After Friday night's technical rehearsal we had a leisurely morning at home on Saturday. David took each of us for a ride on the golf cart down the hill to the creek that runs at the bottom of their property. They have a tree house that's the best I've ever seen (the previous owners had 7 children) and a barn and enclosed pen for animals. We picked turnips and carrots from the vege patch, but the deer had eaten the tops of the kale leaving only hoofprints. They have several persimmon trees on the property. I've never eaten a persimmon.
We went out to pick up pizza and the makings of salad, and brought them home for lunch. Sharon's son Jack dropped by to visit. Then it was time to put on makeup. Sharon did my hair by spraying it with Aussie Instant Freeze hairspray and scrunching it up. It took just a few minutes - amazing - and stayed in place all night. She's promised to do it again for competition in Nashville.
We finished off the scrabble game (Betty won) while waiting for our nails to dry. I struggled with eye makeup as I'm wearing contact lenses that give me long distance vision in one eye and close up vision in the other, but I did manage to get my eyelashes on all by myself.
We double checked that we had everything: shoes, costume, Aussie banners; and headed into St Louis to the auditorium at Logan University where the show is. It's called "All Keyed Up". River Blenders and CKC all shared the dressing room, which added to the camaraderie as we helped each other with hair and makeup and safety pins. They wear "all-in-ones" to control bulges under costumes, which can be pretty funny when they fasten in the crotch. Blenders were on stage in the first act and then came back for a costume change. We went on in the second act. It went very quickly (maybe because we were singing faster than usual?) and then the Blenders came back and sang Let theRiver Run with Us, and Irish Blessing to us (very moving, and I cried) and we finished with We Are Family.
After we changed out of our costumes and ripped off our false eyelashes, Sharon drove us to Umos Bar andGrill for a late dinner. We sat in booths, which made it hard to mix, but the food was good and the beer even better. With a long drive home ahead of us, we left at midnight and played "guess that song" again on digital radio to keep Sharon awake.
In bed at 1:30 am.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Exploring Troy
Yesterday Sharon took us for a drive around the local area. We saw the houses where she and David lived when they first married. I'm fascinated that so often there are no fences at all between neighbours - it has a real 'village' feel, with green lawn joining the houses into one community. We saw the church where Sharon worships: it was originally a German church with a little German school house next door. Sharon says her minister and his wife ride Harley Davidsons.
We visited two branches of the Bank of Old Munroe where Sharon works. The banks are very welcoming: not just the people, but they have comfortable chairs, displays of children's art from the local school, a community notice board, and free food (hotdogs in one, chips and soda in the other). It's a community bank, and was established in 1906 so it's not a new idea as it is in Australia. Sharon makes a point of introducing her three Australian guests to all her friends and workmates, and then says to us "now say something" so they can enjoy our accent. She thinks it's cute when we say "bloody" - as in "bloody beautiful, mate".
We also managed to squeeze in a couple of secondhand/consignment shops. In one Betty found a plate that she says was worth much more than the $3.50 she paid for it. In another we chatted to the young girl who owns it, whose ambition is to be an actress and have her own sit-com (kind of a Christian version of Sex in the City).
We had lunch at Harry J's steakhouse, and drank more Bud. I think I'm finally getting the hang of this tipping business. I'm glad to report that my ANZ Travel Card is working perfectly so far.
Back home at Sharon's we sat down for a game of scrabble, but had to leave for rehearsal before we finished (Betty is ahead on points right now).
The Sommet Centre is part of a University, and set in beautiful grounds with lawn and trees and deer and fountains. We warmed up in the foyer, had a quick guided tour of the rooms we'll be using, and then sat in the theatre to watch the tech rehearsal for the five finalists in the talent competition River Blenders have been running. The MC interviewed each of them. She's very good - encouraging, and professional.
Then we went back to our warmup/dressing room to rehearse with Vicki, so we missed hearing River Blenders singing their songs for the first half of the show. I thought our tech rehearsal went pretty well, considering, and we were finished by 9:30 pm.
