My Fair Lady - Auburn, AL
The usual loading up the bus and riding to the airport on Monday.
We arrived with about an hour to wait, and many people used the time to get breakfast and whatnot.
I walked the airport for a bit to get some steps in and to window shop. At a Rite Aid I found these "church eggs," which are a nostalgic treat to me. Members of our church in PA used to make these confections and sell them at Easter. They're super delicious, with the standard fillings being peanut butter cream, butter cream (similar to Cadbury Egg filling but less sugary), or coconut cream. Prepackaged eggs will never be as good as homemade, but these are made by a small candy shop in a small town outside Pittsburgh, so this is the closest I'm likely to get to my childhood Easter memories. It felt indulgent to get one of each flavor, but how could I not!
After that I sat to read my book for a while. There were some sparrows flying around inside. I guess birds sometimes accidentally fly in, through loading docks and jet bridges and such. I decided to try an interaction and here was the result.
(CLICK HERE for TikTok video)
Having volunteered at multiple aviaries, I do know how to catch birds...in an aviary. When the birds have plenty of energy, and plenty of space to fly away, yer not gonna catch 'em. Any time I moved toward the birds they quickly reacted. Hopefully a little water was helpful for keeping them healthy a while longer.
The flight was fine and normal; I was a bit anxious but not too bad. After the flight I asked the pilot about Delta trading cards, and he gave me one! Not for the plane that we'd flown on, he didn't have any for our model. Still, it's a new card to me!
We retrieved our luggage and went outside to wait for the charter bus, which just so happened to be coming to the Delta employee pickup area. There I found a female pilot sitting on a bench looking at her phone. When she looked up for a bit I walked over and politely asked if she participated in the trading card program, and she said, "Yes of course!" and brought out hers, two different planes, one of which I hadn't collected yet. And the card is an older print from 2016!
It was interesting to read that this plane was (is still?) operated with a joystick!
I feel like such a nerd but this is a really fun activity when flying Delta! And not once has a pilot seemed annoyed or put out by my asking, and every one of them has had the cards easily on hand. So cool! How many unique cards will l be able to collect before the end of this tour?
Luggage retrieval and a 1.5-hour bus ride to the hotel. Because the hotel is far from the theatre and there's not much around, our company management arranged for a grocery run using a charter bus. This brought back memories of the circus because the circus bus was often the ONLY way we could get groceries back to the train yard. We went to a Kroger and tried to get all we need for two days, and maybe a little extra for the bus rides to the cities to come.
Back at the hotel I ate grocery store sushi and drank tea and water (I still have a sore throat and sinuses, it feels like another virus coming on) and for once, chilled out. I wanted to do laundry but there was a queue so figured I'd try again in the morning.
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Tuesday morning, I had fallen asleep around 10:30 and slept on and off until 7:30, which is great. I want to give myself time to kick whatever-this-virus-is in the pants.
Joined the laundry queue (there's only one washer and dryer for all 60 of us plus other hotel guests) and was able to get my washing done by 9am, then had the free hotel breakfast. I took it very easy all morning. Am I going to feel under the weather for this whole dang tour? I hope not. It's annoying.
In the afternoon I went to a gas station to look for something to help me feel better, and found Propel Immune Boost water. Not something I'd normally want, but it had vitamin C, potassium, zinc, B and E vitamins, etc. And I was surprised to feel noticeably better after downing one! Went back and got two more later on. And that was my only outing of the day, despite the lovely mid-60s weather. Sometimes you just need a day to crash.
Rode the bus to the theatre for the show. For some reason the show time was changed to 7pm instead of 7:30pm (it's been 7:30 since we first got the schedules back in summer 2023) but no one complained; how nice to finish a show earlier than expected and still have some time in your evening!
