Tales of Dayton

Hi everyone -
And HAPPY 'end of weekend' to you all! Oh - and it's Columbus Day Eve - so we have that going for us. For those of you not calendar-saavy, it's Sunday night and we're sitting here in Dayton, OH - getting ready to head North tomorrow afternoon. We had 4 shows here this weekend, and all went well. There isn't a lot of 'SHOW FUN' to report...a few light bobbles (one that had us ALL standing on stage in full-light during a time when the stage is supposed to be BLACK), a near-death-ladder-experience for Eric, 4 very subdued audiences (or atleast compared to Fayetteville), a beautiful venue and some very full houses.

L-R: The Victoria Theatre in Dayton; the inside (a bit dark - but beautiful); a poster out front of the theatre.

Friday night, we decided to head out on the town in Dayton to find out how much fun we could find. We ended up in the historic Oregon District in downtown Dayton (www.oregondistrict.org) - which has a lot of restaurants, bars, stores, historic homes - and streets made of BRICK! Charming. Unfortunately, it seemed like on a Friday night, everything was closing up pretty quickly...so we were not finding much luck in our hunt. But then - we remembered passing the Dublin Pub, and decided to head down that way. And I will be the first to tell you that it was the SMARTEST MOVE we've made as a group in a LONG time! It's a place that is pretty much what it sounds like: an 'authentic' Irish pub in downtown Dayton. And if you don't believe me, check it out for yourself. www.dubpub.com It was a GREAT night - there was a live band playing, and it turned out to be a Scots-Irish rock band. As the lead singer liked to put it, they take traditional Scotish and Irish/Celtic songs and trip them out with a more ROCK sound to them. Our group favorites included 'Angus The Highwayman', 'Banshee' and
the sing-a-long sensation, 'Gypsy's Laddio'. We sang and clapped and ate and danced and drank (I was a MADMAN on water that night!) and were pretty much the best audience these guys could've had that night. (No offense, Dayton...but the rest of you were a pretty boring up in that place. You can thank us for livening the place up later!) We got continuous shout-outs from the band, and Jackie even got a song sang/dedicated to her - answering a question she asked the lead singer on a break. (The question was simply if it's TRUE what they say about what Scotsmen wear under their kilts.) We all came away as big fans of the band - and would love to recommend them to all of you! Check out their stuff: www.highlandreign.com

L-R: Chris out front of the Dublin Pub; the guys of Highland Reign rockin' out for the crowd; Jackie leans in to ask the lead singer about the 'QUILT' (aka: kilt) issue; Chris and I strike a pose for the camera.

The rest of our time here has been the regular THING - sleeps, eats, movies, malls, stuff.
I would like to take a blog-moment to introduce you all to a BLOG MILESTONE! This weekend, all the way up to Dayton from Huntington, West Virginia, we had our first PARENTAL VISIT...from the Sizemore's! (They beat my parents by ONE WEEK! But I still have the first SIBLING VISIT - Thanks Tim!) Chris' mom and dad came up for our Saturday afternoon show, and we all got to meet them. They were everything Chris had promised - and seemed to enjoy the show alot. Chris has always told us that he is a straight-shooter because he comes from parents who are straight-shooters. That all came into light and understanding on Saturday afternoon when we met Mr. Sizemore and he said (about the show), "I didn't think that I would like it, but you know what....I actually really did!" So there you have it, folks...if that isn't as good as a 4-Star Review from the New York Times, I don't know what is! We were treated to some DELISCIOUS cookies from Mom Sizemore - and she wanted me to give them a rating on the M.A.S.E. Well - the verdict is in - and the rating can be found below, with the pictures of the cookes and the Sizemore's! I didn't get a chance to take pictures, but I believe that Jen Morris also had the first GRANDPARENTAL visit of the tour! It's been a week of family, indeed.

It's THE SIZEMORE'S! A big shout out to Ma & Pa Sizemore (first picture.) And now, THE COOKIES! I'm giving these cookies a HIGH 8 - or a SOLID 9, when microwaved for 10 seconds. DELISH! Thanks! And then today, to continue the parade of family, Chris' Aunt Liz (on the right) and her friend, Pat, came to see the show!

I think I speak for everyone in our cast when I say that we are all pretty lucky to have the support network that we each have while we're on this tour. I know personally, my friends and family have been the BEST! I love how excited they are to hear my stories and experiences - and have loved getting to see those I've seen so far - and am VERY excited to see the rest of you that are going to make it out.
Tomorrow we pack up and head to Sylvania for 6 shows in 3 days...and I'm sure that we will have zany stories to tell you all once we're there.
Until then...Gussy is gone.
G

ok friends...we found a cheesecake that is off the CHAIN! It's the Irish Creme Cheesecake (complete with a raspberry drizzle) from the Dublin Pub in Dayton. I give it the most solid 9.5 I can muster. Me likey so much. And everyone was in agreement.

L: Puppetmaster Chris, Jackie and Andrew cheesin' it up at the DP. R: Me, Jackie and Tara get close and personal.

L: Andrew and Tara ran up front to do 'The Lord of the Dance' during one of the songs. R: Chris, Andrew and Tara throw the 'Thriller' dance moves in to the 'Banshee' song. Jackie looks on....

Elisa and Eric sit in the pedicure chairs at 90's Nails at the Dayton Mall. Eric reacts to the tickle-sensation during his FIRST PEDICURE!

He was won over and will be back again.....

Elisa stops in the guys dressing room to give notes.

In the deep under-belly of the Victoria Theatre, we discovered this SECRET room called the PUZZLE ROOM. (I actually named it that.) Andrew shows off one of the walls. Evidently, Betty, the Wardrobe Guru at the theatre, has piles of puzzles that she and the tech crew have spent years putting together, pasted together and hung on the wall. The actual HANGING has since stopped - due to firecode regulations - but they were allowed to keep these up (after fire-proofing was completed). A real treasure...and Betty said if we come back, we can do some puzzles next time!