Sharon took us home for a much-needed cup of tea and plied us with cornbread, chocolate and chocolate brownies. I've been reading a book she lent me which is a romance by one of the River Blenders, and finished it before I went to sleep.
Today (Saturday) the sun is shining and it's stopped raining. It was lovely to sit at the breakfast table in the sunshine. Breakfast was a bacon and egg croissant. Over the last few days we've been exploring differences between American and Australian English. We pronounce 'coupe' (as in cars) as coop-ay, and Sharon and David say coop. Sharon wants to buy a duck-plucker that was advertised at an auction because her son is a passionate duck-hunter. This got us on to talking about chickens and the chicken coop that we saw at the house they owned before they bought this one last year. "No, it's chicken coop-ay" said Betty! We all fell about laughing.
Today we're doing our laundry and pottering about getting ready for the performance tonight. I brought my wig to wear, but Sharon has offered to fix my hair instead. This week has gone so quickly, it's hard to believe this is our fifth day here. I'm so glad that the River Blenders invited us to visit: staying with Sharon and David has been wonderful, and I feel like I've got to know a little bit of America much better than I ever could as a tourist.
We visited two branches of the Bank of Old Munroe where Sharon works. The banks are very welcoming: not just the people, but they have comfortable chairs, displays of children's art from the local school, a community notice board, and free food (hotdogs in one, chips and soda in the other). It's a community bank, and was established in 1906 so it's not a new idea as it is in Australia. Sharon makes a point of introducing her three Australian guests to all her friends and workmates, and then says to us "now say something" so they can enjoy our accent. She thinks it's cute when we say "bloody" - as in "bloody beautiful, mate".
We also managed to squeeze in a couple of secondhand/consignment shops. In one Betty found a plate that she says was worth much more than the $3.50 she paid for it. In another we chatted to the young girl who owns it, whose ambition is to be an actress and have her own sit-com (kind of a Christian version of Sex in the City).
We had lunch at Harry J's steakhouse, and drank more Bud. I think I'm finally getting the hang of this tipping business. I'm glad to report that my ANZ Travel Card is working perfectly so far.
Back home at Sharon's we sat down for a game of scrabble, but had to leave for rehearsal before we finished (Betty is ahead on points right now).
The Sommet Centre is part of a University, and set in beautiful grounds with lawn and trees and deer and fountains. We warmed up in the foyer, had a quick guided tour of the rooms we'll be using, and then sat in the theatre to watch the tech rehearsal for the five finalists in the talent competition River Blenders have been running. The MC interviewed each of them. She's very good - encouraging, and professional.
Then we went back to our warmup/dressing room to rehearse with Vicki, so we missed hearing River Blenders singing their songs for the first half of the show. I thought our tech rehearsal went pretty well, considering, and we were finished by 9:30 pm.
Sharon took us home for a much-needed cup of tea and plied us with cornbread, chocolate and chocolate brownies. I've been reading a book she lent me which is a romance by one of the River Blenders, and finished it before I went to sleep.
Today (Saturday) the sun is shining and it's stopped raining. It was lovely to sit at the breakfast table in the sunshine. Breakfast was a bacon and egg croissant. Over the last few days we've been exploring differences between American and Australian English. We pronounce 'coupe' (as in cars) as coop-ay, and Sharon and David say coop. Sharon wants to buy a duck-plucker that was advertised at an auction because her son is a passionate duck-hunter. This got us on to talking about chickens and the chicken coop that we saw at the house they owned before they bought this one last year. "No, it's chicken coop-ay" said Betty! We all fell about laughing.
Today we're doing our laundry and pottering about getting ready for the performance tonight. I brought my wig to wear, but Sharon has offered to fix my hair instead. This week has gone so quickly, it's hard to believe this is our fifth day here. I'm so glad that the River Blenders invited us to visit: staying with Sharon and David has been wonderful, and I feel like I've got to know a little bit of America much better than I ever could as a tourist.