(Image courtesy Gogue PAC facebook)
This is the Gogue Center, a nice new facility, spacious pit. There were little snacks and drinks for us in the Green Room as well which were much appreciated. The show went well although our MD is going through something personal right now, and was struggling emotionally. I don't know what's going on but I very much wanted to give him a hug :(
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Wednesday...didn't we JUST get here? After breakfast I started my partial packing routine. Luckily because of the time change I'm waking up at 7 instead of 8 and still getting a full night's sleep, which is excellent for being productive. Worked on Foodie Finds and misc paperwork for upcoming appointments, then took an Uber downtown to meet my step-aunt and step-grandpa for lunch. They weren't arriving for another hour and the weather was lovely, I wanted to get out and see the downtown a bit before they arrived (and not make them detour to pick me up.)
The downtown is cute...pretty much your all-American college town, with the sprawling campus and rows of shops and restaurants that only exist because of the economy generated by the school (my hometown is like that too, but smaller.) I saw the big stadium from a distance, but didn't get all that close. The campus was nice, shiny red and white brick buildings everywhere and students hustling between classes.
Most of the campus was clean, but at the part near the main intersection/town I noticed a lot of trash on the walkway and especially around the little gaggle of trees near the University sign.
It took me a moment to realize that those trees must be "The" oaks, which I guess are a historic part of sportsball victory celebrations having to do with toilet paper? But the original trees were poisoned by some idiot so now they've been cut down? And in their place are some small oaks that look super normal, except that they're now essentially living trash cans. Old dissolving toilet paper, gum, wrappers, and bottles stuck to the branches and blowing around the bases.
I'm gonna be honest: I do understand "school spirit" and all that, but there's "school spirit" and then there's "an excuse for piggish behavior." Taking a game so seriously that you decide the right reaction is to poison trees over who won/lost, or to trash a part of campus, seems to me like dumb animal behavior. But if you're an alum of this school, I'm guessing there must be some heartwarming or nostalgic connection in all this that as an outsider, I am not understanding. People used to burn couches in the street at my school when their favorite teams won or lost, and I thought that was idiotic too. Maybe the tradition here in Auburn was different, when the original oaks were there. And besides being trash-riddled the new trees looked like they're doing all right.
Toomer's Drugs was diagonal across the street.
I popped in to look around. It smelled so strongly of lemonade! They had many flavors and also sold it in bottles. I was tempted but decided to pass and just enjoyed looking at all the tiger mascot merch.
Soon it was time for lunch so I got to The Hound, a nice restaurant off the main drag. My aunt and grandpa showed up and got situated, and we asked our server to help with a photo to send to family who couldn't join us.
We got caught up, and as usual it was me who talked too much and answered questions about myself, which makes me feel blabby and self-absorbed though I know people have a lot of curiosity about what I do. I did get to ask after my grandpa's health and my grandma's cats, and everyone's doing "ok" which is all one can expect after a certain age. We talked about age too, since I've just turned 40. What a joy lol.
I had a cup of the gumbo: white rice, andouille sausage, alligator, shrimp, chicken, tasso ham. It was saltier than I'd usually choose but VERY good.
And their grain bowl, which was farro, sweet potato, fennel, cranberries, pistachio, goat cheese, and balsamic. I'm a sucker for hearty grains like farro and REALLY enjoyed this, saving half of it to eat later.
Both my aunt and grandpa got a hot sandwich with turkey, bacon, avocado, brie, mustard, and a few other yummy fillings, that they both enjoyed. Having limited time sucked, but we at least got a few hours together. They took me back to the hotel where we hugged goodbye, and they pushed a birthday card with "a little something-something" in it, which they REALLY shouldn't have. As usual I was spoiled when I do not deserve to be. I hate for people to treat me to things because rarely do I get to pay anyone back; I'm always the taker and never the giver :(
Anyway. From there I chilled for a bit, did more paperwork that had cropped up (taxes), and went for a short walk at a nearby softball field just to get some sun and fresh air.
Soon it was showtime. Bus to the theatre, do the show, pack it up.
We had a wall tag to sign too (I was early to it so not many signatures yet.)
Auburn was good, I got to do more than expected for just a two day stay.
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Tomorrow morning we have a long bus ride to North Charleston, SC.
I have a bag of nonperishables to get me through snacks and lunch.
We won't arrive until evening. We'll have three days there, two of which are matinee days, so all I have on the docket are a doctor's appointment on Friday and some foodie finds to visit.
