In Sarasota Visiting the Ringling Museum

Main Entrance to the Ringling Museum

At the Ringling through January 29, 2012, there's a stunning poster show organized by the Cincinnati Museum of Art and the Ringling Museum. All the posters were printed by the Strobridge Lithographic Company. Posters shown were mostly from the 1880's to the 1920s. You can learn more at the Ringling Museum's website.

Tomorrow we return to see Ringling's new Tibbal's Learning Center with Howard Tibbals grand miniature circus.

Birmingham Trip, Day 3

This morning we drove into Birmingham's downtown to see the sites. It's a very nice looking city with lots of hills.

When we drove near the Virginia Samford Theatre, currently home to "The Drowsy Chaperone," we decided to see where it was so we wouldn't get lost getting there tonight. It's a good thing we did.

The directions say it's on 26th Street just off Highland Avenue. Well, Highland Avenue is a difficult U-shaped street about 2 miles long with at least 10 right-angle turns. And narrow winding parts through lovely neighborhoods and past at least four beautiful city parks. Pretty to look at -- and easy to get lost in, even in the daytime. And we did, but also happened upon a restaurant we had read good things about, Rojo, and decided to eat there before showtime.

Rojo has two menus: Latin American food and American food. It's a busy and happy neighborhood restaurant, part Mexican cantina, part burger place.

The show, part of the Red Mountain Theatre Company's season. was wonderful, a fabulous production in a beautiful theatre.


Saxon Murrell as Man in Chair in "The Drowsy Chaperone" (From the Birmingham News, photo by Brandon Robertson)


History of the Virginia Samson Theatre,
click the image to enlarge.

For some information about "The Drowsy Chaperone" and its history click here.

London Trip March 2010 -- Day 10

We enjoyed the short train trip to Kingston upon Thames via Wimbledon. The city's official name is The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames. Kingston is where the Saxon kings were crowned and one of its historic attractions is the Coronation Stone.

Kingston is a charming city with lots of historic sites along with plenty of shops and restaurants. You can sit and watch the Thames as it flows behind the theatre but it is tiny compared to the width of the river in London proper. Because the river narrows here it was, until 1729, the first place a bridge could cross the Thames upstream of the London Bridge. There is still a bridge on that site. The day was chilly and gray but Kingston must be lovely on a warm summer afternoon.

We had lunch at a Gourmet Burger Kitchen half a block from the Rose Theatre where we were about to see Judi Dench as Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream.


Dame Judi Dench at the Rose Theatre


Titania with Bottom

FROM JACK
Think it's worth a transatlantic trip to see Dame Judi Dench, live and in person, and speaking Shakespeare's verse? I'd say yes.

Last fall, I read on one of the London theatre blogs that Dame Judi would be playing Titania in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at the Rose Theatre in Kingston on Thames, suburban London. Lo and behold, that meshed perfectly with the trip we were planning. After some emails to the most-friendly Rose box office, we found that tickets would go on sale to the public (they have a big subscription base) on line on a Monday morning -- middle of the night Pensacola time. We did what was required and ordered the tickets. Less than a week later, we had them in hand.

Titania is, of course, not the largest role in the "Dream." But Dame Judi makes you think it is. We had seen her before live in contemporary drama but never in Shakespeare. What a privilege. She speaks the verse like no other actor I have ever seen. Unforgettable.

She and her director, Sir Peter Hall, agreed to this limited engagement at the two-year old Rose in Kingston to help the theatre survive -- bless them. It was a sell-out engagement and, according to our London friends, the hottest ticket in town.

A memorable theatrical finale to our trip. We won't soon forget any part of our afternoon in Kingston.

Top: Sir Peter Hall, Dame Judi Dench
Bottom: Rose Theatre Kingston

London Trip March 2010 -- Day 7

David called us today. He's back home from Bali and the celebration of Martin's 70th birthday over there. Martin returns to London later in the month.


