It was a busy, crazy, whirlwind trip! We left Saturday morning at 8:00, and were back in the cities by 6:00 on Sunday night (a 5 1/2 hour drive, each way).
On the way down, we stopped in Pella, Iowa to be tourists...eat lunch at the Windmill Cafe...and buy pastries at Jaarsma Bakery...
...then continued on to Fairfield, where we dropped our luggage at the hotel (Lynn), and Tena and Andrew's (Duane and me). We made a quick change into our formal wear for the evening, then headed to Washington.
Our first destination was for wine and cheese on the porch at our friend Dan's house. Lynn used to work with Dan, and, through their Facebook "relationship" I got to know him too! I eventually "friended" him, and we got to know each other online. It was GREAT to finally meet him in person!
Dan has also worked with the Washington Community Theater, so Lynn was going to be his "date" for the gala. We were supposed to arrive in Washington at 2:30, but the stop in Pella threw off our schedule, so we didn't have much time to socialize before it was time to head to Cafe Dodici!
What an amazing place! Having just been to Italy, we were THRILLED to experience the delicious cuisine. Lynn and Dan met another "old" friend of mine and theirs...John, who Dan still works with, and Lynn used to work with, and who I knew from a theatrical production 30 years ago...small world!
Unfortunately, the restaurant seated their group of four (John's wife Nancy was there too!) and OUR group of four too far apart to actually interact (dispersal of tables to servers, I suppose), but Duane and I had an AWESOME time catching up with Tena and Andrew!!
After dinner, Dan and Lynn, John and Nancy, and Duane and I headed to the theater for the 40th anniversary gala. What a HOOT to go back to the theater after twenty one years! It was cool that the place hadn't changed much, but BOY had the people! I had a hard time recognizing some of the people I had worked with, but it was AWESOME to reconnect with some dear, dear friends!
Linda, who was Wendy to my Peter in "Peter Pan"...
John (one of the brothers in "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat"), Peg (backstage for "Joseph"), and Linda
Greg, who directed me as Seymour in "Little Shop of Horrors"
My coat of many colors from "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" (second production)
Carmen...narrator to my Joseph in TWO productions of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat"
One of the highlights of the evening was when the theater recognized Leon Hilfman, who has done so much for the Washington Community Theater, and with whom I was fortunate to be directed in THREE of my four shows there (in addition to also working with him on a show in Iowa City).
After a lovely evening enjoying show tunes performed by the Southeast Iowa Symphony, directed by Robert McConnell, who conducted the pit for (I think) all of the productions in which I performed, we headed back to Fairfield, and collapsed EXHAUSTEDLY into bed!!
On Sunday, Lynn went to Washington to have brunch with Dan and John and Nancy, and Duane and I had PLANNED to have brunch at Ila with Tena and Andrew, but...AGAIN...Ila was closed...boo!!! They were closed last time we were in town and wanted to go there for dinner too. BOO!!!
We ended up at George's Pizza for an "adequate" breakfast, walked around the square for a bit to look at the vintage cars in the car show being held there...
OF COURSE we found a "photo op" on the way back in New Hampton...
A super fun trip, with super fun people...super fun!!
Here's hoping YOU were able to reconnect with "long lost friends" recently too!!!
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