We arrived with about an hour to wait, and many people used the time to get breakfast and whatnot.
I walked the airport for a bit to get some steps in and to window shop. At a Rite Aid I found these "church eggs," which are a nostalgic treat to me. Members of our church in PA used to make these confections and sell them at Easter. They're super delicious, with the standard fillings being peanut butter cream, butter cream (similar to Cadbury Egg filling but less sugary), or coconut cream. Prepackaged eggs will never be as good as homemade, but these are made by a small candy shop in a small town outside Pittsburgh, so this is the closest I'm likely to get to my childhood Easter memories. It felt indulgent to get one of each flavor, but how could I not!
After that I sat to read my book for a while. There were some sparrows flying around inside. I guess birds sometimes accidentally fly in, through loading docks and jet bridges and such. I decided to try an interaction and here was the result.
(CLICK HERE for TikTok video)
Having volunteered at multiple aviaries, I do know how to catch birds...in an aviary. When the birds have plenty of energy, and plenty of space to fly away, yer not gonna catch 'em. Any time I moved toward the birds they quickly reacted. Hopefully a little water was helpful for keeping them healthy a while longer.
The flight was fine and normal; I was a bit anxious but not too bad. After the flight I asked the pilot about Delta trading cards, and he gave me one! Not for the plane that we'd flown on, he didn't have any for our model. Still, it's a new card to me!
We retrieved our luggage and went outside to wait for the charter bus, which just so happened to be coming to the Delta employee pickup area. There I found a female pilot sitting on a bench looking at her phone. When she looked up for a bit I walked over and politely asked if she participated in the trading card program, and she said, "Yes of course!" and brought out hers, two different planes, one of which I hadn't collected yet. And the card is an older print from 2016!
It was interesting to read that this plane was (is still?) operated with a joystick!
I feel like such a nerd but this is a really fun activity when flying Delta! And not once has a pilot seemed annoyed or put out by my asking, and every one of them has had the cards easily on hand. So cool! How many unique cards will l be able to collect before the end of this tour?
Luggage retrieval and a 1.5-hour bus ride to the hotel. Because the hotel is far from the theatre and there's not much around, our company management arranged for a grocery run using a charter bus. This brought back memories of the circus because the circus bus was often the ONLY way we could get groceries back to the train yard. We went to a Kroger and tried to get all we need for two days, and maybe a little extra for the bus rides to the cities to come.
Back at the hotel I ate grocery store sushi and drank tea and water (I still have a sore throat and sinuses, it feels like another virus coming on) and for once, chilled out. I wanted to do laundry but there was a queue so figured I'd try again in the morning.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday morning, I had fallen asleep around 10:30 and slept on and off until 7:30, which is great. I want to give myself time to kick whatever-this-virus-is in the pants.
Joined the laundry queue (there's only one washer and dryer for all 60 of us plus other hotel guests) and was able to get my washing done by 9am, then had the free hotel breakfast. I took it very easy all morning. Am I going to feel under the weather for this whole dang tour? I hope not. It's annoying.
In the afternoon I went to a gas station to look for something to help me feel better, and found Propel Immune Boost water. Not something I'd normally want, but it had vitamin C, potassium, zinc, B and E vitamins, etc. And I was surprised to feel noticeably better after downing one! Went back and got two more later on. And that was my only outing of the day, despite the lovely mid-60s weather. Sometimes you just need a day to crash.
Rode the bus to the theatre for the show. For some reason the show time was changed to 7pm instead of 7:30pm (it's been 7:30 since we first got the schedules back in summer 2023) but no one complained; how nice to finish a show earlier than expected and still have some time in your evening!