Old Swan Pub, Kensington Church Street

We had a pub lunch in the Old Swan. It's downstairs from our flat. We both had fish and chips, very nicely done. Then it was a quiet afternoon of reading and napping. Sandwiches in the room pre-theatre. At 6:30 we headed to the New London Theatre by tube to see War Horse.

FROM JACK
Critically acclaimed when it premiered at the National Theatre's Olivier Theatre in 2008, War Horse was then brought back for a second season. In 2009, it transferred to the New London Theatre in Drury Lane (longtime home of Cats) where it continues to attract sell-out business.


Scene from War Horse at the New London Theatre

The play tells the story of a boy and his horse during World War I. But it's much more than that. The full-sized horses are created with astonishing puppetry. After ten minutes or so, you forget they aren't real. The amazing figures were created by the South Africa-based Handspring Puppet Company.

It is quite a wonderful evening. New York City will see it in early 2011 at Lincoln Center's Vivian Beaumont Theatre. Stephen Spielberg recently acquired the rights for a motion picture version.

Yet another home run for the National, the English-speaking world's premier theatrical company.

London Trip March 2010 -- Day 6

We had breakfast in the room -- coffee, croisants, scrambled eggs with ham. I took the dirty clothes to a laundry up the street to pick up later today or in the morning tomorrow. Then we went to town to get more theatre tickets at Leicester Square.

With the help of our apartment manager, Susie, we found that one bus could take us from Notting Hill Gate to the north side of Her Majesty's Theatre, just off Haymarket. This was a much easier trip than the tube and there were no route changes on the way. When we got there we walked to the tkts booth and got tickets for Phantom of the Opera for today's matinee, at Her Majesty's Theatre, and tickets to War Horse for tomorrow evening.

We had lunch just off Leicester Square at West End Kitchen. Lunch there was ok but I wished I had ordered the Chicken Kiev.


Phantom's New Yamaha Sound Board

Phantom opened 24 years ago on October 9th 1986. We had seen it before but figured that any show that can last 24 years was worth a revisit. The new sound system is wonderful and the whole production looked fresh and new. We had a good time.

Bus back to the apartment. Dinner was Subway sandwiches and soup from EAT. -- both shops near the apartment on Notting Hill Gate.

London Trip March 2010 -- Day 4

We had another long sleep and in the morning lots of fresh hot coffee in the apartment.

Mid-morning I ventured out and got supplies at Marks and Spencer's Simply Food. Back at the flat we had a hot breakfast of scrambled eggs, ham, crisp bacon and croisants. M&S were out of black pepper so I stopped at Le Pain Quotidien and bought a pepper mill full of Malabar peppercorns. It's now a souvenir of the London trip.

One of the best features of a self-catering apartment is being able to cook up a nice breakfast at home and not have to sit in a restaurant first thing in the day.


Jersey Boys marquee

At 3:00 we were at the Prince Edward Theatre to see Jersey Boys. I had read it was not just another "jukebox musical." And it was true, it was more like a documentary. There was a strong book with an unflinching look at the grittier side of the Four Seasons' off-stage troubles.

The performances were excellent. The music and sound design were wonderful as were the sets and lights. The players were from all over the UK but each of them had perfect New Jersey accents. The leads --Ryan Molloy as Frankie Valli and Stephen Ashfield as Bob Gaudio -- were excellent and sounded like they grew up in Newark.

Who knew rock 'n' roll could be so theatrical?

After the theatre we met our friends Sian and Keith at their home in Hammersmith. They took us to eat at a wonderful Indian restaurant, the Red Onion and we had a great time catching up.

London Trip March 2010 -- Day 3

The flat is very comfortable and warm. Again we slept for twelve hours and woke to a cold gray day. Several cups of New Orleans Cajun coffee (which we brought with us) helped a lot. It wasn't raining but there was a damp icy wind that didn't let up.

We had breakfast at a nearby cafe/bakery on Notting Hill Gate, Le Pain Quotidien. It's a Belgian chain and it looked good when I walked past it yesterday. Wonderful bread and atmosphere.