Friday, October 16, 2009
A is for Arch, B is for Budweiser
I woke up on Thursday morning at 2 am and couldn't get back to sleep, so was still a bit jet-lagged all day. We drove into town to meet some of the others at the Arch. To get to the top we sit in tiny little carriages, 5 per compartment, and ascend - then get out at the top and look through little windows at views over downtown St Louis on one side and the Mississippi River on the other. Sharon doesn't like heights, so was very brave in coming with us: we sang loudly all the way up, and held hands. Coming down was faster and not so scarey.
Then we went to the Museum of Western Exploration. I was fascinated by the layout: it was an arc of a circle, with the earliest time at the centre and then going out by decades, 1800, 1810 and so on; and on different radii, different themes: explorers, settlement, Native Americans. There was a lot of information about the Lewis and Clark expedition which set out from St Louis to find a way to the Pacific.
After that we hung about until it was time to go down to the river for our cruise: too cold to wait about outside. We reckoned the Museum should have had a coffee shop, it would have made a lot of money from us!
There weren't many people on the cruise so we had a great seat all together at the front. We saw several historic bridges, and a tugboat pushing about 15 big barges all linked together. The Mississippi is still used for commercial transport of goods.
Then it was off to a French area (Soulard) for lunch: we ended up at a Welsh pub called Llewellyns. Pubs are definitely the place to eat: good cheap food, and cold beer, and friendly service. We're paying for our hosts' meals, so had to do complicated calculations of cost plus tip divided by how many of us.
Here's a drink recipe that someone told us about over lunch:
Hungarian Rhapsody: "good for coughs, colds and sore ars%^&&**((" - take equal parts rye whiskey, bourbon and gin and add some rock candy. Let it sit until the candy dissolves - about a week. Drink it.
Sharon took us to find a discount clothing shop called the Scholars Shop. She had to phone her daughter for directions, and we got a bit lost (with me navigating from a not very detailed map) and just as we'd given up and were heading to rehearsal we found it! It has lots of donated clothes, and the money goes to a scholarship fund for university students. I was too tired to shop properly but picked up a red wool jacket (anticipating even colder weather as we head north after Convention). They also had real mink coats, full length - for $1000.
We were a bit late at rehearsal, at the church where the River Blenders rehearse, and went straight into warmups. I'm afraid after a week off, and with jet lag, we werent' sounding our best: Vicki looked dismayed, but we did our best, and the church acoustics helped. Then in the foyer all the River Blenders were lined up and sang us the Lord's Prayer: very moving, and I cried. On the other side of the foyer was a long corridor with a long table loaded with food, and we filed past filling our plates with home cooking. The rehearsal room had round tables set up and we sat with our hosts to eat. Here's my favorite dish from Kitty:
Toss baby spinach, sliced strawberries, candied nuts, dried cranberries and cubed provolone cheese. Before serving add a sweet viniagrette (sweet vinegar and oil). If you like, you can add poppy seeds to the dressing. To die for!
After dinner there was a presentation from the Blenders to Di and Vicki, and they gave us all a RiverBlenders bag (oops, I forgot to pick mine up). Then we all ran through the second half of the show with Ann Keller's help (she's stage manager, and wonderfully efficient). We couldn't hear the pitch pipe for Lazy Days, and got off to a bad start (Vicki looked horrified). But we got through, and will do better next time. River Blenders joined us on the risers for Let the River Run and it was wonderful to be part of that bigger sound, but a bit squishy trying to do choreo while standing hip to hip.
We ended by all singing How We Sang Today, holding hands, and I cried again. Then Sharon took us home. She has digital radio, and when you press a button the name of the artist and the name of the song is displayed, so we played "Guess the Artist" to stay awake. She won, but Betty was pretty good too. There are so many channels on digital radio: an Elvis channel, and several Country channels, and separate 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's channels.
