A Day In The Dakota's

Hey everyone! Sorry I didn't post this for all you early-morning readers. I was trying to do it last night, and I'm PRETTY sure that somehow, the wireless connection at our hotel froze (literally) with the temperatures in Sioux Falls touching -11 degrees. My connection just was NOT having any of it last night and promptly shut down. But now, it's a new day, it's 3 degrees above zero, and we're moving right along!
WELCOME TO SIOUX FALLS! We finished up in Detroit Lakes yesterday...we had a great show that was FULL FULL FULL! There were even kids and teachers sitting down front on the floor in front of the stage...which I'm pretty sure is against fire codes...but I'm not going to ask. They were a GREAT audience of kids - very excited about the show and very vocal about what they liked. The show ended, the trucks and van were packed up and we were on our WAY....bidding Minnesota a fond farewell!

After the show, while we wait to head out, everyone has their own things to do backstage.

Some more productive than others....

Our drive to Sioux Falls was going to take us through North Dakota (Fargo) anyway, so we decided to stop in Fargo for lunch along the way. After some help from my brother, Tim (who did some research on the internet and ended up calling a nice girl named Katie at the Fargo Convention and Visitors Bureau), we ended up with the top 3 restaurant choices (from Katie) in the Fargo area. And although we were attempting to find #1, we were all hungry and drove past #3, so we stopped there. #3 is called Grandma's Saloon & Grille, and we had a great time there. We also added a new cheesecake to our list...the Chocolate Amaretto Cheesecake. Please read more about it below.

Here is Grandma's! The Chocolate Amaretto Cheesecake ends up at a high 6 on the MASE. Too much amaretto flavor. Great crust, though. And a nice, creamy cheesecakey flavor.

The drive to Sioux Falls was a straight shot down 29 - and about 4 hours after leaving Grandma's, we pulled into our hotel in Sioux Falls. It was 8pm, and about -2 degrees. Everyone got into their rooms, and I decided cold or not, I was going to head out on a quick walk around downtown SF. We are right around the corner from out, and a walk would do me good after 5 hours in the van.
Well, it was colder than before...but I found the historic downtown and it looked quite charming, actually. Of course everything was closed, but it was a nice walk and nice to know that it's very close. Today is our day off, so I am heading over to do some shopping and looking around.

Some HOLIDAY SHOTS from historic downtown. The radio station has their tower decorated with lights - charming. The other 2 pics are just a corner of lights that I really liked.

For those of you who are wondering about the state of the show - one of our undrestudies arrive today (Jill - who will be joining us as VERUCA on the 2nd half of the tour) for the last 2 weeks of this portion of tour. Jen is going to take some time off to let her legs recover, and Jill will be stepping in to the show. I'll keep you all posted - and I'm SURE we'll have pictures to report her arrival and inclusion in the cast. Let's all give a little welcome shout-out to Jill. WELCOME TO SIOUX FALLS, JILL!
Today is a day off here...so everyone is off doing their own thing! Oh - but last night, in the hotel restaurant/bar - we had ANOTHER cheesecake. It was a Snickers Cheesecake. Photo and story to follow.

So get this! At the restaurant, they had Korean marinated beef (Pul-gogi) on the menu! The owner's mother is from Korea and it's her secret recipe. PEOPLE! Of course I tried it - and it was a 10 on the MASE! It was so GOOOOOOOD! And everyone else was jealous I made the food choice I did. And the Snickers Cheesecake. I high 7 on the MASE...not crazy about the crust. Wanted more cheesecake, less other stuff. Nice presentation, though...

So here is Torg with his mom and dad - who made the drive to Sioux Falls from Montana to see their son - and our show! Is there a better looking family in the Sioux Falls area today? I would firmly say OF COURSE NOT!

And for those of you following the crazy news of the week, remember the story about the building in South Dakota they tried to implode, but it didn't fall?? Just leaned a bit? Well, we were all talking about how we wanted to see it here in Sioux Falls - and we pulled in to our hotel and it was RIGHT BEHIND IT! How perfect is that? Read the story here. And pictures later.
Now - I'm off to explore some more downtown!
Talk to you later....
G