Relaxin' in Jackson..ville

Jacksonville, Florida! Heat and Humidity! Now, I understand that humidity doesn't make your hair look great, but it sure does wonders for your vocal chords!

We stayed at a beautiful Hyatt, right on the bank of the St. John River. Our theatre, the Times Union Center (where are we, Albany?), was also on the river, so our trek to work everyday was beautiful. We had a great rooftop pool and hot tub, so we all made sure to catch up on our vitamin D before heading back up north. Friday night our company manager arranged for them to keep the pool (and poolside bar!) open for us late-night after the show. The theatre and the hotel were in an area of downtown Jacksonville known as Urban Core. By day, the area was filled with suits and ties, and in the evenings filled with tattoos and piercings. Our area was the center for contemporary art in Jacksonville, with tons of small galleries and a museum of contemporary art. The week were there, the Jax Film Fest was going on, along with a lot of great events surrounding it. Unfortunately, with out show schedule, we didn't make it to any of them. In between the hotel and the theatre was a shopping area called The Landing, which was clearly past it's prime, with most of the shops being closed and the restaurants being slow and tired, but they did still have live music and events in the center of the Landing on weekends. With a little bit of searching, there were plenty of great places in Jacksonville.

The Landing and Times Union from across St. John

I found myself At Chamblins Uptown almost every day. Chamblins is an awesome used book store that had a ton of rare and out of print book, two huge floors worth! The biography section in and of itself blew my mind and I had to keep reminding myself that I had a kindle and could not be purchasing books. I managed to walk away with only one. The bookstore had a great cafe attached with wonderful coffee and great breakfast and lunch options (tons of veg options!).

Indochine

Burrito Gallery was clearly the favorite of the locals. A full bar and back patio with table service, it also had a walk-up front, with a seating area filled with local art. Funky vibe, really good food and I had every intention of going back for the bean tacos, but the week got away from us. 

Indochine was located right above Burrito Gallery, great Thai and Southern Asian food with a friendly, knowledgeable staff. I was a little ambitious with the spice level of my curry, but it certainly got my sinuses cleared.

Chew

The eating highlight was the week was Chew, a newer restaurant in town with a modern atmosphere and modern american food with southern flare. I had my first fried green tomato experience (with gorgonzola fondue!), a beet and citrus salad with arugula and goat cheese, the doughiest churros I've ever had with a homemade chocolate sauce. If I lived in Jacksonville, I would be here all the time.

Dos Gatos

We did get to sample the Jacksonville nightlife a bit while we were there. Dos Gatos was a dark cocktail lounge with an amazing menu of cocktails. It reminded me of a few of my favorite places in New York, and it was a probably a good thing that we didn't go until the last night, because otherwise we all would've left Jacksonville a lot poorer. 

Angela and I

While in Jacksonville, we also got into full force with understudy rehearsals. Most productions have understudies, but with such a long contract, we have to really make sure all of our bases are covered, so every lead and supporting role has two understudies, and then we have a male and a female performer who cover all of the ensemble tracks (we call them "swings"). This week our female swing, Angela, went on for the first time. One of the most exciting things about live theatre is having things mixed up a bit, keeps us on our toes and keeps us all supporting each other.

At the end of the week we said farewell to the sun, and now it's back up north to Wilmington, DE. Delaware will be our last week-long sit down for a couple weeks, then real tour life of split weeks and traveling by bus begins!

Charm City

Our next stop was Baltimore, Maryland for another week-long sit down. I, for one, was happy to be in a city with a little less to do and less to spend money on. Our hotel was also only a few minutes from the theatre and cutting out public transit time meant more time for other important things. Like sleep. We played to mostly sold out houses in the the beautiful and historic Hippodrome.

We were staying in the downtown area and we learned that the homeless folks of Baltimore are a lot more aggressive than the homeless in New York City. For the most part, if a New York homeless person asks you for change and you don't answer, they leave you alone and move on to the next person. In Baltimore, if you don't answer they follow you down the street and continue to talk to you. The girls of the cast quickly learned not to walk alone, no matter the time of day.

A big highlight of the week was visiting the Nation Aquarium of Baltimore, right on the beautiful Inner Harbor. We managed to make it through most of the aquarium in under 3 hours, but we were told that if you stayed and read every piece of information and really spent time at each exhibit, it would take you over 24 hours. We paid the extra 3 bucks to see the dolphin show. Worth. Every. Penny. Of course, when we sat in the "Splash Zone" we thought that there would be a possibility of getting a little wet, we didn't realize that it was part of the dolphins' routines to soak every person sitting in those sections. We ended up spending a good chunk of our visit in the new jellyfish exhibit. I wonder if my landlord be against me having a few as pets..

Early on in our stay, we made our way to the awesome neighborhood known as Fell's Point. If I lived in Baltimore, this is where my time would be spent. It was on Wednesday that I met the hat that I knew I had to make mine. It was at the Hats in the Belfry, a great place managed by my new friend Daine, who put it on hold for me. I told myself that if I didn't eat out the rest of the week, that on Saturday I could come back and get it. Luckily, there was a Whole Foods (heaven) where I was able to stock up for the week.