I slept for 8.5 hours last night without waking and I woke up feeling great. Sharon cooked biscuits and gravy for breakfast and was stunned when we all said we'd never tasted it. Biscuits are scones, and gravy is not what you'd think, it's a white sauce with chopped pork sausage in it. It's delicious, but fattening - puts on a lining on your stomach, David says.
David picked fresh field mushrooms and was surprised when I ate one raw.
Okay, off today for more shopping and sight seeing before our tech rehearsal .
C is for sight seeing?
Then we went to the Museum of Western Exploration. I was fascinated by the layout: it was an arc of a circle, with the earliest time at the centre and then going out by decades, 1800, 1810 and so on; and on different radii, different themes: explorers, settlement, Native Americans. There was a lot of information about the Lewis and Clark expedition which set out from St Louis to find a way to the Pacific.
After that we hung about until it was time to go down to the river for our cruise: too cold to wait about outside. We reckoned the Museum should have had a coffee shop, it would have made a lot of money from us!
There weren't many people on the cruise so we had a great seat all together at the front. We saw several historic bridges, and a tugboat pushing about 15 big barges all linked together. The Mississippi is still used for commercial transport of goods.
Then it was off to a French area (Soulard) for lunch: we ended up at a Welsh pub called Llewellyns. Pubs are definitely the place to eat: good cheap food, and cold beer, and friendly service. We're paying for our hosts' meals, so had to do complicated calculations of cost plus tip divided by how many of us.
Here's a drink recipe that someone told us about over lunch:
Hungarian Rhapsody: "good for coughs, colds and sore ars%^&&**((" - take equal parts rye whiskey, bourbon and gin and add some rock candy. Let it sit until the candy dissolves - about a week. Drink it.
Sharon took us to find a discount clothing shop called the Scholars Shop. She had to phone her daughter for directions, and we got a bit lost (with me navigating from a not very detailed map) and just as we'd given up and were heading to rehearsal we found it! It has lots of donated clothes, and the money goes to a scholarship fund for university students. I was too tired to shop properly but picked up a red wool jacket (anticipating even colder weather as we head north after Convention). They also had real mink coats, full length - for $1000.
We were a bit late at rehearsal, at the church where the River Blenders rehearse, and went straight into warmups. I'm afraid after a week off, and with jet lag, we werent' sounding our best: Vicki looked dismayed, but we did our best, and the church acoustics helped. Then in the foyer all the River Blenders were lined up and sang us the Lord's Prayer: very moving, and I cried. On the other side of the foyer was a long corridor with a long table loaded with food, and we filed past filling our plates with home cooking. The rehearsal room had round tables set up and we sat with our hosts to eat. Here's my favorite dish from Kitty:
Toss baby spinach, sliced strawberries, candied nuts, dried cranberries and cubed provolone cheese. Before serving add a sweet viniagrette (sweet vinegar and oil). If you like, you can add poppy seeds to the dressing. To die for!
After dinner there was a presentation from the Blenders to Di and Vicki, and they gave us all a RiverBlenders bag (oops, I forgot to pick mine up). Then we all ran through the second half of the show with Ann Keller's help (she's stage manager, and wonderfully efficient). We couldn't hear the pitch pipe for Lazy Days, and got off to a bad start (Vicki looked horrified). But we got through, and will do better next time. River Blenders joined us on the risers for Let the River Run and it was wonderful to be part of that bigger sound, but a bit squishy trying to do choreo while standing hip to hip.
We ended by all singing How We Sang Today, holding hands, and I cried again. Then Sharon took us home. She has digital radio, and when you press a button the name of the artist and the name of the song is displayed, so we played "Guess the Artist" to stay awake. She won, but Betty was pretty good too. There are so many channels on digital radio: an Elvis channel, and several Country channels, and separate 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's channels.
I slept for 8.5 hours last night without waking and I woke up feeling great. Sharon cooked biscuits and gravy for breakfast and was stunned when we all said we'd never tasted it. Biscuits are scones, and gravy is not what you'd think, it's a white sauce with chopped pork sausage in it. It's delicious, but fattening - puts on a lining on your stomach, David says.
