What a GREAT night here in Gloucester, VA! We had over a thousand people in the Lighthouse Worship Center and I got to share the stage with some great artists. Lots of kids and people of all ages having a great time. It was wonderful!
I just realized that's the second time this Christmas season that I've sung for an audience of a thousand or so. Cool beans!
(continued on Saturday morning....)
But, once again, I am getting ahead of myself.
I was home for two days after the England trip. I was so happy I got to be there when Louisa found out she'd been accepted at Tulane, one of her top choices for college. But on Wednesday I had to leave again....
I drove from home to NYC to visit with Emma that afternoon....it was great to see her, but ...long story short...my van got towed while we were having lunch and I had to walk about three miles in the soaking rain to get it, and then they charged me a whopping $485 to get it back!!!!! That was a horrible way to start the tour.
I arrived about an hour late to the first concert, in Cranbury, NJ at the home of the Shaw Family. They had set up a tent for the audience and a canopy for me. Keith Shaw could not have been nicer or more understanding. They helped me get the gear up and I did a show for the hardy souls who were there, and a good time was had by all. Afterwards I was interviewed by the local Patch.com in front of a blazing fire in the house, and I'm sure I looked like a drowned rat! But the kindness and generosity of the Shaws and their friends cannot be understated. They were wonderful wonderful wonderful through it all and made me feel like family. I have promised them that I would return on the way back and do a proper show, starting ON TIME, next Wednesday evening. I will have to leave SC around 3am to get there on time, but I will be there and nothing is going to stop me!!
We had breakfast the next morning and they took me on a tour of their beautiful little historic town, and then I was off again, down to Virginia, which ended up taking me much longer than it should have because I made several stops along the way....and had a lovely dinner at a Shoney's where the waitress was just a sweetheart and the fried chicken was to die for.
I saw the sun set as I was crossing the Potomac and posted a picture of that on my FB page.
The next morning (yesterday) I was up bright and early and on the air with Neal Steele, who is the morning deejay at XTRA 99.1, which sponsored the concert. I called him and he put me on the air before I actually went over to the station....and then when I walked out of the hotel there was a NOTE on my van from some stranger who had written directions to the station from the hotel and told me he (or she) loved listening to me when I was on with Neal! It was one of those little things that really makes life interesting. I still don't know who left it, but if you are reading this ...thank you!
But I'm getting ahead of myself.....
When I arrived in my room....on the desk there was a HUGE festive tote bag just filled to the brim with goodies that had been put together by two of Neal's listeners. I mean, if I was planning on losing weight during this season that plan is in the potty now! One of the ladies has a secret source of Goo Goo Clusters, which is this really yummy candy that is manufactured in Nashville. I ate them often when we lived in TN, but you can't get them in NH and I have spoken about them with Neal on the air. She put two boxes of them in the bag and then brought me another one at the concert! The other lady actually MADE THE BAG and filled it with snickers bars (fun size!), cocoa mix, cheese and crackers, and all kinds of other fun stuff, plus a Christmas mug!
The generosity of people towards me is almost embarrassing sometimes. What did I do to deserve this? As I said in an earlier post, everywhere I go on these tours people go out of their way to make me feel special. It is constantly amazing and I hope everyone knows that I sincerely appreciate it all. These memories will uplift me during the cold days in January when I'm snowed in my home in NH and working on getting the next gig.
Well, I'm looking at the time and realize I have to hit the road if I'm going to get to Ennice on time. I'll have to stop here and continue on with the story of the rest of yesterday tonight. Does that make sense? That sentence looks weird.
Anyhow, thanks again for reading this, and for being with me on this endless quest....hope you are having a merry Christmas season!
I just realized that's the second time this Christmas season that I've sung for an audience of a thousand or so. Cool beans!
(continued on Saturday morning....)
But, once again, I am getting ahead of myself.
I was home for two days after the England trip. I was so happy I got to be there when Louisa found out she'd been accepted at Tulane, one of her top choices for college. But on Wednesday I had to leave again....
I drove from home to NYC to visit with Emma that afternoon....it was great to see her, but ...long story short...my van got towed while we were having lunch and I had to walk about three miles in the soaking rain to get it, and then they charged me a whopping $485 to get it back!!!!! That was a horrible way to start the tour.
I arrived about an hour late to the first concert, in Cranbury, NJ at the home of the Shaw Family. They had set up a tent for the audience and a canopy for me. Keith Shaw could not have been nicer or more understanding. They helped me get the gear up and I did a show for the hardy souls who were there, and a good time was had by all. Afterwards I was interviewed by the local Patch.com in front of a blazing fire in the house, and I'm sure I looked like a drowned rat! But the kindness and generosity of the Shaws and their friends cannot be understated. They were wonderful wonderful wonderful through it all and made me feel like family. I have promised them that I would return on the way back and do a proper show, starting ON TIME, next Wednesday evening. I will have to leave SC around 3am to get there on time, but I will be there and nothing is going to stop me!!
We had breakfast the next morning and they took me on a tour of their beautiful little historic town, and then I was off again, down to Virginia, which ended up taking me much longer than it should have because I made several stops along the way....and had a lovely dinner at a Shoney's where the waitress was just a sweetheart and the fried chicken was to die for.
I saw the sun set as I was crossing the Potomac and posted a picture of that on my FB page.
The next morning (yesterday) I was up bright and early and on the air with Neal Steele, who is the morning deejay at XTRA 99.1, which sponsored the concert. I called him and he put me on the air before I actually went over to the station....and then when I walked out of the hotel there was a NOTE on my van from some stranger who had written directions to the station from the hotel and told me he (or she) loved listening to me when I was on with Neal! It was one of those little things that really makes life interesting. I still don't know who left it, but if you are reading this ...thank you!
But I'm getting ahead of myself.....
When I arrived in my room....on the desk there was a HUGE festive tote bag just filled to the brim with goodies that had been put together by two of Neal's listeners. I mean, if I was planning on losing weight during this season that plan is in the potty now! One of the ladies has a secret source of Goo Goo Clusters, which is this really yummy candy that is manufactured in Nashville. I ate them often when we lived in TN, but you can't get them in NH and I have spoken about them with Neal on the air. She put two boxes of them in the bag and then brought me another one at the concert! The other lady actually MADE THE BAG and filled it with snickers bars (fun size!), cocoa mix, cheese and crackers, and all kinds of other fun stuff, plus a Christmas mug!
The generosity of people towards me is almost embarrassing sometimes. What did I do to deserve this? As I said in an earlier post, everywhere I go on these tours people go out of their way to make me feel special. It is constantly amazing and I hope everyone knows that I sincerely appreciate it all. These memories will uplift me during the cold days in January when I'm snowed in my home in NH and working on getting the next gig.
Well, I'm looking at the time and realize I have to hit the road if I'm going to get to Ennice on time. I'll have to stop here and continue on with the story of the rest of yesterday tonight. Does that make sense? That sentence looks weird.
Anyhow, thanks again for reading this, and for being with me on this endless quest....hope you are having a merry Christmas season!
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