Fairfield!!!

In the middle of the chaos involved with the weekend before tech week for a show I'm in (I'll post about that later...), and immediately following a promotional event at Jerry's Foods in Woodbury for that show (see previous post), Duane and I made a SUPER QUICK trip to Fairfield to see my friend Tena in "Beauty and the Beast".

We left at 2:30 on Saturday afternoon (after I got home from Jerry's and showered to wash the mega gel and Aqua Net out of my extremely slicked down and conservative Mr. Banks hair), and arrived in Fairfield around 8:00.

On the way, we stopped in Ankeny for Maid Rites...because it's required...

...then got to Tena and Andrew's, dropped off our luggage, and headed out to look around town.  I haven't been there since last August, and there were a few changes...the Chocolate Cafe has closed...the art display around the square is "little libraries"...and my laundromat is now in the process of becoming "The Lord's Cupboard"...a local food bank.

We stopped at Everybody's so that I could stock up on my friend Debbie's "Cookies From the Heart" chunk chocolate peanut butter cookies (and other goodies the store carries)...

 ...drove around for a little while longer, then went home to wait for Tena and Andrew to get home from the Saturday night performance.

They got home around 10:30, and we stayed up chatting until about 1:15.

On Sunday, we had brunch at Ila...my favorite restaurant in town, hung out at the house for a bit, stopped at Wal-Mart to pick up a few things, then picked up our dear friend Carol and went to the show.  Tena played Mrs. Potts, and Andrew was the narrator and the insane asylum owner.  The show was delightful, and Tena stole the show when she sang the theme song in act II.  Andrew also OWNED his scene with Gaston as they plotted to put Belle's father away so that Gaston could marry Belle.

After seeing lots of old friends, we made a stop at Hy-Vee (also a requirement while in town), then headed back to the house, and, when Tena and Andrew were finished striking the set, attempted to go back to Ila for dinner.  Unfortunately, they (and every other place we wanted to go) were closed on Sunday night.  After MUCH deliberating (and Duane spending a BUNCH of time on his iPod looking at reviews) ended up at Torino's, a local pizza and steak place, which really IS a local institution.

After dinner we tried to go to the new tap room on 4th street, but the music for the evening was a drum circle, and, after walking in the door and seeing the walls reverberating with the sound, opted for a quick trip to the Dairy Bar for ice cream instead.

We then went back to the house, and watched an episode of "The Great British Baking Show" before retiring (relatively) early.

Monday morning we got up, packed, said our farewells, then made a quick stop at Caribou for coffee.  We left town, with a quick stop at Jaarsma Bakery in Pella for Dutch pastries and photo ops in City Park...

...met my aunt Doris and cousin John Todd for lunch at Perkins in Ankeny...

...and arrived back in the cities with enough time for me to do some laundry and clean a bit before heading to rehearsal.

A super quick, but REALLY FUN, trip "home"!

Here's hoping YOU were able to reconnect with dear friends recently too!!!