Travel Diary

Second trip in February…

This one was fast, well compared to some of the others. We did three shows as well. Hmm...it was six days? I guess that’s not too fast, but it certainly flew by quickly.

Thursday

Uber and Lyft both wanted close to $70 for the airport drive. I think the bargain deals are over for now. I got around this highway robbery by having Uber take me to the Stadium Link station for $25. Then I took the train the rest of the way for $3. It’s definitely the way to go!

At SeaTac, the SpotCheck line wasn’t moving at all, so I left that and found a fairly quick TSA line. Soon I was on board.

Ah, a first class upgrade! My larger bad was checked since it had a bottle of port. This would be the standard afternoon flight to Fort Myers. Lunch was served and it wasn’t bad: chicken, rice, bread, and veggies. I got a scotch as well. Later, they offered more drinks so I tried out the new IPA. Pretty tasty, but I am cutting back on beers, so it was a one-time thing.

Once we landed, I had to get Uber, so I summoned one. The driver was nice, but asked to stop at 7-11 first. I should have refused. It was an odd thing to do, but he seemed like someone with a bit of special needs, so I hated to say no. However, the extra time ended up costing me. Not much, but in principal, it just wasn’t right. I didn’t ding him a star, but I also didn’t tip. Fair enough I guess. He was a nice person—just would have been good to advise him on what good driving etiquette is. Next time.

It was late when I arrived. I slept early.

Friday

This evening’s show would be “Par 4 for Murder.” We drove out to a golf club community which was quite massive. Most of the show went well, although the final scene had some issues. No matter. The audience seemed to have enjoyed it. It’s not my favorite show, but can be somewhat fun on occasion. Though both the roles I play are a lot of line memorizing.

Saturday

This show would be “Murder at the KO Corral” at the Standard. It was our second show there. The audience was a little smaller than the first time around, but a great crowd nevertheless.

Our green room was relocated to the kitchen area. It reminded me a bit of the break room that we used to stay in at the Pleasanton Hotel when we could not use our normal space. This worked fine as we then had easy bathroom access and the scene access was also easier.

Again, fine show. “KO” is one of the easier ones for me as I know the lines well.

Sunday

We journeyed out to the Cape Cabaret once again. This time, we were doing “The Maltese Crow Murder,” which was its premiere for the east coast. It was the first time I was doing the show in about seven years. I was also playing Kesh, a new character for me, which was easier to memorize than Sam Shovel, but still some work to get down.

The crowd was a good size for the smaller room. We also had the stage area set up nicely with the treasure chest containing a bottle of wine for the one who cracked the code.

The green room was standard for us. And it works (worked) rather well. For food, we had a choice of the full menu, so I got the fried chicken, which was okay, though hard to tell if it was any better than KFC. It wasn’t something I finished either. Just didn’t want to overeat as well.

Afterwards, we cleaned up and headed home. I believe it was our last show at the Cape. The place was nice in general, but there were some personnel issues that appeared to be insurmountable. Oh well. Lots of other places to perform in that part of Florida. No use putting up with difficult people in a hobby that is done for fun.

Monday

Ah, a day with no show. It was nice to have a break for the day and evening. In the afternoon, Tony returned to SF and the rest of us just watched some AppleTV or Netflix. I was getting them acquainted with “Severance,” which we will likely continue next trip.

Tuesday

It was back to the airport in the morning. I took in some final moments of nice weather and then headed to my gate. I had checked my bag again as to allow me to board last, and this was wise as boarding took quite a long time. I also had no upgrade and was stuck in premium for the flight, but an aisle seat helped.

They served me a snack meal since I was 100k and I got a drink as well. Around 1pm, we landed in Seattle. Upon leaving, I noticed the flight going out to RSW which was at a different gate. Apparently, they don’t use the same equipment for that flight. Good to know?

Lyft and Google were both over $60 so I just took Link instead. It was also the first time in a year (or ever for me) that someone actually checked tickets. But I had purchased mine, so it was all good. Other people had as well. I guess I was mistaken in thinking no one was buying their train tickets for Link.

After arriving in Cap Hill, I did stop at Dick’s for some burgers. I would be fasting for a few days, so one last treat was nice. Then it was time to head home.