hit the pavement and see what Nashville had to offer.  We knew the Grand Ole Opry was out due to flooding and most places with tours were closed for the night but we struck out on our own anyways to explore.  It was about a mile walk from our hotel to get to what is considered "downtown".  On the way the skies opened up and
poured rain....like
this place needs anymore water!  We took shelter under the eave of a church entrance.  It's a good thing we stopped because we would have been drenched the rest of the day!  As we were walking through downtown we came across the Barbershop Harmony Society.  All of Mick's family is involved in barbershop so I snapped a picture of the building for them.  It's hard to see in the picture but under each of the 4 columns on the building is : T, L, BA, BS...yeah that's a barbershop place alright!  We finally made our way over to the Ryman Auditorium, the longest home to date of the Grand Ole Opry.  We just missed the last tour.  I grew up on country music so this was pretty special and neat for me to get to see the building.  I do plan to return at some point so I can see a show and take some tours! We walked around for hours, tried on cowboy boots, went to Dolly Parton's gift shop, took pictures of the flooded river with debris, and ended up at "Rippy's" at an  outdoor patio to eat some awesome pulled pork and local brew.  We OF COURSE had to finish up with some ice cream from a local ice cream shop called Mike's...it was delicious.  By the time we got back to the hotel we had been out for hours! I was exhausted but I still managed to shove my practice mute in my bell and put in a few hours of face time.  It's so important to keep up the chops on these days when we don't have any shows.

I've arrived...in Music City

Shay standing next to one of Dolly's teeny tiny dresses!

Receding river with debris floating in it to the right.

Rippy's "Pulled Pork", Slaw, Corn Cake, and not one but 2 Yazoo's

The next morning Shay and I had made plans to hook up with a fellow BU alum, Gil, who now plays bassoon in the Nashville Symphony.  He picked us up and we went to a Nashville icon the Pancake Pantry...It was AWESOME!!! Great pancakes, good prices...a good start to another day of travel.  Gil brought along his oldest daughter who was absolutely adorable...it's so funny to see all our friends all grown up with kids.  My Mom wrote me a note saying, you're really getting paid for all this fun?  YEP...it's pretty much the best thing ever!

Pecan Pancakes....with warm maple syrup and whipped butter...

Gil, Mary Jo, & Shay @ the Pancake Pantry, Nashville TN

Shows to date: 3

Number of hotels stayed in to date: 4
Best hotel to date: Hutton Hotel, Nashville, TN - Awesome design and I loved that it was "green"

Orlando to Atlanta

So three shows down and we are done with Florida! Orlando's shows were great.  They put up the NBA play off banners up on the building between last night and this morning when we left the Marriott. 

(Picture: Star Wars "Screen Saver" I only ever see this screen during sound check...the silver "pods" are part of the lighting design.)  According to someone in the know...the stage and lighting/sound design was done by Lucas Films.  It's funny because this show is about the movies, yes, but also about the music, BUT when it came to setting up the brass the tuba is in the back row with the horns.  It's sort of an odd set up to have us back there behind the trumpets and trombones but it's even more odd that the tuba is with us and not the rest of the low brass...I was told that this is because the tuba would interfere with the "design" of the lights/lasers, ect...so to the back row he is!! That's okay with me.  I sit right next to him and it's great to sit next to the foundation of the orchestra, and he sounds great!

This morning we were up and on the road by 8 am...at promptly 8:05 all the musicians were snuggled up and conked out! Today I think was one of the longer rides we are taking,  7.5 hours from Orlando, FL to Atlanta, GA.  We are not playing any shows here, merely passing through on our way to our next show which will be Tuesday night in Memphis.  (Tomorrow we are staying over in Nashville, TN)  We rolled into Atlanta about 4pm.  Staying at the Ritz again...loving that!  

(Picture: view of two three of our road buses from my 16th floor room here at the Ritz Atlanta)

Funny enough I have an old college friend from Boston University who is also on this tour, Shay (Cellist), and she had been smart enough to investigate things to do here so we went off on our own little adventure.  We walked through the Olympic Park.  There was some sort of event/walk going on.  Kids and families were everywhere! But we did eventually get to our intended destination which was...drumroll please.... the Coca-Cola musuem!!!  It was pretty interesting.  And WAY better than hanging out in a bar or staying a hermit in the hotel. It's a $15 admission fee but you get two short films (8 minute, propaganda, go Coke films, but entertaining), a free coke, a vist to the Coke tasting room, and a free bottle of ....COKE! Oh and we got our picture taken with the Coca-Cola Polar Bear.  (I don't know why my eyes are closed.)

Original Coke dispenser...Syrup would go into the pot on top and they would add it to the soda water(?) in a glass below.  I think that's what they said!

Awesome "Pop Art"

The "Tasting Room" a room right before the gift shop of course, that has samples of all sorts of Coke products from all over the world.  The worst? "Beverly" from Italy...GROSS!



American Idol couch from I think 2005 season.

Um....I just thought this was an "interesting" photo...I'll let you decide what it's caption should be.

Shows to date: 3

Number of hotels stayed in to date: 3

Best hotel to date: Ritz Carlton, Atlanta