David picked fresh field mushrooms and was surprised when I ate one raw.
Okay, off today for more shopping and sight seeing before our tech rehearsal .
C is for sight seeing?
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Shopping with Sharon
Okay, today is Wednesday. We discovered that we all like shopping at op shops and so on the way for the big hostage exchange Sharon took us to Designer ReSale. I bought another pair of jeans, a vest and a handbag.
We met Kitty and Cathy and Mary at a shopping centre somewhere, and then all went to St Charles, a historic area of St Louis, for lunch. The main street there is full of interesting little shops with antiques, jewellery, etc. Lunch was at Trailhead Brewing Co. I had french onion soup with lots of melted cheese on top, and a chicken sandwich. Then we walked back. We saw lots of squirrels running around and Sharon and Kitty thought it was funny that I kept saying "oh, there's a squirrel" . They say squrle to ryme with Earl (Earl the Squirrel). There were lots of dead raccoons on the road, too - their equivalent of dead kangaroos, I guess - road kill.
Then Kitty took Cathy and Ros away, and the rest of us went to Cosco to buy a cake. It's a big wholesale shop where you have to be a member. We lost Mary and Betty because Betty was trying on a coat. On the way to Cosco we dropped into a Goodwill store. I bought some purple thermal underwear because Sharon said New York would be even colder than St Louis. We went to J C Penneys so Mary could buy her friend some underwear, and Sharon found a really cute handbag that Betty insisted on buying her. By this time it was 5 pm, and we were all shopped out.
We went to a local diner, Larrys, for dinner with some of Sharon's family. We met her mother, Dorothy, who's 86 and a real live wire. A friend of Sharon's, Mary-Lou was there too. Sharon's son and daughter and their partners and some of their children were there, so there were four generations all together, which was lovely to see. I had catfish and Budweiser and hush puppies for dinner.
Okay, I've got to get off the computer now so Betty and Mary can make contact with home. More tomorrow (but we'll be out all day being tourists and then going to rehearsal with the River Blenders, so it might be the next day before you hear about that).
Over and out
We met Kitty and Cathy and Mary at a shopping centre somewhere, and then all went to St Charles, a historic area of St Louis, for lunch. The main street there is full of interesting little shops with antiques, jewellery, etc. Lunch was at Trailhead Brewing Co. I had french onion soup with lots of melted cheese on top, and a chicken sandwich. Then we walked back. We saw lots of squirrels running around and Sharon and Kitty thought it was funny that I kept saying "oh, there's a squirrel" . They say squrle to ryme with Earl (Earl the Squirrel). There were lots of dead raccoons on the road, too - their equivalent of dead kangaroos, I guess - road kill.
Then Kitty took Cathy and Ros away, and the rest of us went to Cosco to buy a cake. It's a big wholesale shop where you have to be a member. We lost Mary and Betty because Betty was trying on a coat. On the way to Cosco we dropped into a Goodwill store. I bought some purple thermal underwear because Sharon said New York would be even colder than St Louis. We went to J C Penneys so Mary could buy her friend some underwear, and Sharon found a really cute handbag that Betty insisted on buying her. By this time it was 5 pm, and we were all shopped out.
We went to a local diner, Larrys, for dinner with some of Sharon's family. We met her mother, Dorothy, who's 86 and a real live wire. A friend of Sharon's, Mary-Lou was there too. Sharon's son and daughter and their partners and some of their children were there, so there were four generations all together, which was lovely to see. I had catfish and Budweiser and hush puppies for dinner.
Okay, I've got to get off the computer now so Betty and Mary can make contact with home. More tomorrow (but we'll be out all day being tourists and then going to rehearsal with the River Blenders, so it might be the next day before you hear about that).
Over and out
Travelling East
On Tuesday morning I woke up at 3:30 am, and decided this was a good time to get up so that I could be really tired and sleep on the plane. I caught the train to the International Airport and got there in good time to get my boarding pass and check in my two bags. Inside I met up with 9 other CKC members who were on the same Qantas QF107 flight to Los Angeles.