After breakfast we took the tube to Leicester Square to see what we could find at tkts, the discount ticket booth. Getting to the tube is a problem for me, and Jack too, because there's no down escalator at the Notting Hill Gate station. At least there's an up escalator there.


tkts, Leister Square

Jack got us tickets for Billy Elliot today and for Jersey Boys tomorrow. We were getting cold sitting in Leicester Square so we took a cab to the Victoria Palace Theatre where Billy Elliot is playing. It was chilly there too and we had more than an hour before the theatre opened so we went to the neighboring Garfunkel's for coffee and hot chocolate, and some apple pie. Lucky for us the place was packed and service was very slow so we easily killed all the time we needed to and stayed warm. The show was a treat. We loved Billy Elliot.


Pre-opening Billy Elliot poster

FROM JACK
As it approaches its fifth birthday at the Victoria Palace Theatre in London, Billy Elliot is looking good. Maybe it's not the best British musical ever (as some have said). Still, it's a potent piece of musical theatre with a rousing score by Elton John and Lee Hall (who also wrote the book and the film on which the show is based).

We saw a fine Billy named Ollie Gardner. But from what I've heard, each and every Billy (four boys rotate) is outstanding. West End star Joanna Riding is splendid as Billy's dance teacher and the entire cast does the show proud. We left the Victoria Palace that Saturday afternoon with big smiles. Thanks, Billy.

The Victoria Palace Theatre

"Into the Woods" at University of West Florida

Last Sunday afternoon we saw an excellent production of Steven Sondheim's "Into the Woods" at the University of West Florida.

The cast was mostly students, and very good musical theater students at that. We were pleased to see that one of our favorite local actors, Brooke Hardy, was Little Red Riding Hood. She was excellent as was much of the cast -- especially the actors who played the Baker, the Baker's Wife, the Witch and Cinderella.

For the list of cast and crew plus photos of the production click here.

Alabama's New Casino Opens Nearby

Alabama's Newest Casino

It's also Alabama's first casino resort..

The beautiful Wind Creek Casino and its four restaurants opened last week. The hotel opens next week. The main floor with the casino and restaurants is nicely designed with a feeling of open space. The photos on the web site show some beautiful hotel rooms, too.

But the Wind Creek is the only game in town. And to say it's in the middle of nowhere makes it seem more urban than it really is. The hotel tower looms above the flat cotton fields of Atmore, Alabama. It is right off Interstate 65 and you can't miss it -- the tallest building between Mobile and Montgomery.

Driving distances from both Mobile and Pensacola are about 50 to 55 miles. From Mobile it's an easy, fast Interstate Highway drive all the way. From Pensacola much of the drive is on country roads and when the sign says 35 MPH you better slow down.

The slots look like Vegas-style machines but they are really bingo machines. Through the magic of the computer they can mock the look and feel of real video slots but payoffs are determined by a casino-wide bingo game for each pull. There are no table games or video poker. And it's a good bet that there are more people in the Alabama state legislature who want the place shut down than will vote to let them have a fully functioning Las Vegas- or Biloxi-style casino.

The food is quite good. The buffet's well-stocked and cheap. Right now, Monday through Thursday, if you buy one buffet meal you get one free. At lunch time that means for $7.95 plus tax -- about $8.60 total -- two people get all-you-can-eat meals. Lunch plus a tip for the disappearing waitress means the two of you are out of there for $10 and some change. Two dollars more if you valet park.

Will the lure of real slot machines, video poker and table games tempt people to travel the extra distance to Biloxi? Compared to the drive to Atmore, Biloxi is just an extra hour of driving from Pensacola and only about 15 minutes more than Atmore from Mobile. That's not a lot of additional drive time for a lot more variety in gaming, dining, lodging and entertainment.

Emerald Princess, December 2008, Evening 4

Chef's Table Dinner (on our way to Grenada)

Two or three evenings during a cruise on the Emerald Princess, Executive Chef Joel Directo prepares a special menu for twelve passengers. There's an extra charge for this, $75 per person, which includes the seven course meal (or ten depending on how you count the appetizers), three different wines with dinner and a Champagne toast in the kitchen with the Chef and the appetizers. The meal lasts about three hours.