(Image courtesy Gogue PAC facebook)
This is the Gogue Center, a nice new facility, spacious pit. There were little snacks and drinks for us in the Green Room as well which were much appreciated. The show went well although our MD is going through something personal right now, and was struggling emotionally. I don't know what's going on but I very much wanted to give him a hug :(
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday...didn't we JUST get here? After breakfast I started my partial packing routine. Luckily because of the time change I'm waking up at 7 instead of 8 and still getting a full night's sleep, which is excellent for being productive. Worked on Foodie Finds and misc paperwork for upcoming appointments, then took an Uber downtown to meet my step-aunt and step-grandpa for lunch. They weren't arriving for another hour and the weather was lovely, I wanted to get out and see the downtown a bit before they arrived (and not make them detour to pick me up.)
The downtown is cute...pretty much your all-American college town, with the sprawling campus and rows of shops and restaurants that only exist because of the economy generated by the school (my hometown is like that too, but smaller.) I saw the big stadium from a distance, but didn't get all that close. The campus was nice, shiny red and white brick buildings everywhere and students hustling between classes.
Most of the campus was clean, but at the part near the main intersection/town I noticed a lot of trash on the walkway and especially around the little gaggle of trees near the University sign.
It took me a moment to realize that those trees must be "The" oaks, which I guess are a historic part of sportsball victory celebrations having to do with toilet paper? But the original trees were poisoned by some idiot so now they've been cut down? And in their place are some small oaks that look super normal, except that they're now essentially living trash cans. Old dissolving toilet paper, gum, wrappers, and bottles stuck to the branches and blowing around the bases.
I'm gonna be honest: I do understand "school spirit" and all that, but there's "school spirit" and then there's "an excuse for piggish behavior." Taking a game so seriously that you decide the right reaction is to poison trees over who won/lost, or to trash a part of campus, seems to me like dumb animal behavior. But if you're an alum of this school, I'm guessing there must be some heartwarming or nostalgic connection in all this that as an outsider, I am not understanding. People used to burn couches in the street at my school when their favorite teams won or lost, and I thought that was idiotic too. Maybe the tradition here in Auburn was different, when the original oaks were there. And besides being trash-riddled the new trees looked like they're doing all right.
Toomer's Drugs was diagonal across the street.
I popped in to look around. It smelled so strongly of lemonade! They had many flavors and also sold it in bottles. I was tempted but decided to pass and just enjoyed looking at all the tiger mascot merch.
Soon it was time for lunch so I got to The Hound, a nice restaurant off the main drag. My aunt and grandpa showed up and got situated, and we asked our server to help with a photo to send to family who couldn't join us.
We got caught up, and as usual it was me who talked too much and answered questions about myself, which makes me feel blabby and self-absorbed though I know people have a lot of curiosity about what I do. I did get to ask after my grandpa's health and my grandma's cats, and everyone's doing "ok" which is all one can expect after a certain age. We talked about age too, since I've just turned 40. What a joy lol.
I had a cup of the gumbo: white rice, andouille sausage, alligator, shrimp, chicken, tasso ham. It was saltier than I'd usually choose but VERY good.
And their grain bowl, which was farro, sweet potato, fennel, cranberries, pistachio, goat cheese, and balsamic. I'm a sucker for hearty grains like farro and REALLY enjoyed this, saving half of it to eat later.
Both my aunt and grandpa got a hot sandwich with turkey, bacon, avocado, brie, mustard, and a few other yummy fillings, that they both enjoyed. Having limited time sucked, but we at least got a few hours together. They took me back to the hotel where we hugged goodbye, and they pushed a birthday card with "a little something-something" in it, which they REALLY shouldn't have. As usual I was spoiled when I do not deserve to be. I hate for people to treat me to things because rarely do I get to pay anyone back; I'm always the taker and never the giver :(
Anyway. From there I chilled for a bit, did more paperwork that had cropped up (taxes), and went for a short walk at a nearby softball field just to get some sun and fresh air.
Soon it was showtime. Bus to the theatre, do the show, pack it up.
We had a wall tag to sign too (I was early to it so not many signatures yet.)
Auburn was good, I got to do more than expected for just a two day stay.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tomorrow morning we have a long bus ride to North Charleston, SC.
I have a bag of nonperishables to get me through snacks and lunch.
We won't arrive until evening. We'll have three days there, two of which are matinee days, so all I have on the docket are a doctor's appointment on Friday and some foodie finds to visit.