Betty and I were lucky to have chosen seats in Premium Economy, up the pointy end of the plane, so we only had one person sitting next to each of us and there was lots of leg room. We were served lunch, and then later on they gave us a "snack pack" to sustain us until breakfast. I finished Salvation Creek and then started House at Salvation Creek. I put on ear plugs and noise-cancelling headphones when it was time to sleep, but there was still a lot of noise from the engines. I think I got about two hours decent sleep, and then tried without success to go back to sleep. It was a relief when they turned the lights back on and announced breakfast.
We arrived at LA around 6 am, a little earlier than scheduled. Progress through immigration and customs was pretty quick, though we found the staff more serious than in Honolulu the year before. I'd booked the LA-St Louis leg of my trip separately from the Sydney-LA leg, so while everyone else checked their baggage back in, I took the long way round to Terminal 4 to get my boarding pass with American Airlines and then recheck my luggage. Then it was back through security to Terminal 4 to rejoin the others for another long wait. Everyone was pretty stuffed by this stage, apart from Betty who'd taken drugs and slept all the way (the b**$%##^).
Our plane to St Louis left at 11:35 and Mary missed it because she was on a different flight that was delayed - but we were able to text each other so we knew where she was. Some of us had to check in our cabin baggage because the plane was full and there was no more room in the ovrehead lockers. The country we flew over east of LA was very dry and barren, and then as we got close to St Louis suddenly it became green and lush. Finally we landed. Betty slept all the way and everyone wants what she was having.
Our River Blender hosts were waiting for us with open arms and big hugs. Sharon (my host) had a sign saying "Sharon" and I was confused, because our Sharon wasn't coming, but we worked it out. Ros came with Betty and me to stay with Sharon for the night, so that Kitty could come back at 8 pm to collect Cathy and Mary, and then we arranged to swop them over the next morning.
Sharon and David have a wonderful home on 7 acres at Winfield, outside St Louis, and we have a bedroom each and one spare. She gave us home made chicken soup and ham croissants for supper, and we drank (okay, I drank) lots of wine to help us sleep. Which we did. Solidly. Even Betty (without drugs). I have no idea what we talked about except that when Betty told me I was slurring I went to bed and slept for 11 hours.
Betty and I were lucky to have chosen seats in Premium Economy, up the pointy end of the plane, so we only had one person sitting next to each of us and there was lots of leg room. We were served lunch, and then later on they gave us a "snack pack" to sustain us until breakfast. I finished Salvation Creek and then started House at Salvation Creek. I put on ear plugs and noise-cancelling headphones when it was time to sleep, but there was still a lot of noise from the engines. I think I got about two hours decent sleep, and then tried without success to go back to sleep. It was a relief when they turned the lights back on and announced breakfast.
We arrived at LA around 6 am, a little earlier than scheduled. Progress through immigration and customs was pretty quick, though we found the staff more serious than in Honolulu the year before. I'd booked the LA-St Louis leg of my trip separately from the Sydney-LA leg, so while everyone else checked their baggage back in, I took the long way round to Terminal 4 to get my boarding pass with American Airlines and then recheck my luggage. Then it was back through security to Terminal 4 to rejoin the others for another long wait. Everyone was pretty stuffed by this stage, apart from Betty who'd taken drugs and slept all the way (the b**$%##^).
Our plane to St Louis left at 11:35 and Mary missed it because she was on a different flight that was delayed - but we were able to text each other so we knew where she was. Some of us had to check in our cabin baggage because the plane was full and there was no more room in the ovrehead lockers. The country we flew over east of LA was very dry and barren, and then as we got close to St Louis suddenly it became green and lush. Finally we landed. Betty slept all the way and everyone wants what she was having.
Our River Blender hosts were waiting for us with open arms and big hugs. Sharon (my host) had a sign saying "Sharon" and I was confused, because our Sharon wasn't coming, but we worked it out. Ros came with Betty and me to stay with Sharon for the night, so that Kitty could come back at 8 pm to collect Cathy and Mary, and then we arranged to swop them over the next morning.