Because the passengers start the meal in the galley, sanitation is an issue. Each guest is sent instructions the day before on how they should dress and each person has to sign a statement that she or he is in good health and has no signs of Norovirus symptoms. Before entering the galley you must put on a long, white lab coat. And you have to wash your hands as soon as you enter the food prep area.

After the appetizers in the busy galley the party is escorted to a reserved table in the middle of the Michalanglo Dining Room. There is quite a demand for the Chef's Table and very limited seating so a lot of people are turned away each cruise.

The food, wines and service were fabulous. My favorite course was the first one -- the Shrimp Margarita with Avocados and Mangos. The other nine courses were all tied for second place, they were so good.

A handwritten menu is presented:

[Click on the menu to enlarge it.]

Here are the twelve lucky passengers on the evening we enjoyed the Chef's Table. Also in the photo are Executive Chef Joel Directo and the ship's Maitre d'Hotel, Nicola Furlan.

[Click on the photo to enlarge it.]

At the end of the meal each couple gets a copy of the latest Princess cookbook, "Courses, A Culinary Journey" personally inscribed and signed by the Executive Chef and the Maitre d'. You can see a copy in the lower right corner of the photo above.

The rules:

[Click on the text above to enlarge it.]

Emerald Princess, December 2008, Day 4

Bonaire

We had smooth sailing during our brief cruise to Bonaire overnight. It's just 120 nautical miles from Aruba. The weather has improved. The skies are clear and blue with little fluffy clouds. From our cabin we can see mountains and little villages.

We had a room service breakfast on the balcony and this morning there was no rain to chase us inside. We left the ship mid-morning and wandered around the port area and downtown Kralendijk.

We stopped for a coke at a cafe, Bamboo, where I took this photo. It's directly across from where the Emerald Princess was parked. As we walked to the downtown area it was getting very hot so we headed for a park we saw down the street. It turned out to be an excellent crafts market with wonderful, local live music. With shady places to sit.

We read earlier that the Caribbean Princess was expected to be in port today but there was no sign of her. But while we sat in the park and looked out toward the sea we saw a dot on the horizon and slowly we could make out a ship and it was the Caribbean Princess. It was fun being on the shore and watching a big ship come in. Usually we are on the ship watching the shore getting closer.









Back on the ship we had a light lunch in the International Cafe -- sandwiches and salads -- in the main lobby, "The Piazza." We needed to have a light lunch because tonight we are going to the Chef's Table and it will be a huge meal.

It was time to do a clothes wash. We brought lots of quarters with us. I found the very well equipped laundry near the rear elevators. The location made it very easy to go up to the top of the ship to sit and read or just watch the port while the clothes were in the washer and dryer.

Just before 7:00 P.M. we went down to the Michalangelo and found our group and the Maitre d' assembled. The Chef's Table experience was wonderful and I made it a separate post for you to read. We got back to the room around 10:00 P.M. after nearly three hours of delicious food and drink. Exhausted and too full to move. Lucky for us and ten other guests the sea was calm as we continued on to Grenada -- 395 nautical miles away.

Distances Sailed
Fort Lauderdale to Aruba
1137 nautical miles = 1308 statute miles = 2103 kilometers

Aruba to Bonaire
120 nautical miles = 138 statute miles = 222 kilometers

Total distance so far
1257 nautical miles = 1446 statute miles = 2325 kilometers

NOTE: 1 nautical mile = 1.15 land miles = 1.85 kilometers

Emerald Princess, December 2008, Day 3

Aruba


It was rainy all night but the sea was fairly smooth. Above is the view we had of Aruba from our cabin. There was a channel for tourist excursion boats and a clump of bushes.

The sky was gray most of the day and the weather was hot, muggy and rainy off and on. We decided on room service continental breakfast -- juice, pastries, yogurt, Frosted Flakes -- in the room. We brought our own coffee maker and New Orleans-blend coffee with chicory. We tried eating on the balcony but every time we went out it started raining again.

Spent an enjoyable and a quiet morning reading in the room and checking email in the Internet Cafe. There was such a long walk from the ship to the interesting sights and shops of downtown Oranjestad we decided to stay on the ship and chill. If the weather had been better I sure we would have explored a little but with the rain and high humidity we stayed put.

The other side of the Emerald Princess had views of the port and downtown Oranjestad. The Royal Plaza Mall is all pink, blue and white with old Dutch decoration, it houses many shops, restaurants and cafes.



It appears from the photo above there's a small volcano in downtown Oranjestad.

By the way, the Emerald Princess was the only ship in port here today.

We got invited to the Commodore's cocktail party/reception but it's tomorrow night and we are signed up for the Chef's Table dinner. We now have a reservation also for Sabatini's Italian Restaurant for Saturday evening.

Dinner was in Michalangelo's, red snapper for Ken; steak for Jack.

Distance Sailed
Fort Lauderdale to Aruba
1137 nautical miles = 1308 statute miles = 2103 kilometers

NOTE: 1 nautical mile = 1.15 land miles = 1.85 kilometers

Emerald Princess, December 2008, Day 2

At sea, heading for Aruba

We had calm seas overnight and we slept well. In fact we slept through the more formal Da Vinci dining room's breakfast with waiter service and we went to the buffet breakfast in Cafe Caribe. It was less crowded than yesterday's breakfast because we were there later in the morning.

At 11:00 A.M. we had a tour of the bridge and met Commodore Romano who conducted our tour. He became a Captain in 1990 and in January 2008 he was made Commodore of the entire Princess fleet -- 17 ships.

It was no surprise to learn that in 2008 the normal operation of the ship depends on computers and radar, but the highly trained staff is ready to take over and run the ship themselves in case of emergency. All of the ship's systems -- heating, air conditioning, drinking water, sanitation, electricity, communications, etc. -- can be monitored and run from the bridge.



After the tour we had lunch in the Da Vinci Dining Room. It has waiter service and is a little more formal than the Horizon Court. There are more items cooked to order. The burgers in the Da Vinci are very good and don't appear to have been kept hot on a steam table. Then it was nap time.

We each signed up for Internet access in the Internet Cafe on Deck 5. You get 100 minutes for $55.00 plus an activation fee of $3.95. The computer system on the Emerald Princess is faster than others we have known on ships and the sign-in is very quick.

This was "formal night" and there were ladies in gowns and men in suits and tuxedos. We don't do formal on vacation so we got away with dark trousers and dark, long sleeved silk shirts buttoned all the way up. Nobody seemed to notice our lack of jackets and ties. And really, who cares?

We had dinner early in the Michalangelo so we could go to the 7:15 show in the Princess Theatre. It was a show we had seen, and enjoyed, on the Coral Princess in April 2007 -- "What a Swell Party."

It's a collection of show tunes, many by Cole Porter. This production on the Emerald Princess had the best singers of any show I've heard on a ship. All the lead singers did a fine job (not always the case with shipboard show singers) but hearing Regina Levert was a real treat. What a voice. What a pro.

As usual the dancing, music and lighting were excellent. The sets were good too and the sound was loud but well balanced and not so loud that it distorted the band and singers.

A Quick Roadtrip to Biloxi and the Circus

Usually we wouldn't have gone away when a major storm was heading for Pensacola, but Tropical Storm Fay was moving so slowly we decided we could drive to Biloxi for just one night. We headed over on Thursday morning.

We were off to see Ringling Bros. And Barnum & Bailey's one-ring circus -- Boom A Ring.

We stopped for lunch at a favorite restaurant, the locally-owned Felix's Fish Camp Grill in Spanish Fort, Alabama. It is on the bay across from Mobile with great views of battleships at Battleship Park.

Felix's looks like a fish camp -- old, battered, falling down -- but inside it is a fine restaurant with excellent service and wonderful food. Have the crab soup, it's worth the trip.

From Felix's we continued on to Biloxi and checked in at the Isle of Capri Casino. We hadn't stayed there for a couple of years and we were pleased to find the rooms had been nicely refurbished.