Sharon and David have a wonderful home on 7 acres at Winfield, outside St Louis, and we have a bedroom each and one spare. She gave us home made chicken soup and ham croissants for supper, and we drank (okay, I drank) lots of wine to help us sleep. Which we did. Solidly. Even Betty (without drugs). I have no idea what we talked about except that when Betty told me I was slurring I went to bed and slept for 11 hours.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Packing, Unpacking, Repacking
Well, I had visions of travelling with just one small suitcase, but it's not to be. Our St Louis hostess, Sharon, emailed to say the forecast was for temperatures down to a low of 2 degrees Celsius, and a maximum of 14 degrees. So I've just got back from Parramatta, where I bought travellers cheques (to pay for the chorus breakfast) and then popped across the street to Kathmandu to buy 3 thermal long-sleeved tops. I now have a suitcase of clothes, and another suitcase for the laptop, accessories, makeup, documents, and miscellaneous other items. My costume including shoes is in my backpack along with 4 books and noise-cancelling headphones.
[Cousin Eleanor recommended two books by Susan Duncan: Salvation Creek, and House at Salvation Creek, so I picked them up at Dymocks].
I'd hoped to get an aisle seat on the plane, but left it too late, so I have a window seat in a block of two, up the pointy end. And I've notified the bank I'm travelling overseas, checked the PIN on my ANZ travel card, and backed up my desktop. And booked a hair appointment.
Yep, I'm just about set.
[Cousin Eleanor recommended two books by Susan Duncan: Salvation Creek, and House at Salvation Creek, so I picked them up at Dymocks].
I'd hoped to get an aisle seat on the plane, but left it too late, so I have a window seat in a block of two, up the pointy end. And I've notified the bank I'm travelling overseas, checked the PIN on my ANZ travel card, and backed up my desktop. And booked a hair appointment.
Yep, I'm just about set.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Los Angeles Hotel
I thought I'd better book a hotel in Los Angeles before I leave. I wanted one close to public transport, and not too expensive. I thought about a youth hostel, but all the hostels available the nights I wanted in LA were shared dormitory style, and I'm too old and grumpy for that.
I googled historic hotels in LA, and I've booked through Expedia into the Historic Mayfair Hotel, 1256 West 7th Street. It's $334.70 for 5 nights. Their website says "It combines a sense of “old World” with a time honored tradition of gracious service. Built during the heyday of the Roaring Twenties, The Historic Mayfair Hotel still reflects the grandeur of the era with glass etchings, brass fixtures, skylight and frenzied pillars."
They are close to public transport and "only blocks away from the Financial District, Civic Center, Jewelry Mart, Garment District, Music Center, 7th Market Place, Shopping Centers, and Convention Center. The Historic Mayfair Hotel is just minutes away from Chinatown, Little Tokyo, Korean Town, and Olivera Street. 15 miles away from many famous attractions like Universal Studios, Getty’s Museum, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), and 35 miles to Disneyland." That should be enough to keep me amused for 5 days.
I googled historic hotels in LA, and I've booked through Expedia into the Historic Mayfair Hotel, 1256 West 7th Street. It's $334.70 for 5 nights. Their website says "It combines a sense of “old World” with a time honored tradition of gracious service. Built during the heyday of the Roaring Twenties, The Historic Mayfair Hotel still reflects the grandeur of the era with glass etchings, brass fixtures, skylight and frenzied pillars."
They are close to public transport and "only blocks away from the Financial District, Civic Center, Jewelry Mart, Garment District, Music Center, 7th Market Place, Shopping Centers, and Convention Center. The Historic Mayfair Hotel is just minutes away from Chinatown, Little Tokyo, Korean Town, and Olivera Street. 15 miles away from many famous attractions like Universal Studios, Getty’s Museum, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), and 35 miles to Disneyland." That should be enough to keep me amused for 5 days.
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