Early in the evening we drove west along the beach road to the circus. It was playing at Biloxi's Mississippi Coast Coliseum.

The show had some very good acts and lots of classic circus elements such as juggling, tumbling and acrobatics. The dog act was unique with its cast of five trained Daschunds. Los Scolas' high wire act was as exciting as ever and this year they added a high energy double wheel as well. Opening the second act was Vicenta Pages presenting her white tigers immediately followed by her aerial act.

In the morning we drove home to wait for Tropical Storm Fay and by Sunday evening it still had not arrived in Pensacola.

Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Part 2

Now for some details of our trip to and from Montgomery.

As I mentioned in the previous post, we set off last Friday morning, about 10:30, for Montgomery, Alabama, about 175 miles north of Pensacola, via Interstate 65. Heading for the Alabama Shakespeare Festival.

When we passed by the Alabama town of Evergreen, it was almost lunch time and the halfway point of our drive. We decided to stop in the next town, Georgiana, and have lunch at the Georgiana Family Restaurant. We had eaten there before and liked it a lot. A typical southern country restaurant, open only at lunch time and serving "meat and two." That means a meat dish -- your choice of fried chicken, catfish, chicken fried steak, meatloaf -- and two side dishes such as collard greens, fried corn, black eyed peas, sweet potatoes, etc. Sometimes rolls or cornbread are included too. Drinks are usually extra. All of it is at a very reasonable price, between $6.00 and $8.00 each.

We were ready to eat but when we got there the restaurant was no longer there. And the building said "Georgiana Used Cars." And it had a sign saying it too was "out of business." Sadly, for us, Georgiana is so small there are no other restaurants except for a hot dog stand at the gas station.

Hungry, we drove up a side road the 15 miles to Greenville hoping to find somewhere to eat. Anywhere. Anything.

The side road was deserted and we decided to eat at the first likely place we could find in Greenville. Halfway through Greenville we saw a bright, fresh awning and a sign that said "The Chef's Table." The food was good (meat and three!) and the location interesting. There were several old, beautifully restored Victorian homes nearby just down from the village square with its brick city hall.

We had fried chicken, corn bread, greens, braised cabbage, blackeyed peas, chess pie, banana pudding and iced tea. The price was $7.98 per person.

About an hour later we had checked in to the Hilton Garden Inn in Montgomery with plenty of time for a shower, nap, and dinner before the show at ASF. We had already searched the Internet and made a list of likely restaurants, looking for a casual, nearby place with a local feel.

The best casual dining spot close to the Hilton was Chappy's Deli on Perry Hill Road. It was just down the street a couple blocks and had a great menu of creative light meals and deli classics. Chappy's is a small chain with four other delis in the area. It's very popular with families and early on a Friday evening it was packed. But the large size of the place and the fast service meant there was no wait at all.

Then we were off to ASF to see West Side Story and we were pleased to find it was a excellent production in every way.

The next day we needed a hearty brunch before seeing ASF's The Beaux' Stratagem at 2:00 P.M., so we ate at Sinclair's East. It was close to the ASF grounds and had great food.

The decor and furnishings are very nice and the food is well-prepared, not inexpensive -- reasonably priced for the quality -- but not cheap. However there is something strange about Sinclair's atmosphere -- the young staff dress like pigs. Sloppy tops, grungy blue jeans that don't look clean (maybe they are, but...) and a hostess wearing short shorts that were not appropriate with her more than ample figure. They must be be the owner's kids.

Like Chappy's this restaurant is part of a small local chain with two other Sinclairs' in the area. After the play, which we really enjoyed, we were on I-65 heading south for home at 5:05 P.M. It had been a quick trip and we got to see two excellent productions by one of the best Shakespeare Festivals in the country.

We picked up our evening meal at the Krystal drive thru in Ft. Deposit. We each had a sack of burgers and a Dr. Pepper. We ate them while racing down I-65. For more information about the Krystal chain go to Krystal's Wiki page.

We arrived home at 8:30 Saturday night. The total mileage for the trip was 384 miles.