Whole Foods makes me whole.

Attempting the challenge

We made a couple trips back to Fell's Point thorough the week and didn't manage to quite do everything, specifically experience the night scene, there definitely seemed like there was an awesome bar scene. Highlights of Fell's Points included Mr. Yogato (Domo arigato?), a fun frozen yogurt joint where you could do challenges to get discounts. The main one was to balance on the tip toes of one foot for 15 seconds with your eyes closed to get 50% off. Being dancers, we thought this would be an easy task, but discovered that closing your eyes makes balancing nearly impossible. We were all talk, no game. Of course it wasn't until after we bought our yogurt that we saw all the other things you could do for discounts... we'll get you next time, Mr. Yogato!

The best coffee we found was at The Daily Grind. I should say that I'm probably biased as there is a great coffee shop in my hometown by the same name, and I have also discovered that almost every city has a coffee shop called The Daily Grind. Still, it was clearly where the cool kids were getting their caffeine fix. They also gave me info the Vegtober, a festival going on that weekend to celebrate and promote vegatarian and vegan lifestyles. I was incredibly impressed that a city like Baltimore would have such an event, but after my visit to Fell's, there's obviously quite a population of healthy eaters.

One clear example was Liquid Earth, a vegetarian restaurant that also catered to vegans and even had a whole section of their menu for raw vegans. They also had two pages worth of raw juices and smoothies, which were served in pint measuring cups. I got a vegan BBQ pulled tofu sandwich, and while nothing can touch my dad's pulled pork, this was a pretty solid meatless option. I'm always so happy to see places like this outside of the major cities, and see that health is becoming more important to people.

Great farmers market in Fell's Point

The best part of my stay in Baltimore was having three of my hometown friends visit me from DC. Morgan, Brendan, and Josh came up to see the Sunday night show and we went out to dinner at Alewife across from the theatre. It's so wonderful to see old friends, to have have their support and be able to share with them what I do. I can't wait to see more friends across the country!

Oh, I got my hat!

Off to Jacksonville, FL! Clinging on to the last bits of summer before fall really hits us!

Eating our way through Boston

No offense to Waterbury, CT, but it was a real treat to get to a place with some real food, public transit, and a little bit of culture. We were in Boston for our opening week of the tour! 

Our marquee at the Boston Opera House

With Emma in Jamaica Plain

I stayed the first part of the week with a good friend from high school, Emma. Emma lives in Jamaica Plain, a historic neighborhood of Boston. We walked around Jamaica Pond, where there were a lot of families and runners traveling the 1.5 mile path around the lake. Jamaica Plain was full of great restaurants, bars, coffee shops, and lots of health food stores and food co-ops! After being in Waterbury for ten days, it was nice to be in an area where people actually had access to healthy food. Jamaica Plain triva: Did you know that the country's first community theatre, Footlight Club, is located in Jamaica Plain? Well.. it is. The rest of the week I spent on the Cambridge side of Somerville with Nellie, another friend from high school. She lived in the Union Square area, a much nicer part of Somerville than the Holiday Inn where the cast was living.

Jamaica Pond

It was great to stay with friends in Boston not only because I got to spend time with them, but it also saved me quite a few dollars on the hotel. And I needed it, because all the money I would’ve spent on the hotel I spent on food. I still managed to not hit every restaurant on my list, so I still have some places to hit next time I’m there. One of the many negative things about waiting to blog is I can’t remember all the places I ate, so I’ll give you some highlights.

Breakfast. 

The Paramount

The Paramount in Beacon Hill, delicious pancakes, fresh OJ, and an interesting seating policy. Because of it’s popularity, they don’t allow anyone to sit at a table before they have their food and expect people to give up their table as soon as they finish eating. It certainly seemed to work, we got there thinking that we would never get a table but by the time we got our food some had opened up.

Leo's Place

The Neighborhood in Somerville. I've never wanted to have a love affair with cream of wheat until now. I may get desperate and end up calling and begging them for the recipe. Apparently other people agree, there seems to be quite a wait on weekends.

Bloc 11 in Somerville. Mainly a coffee shop, but a few food items, but their vegan double berry muffin was so amazing that I went back the next day for another, and I am not one to re-visit a place when I'm only in a city for a week. And they brewed Stumptown Coffee, score!

Leo's Place in Harvard Square. Clearly a local institution, a great diner that served breakfast all day, which a huge list of daily specials. The day we went they had nearly a dozen different kinds of stuffed french toast (which doesn't mean much for those of us with egg allergies, but very exciting for those without). They also specialized in gourmet root beer and had two coolers filled with what looked to be about 40-50 types of root beer.

Lunch/Dinner

Max and Dylans

Trident Book Store Cafe on Newbury. A great independent bookstore with an awesome cafe. Clearly very vegetarian friendly, but it seems almost everywhere in Boston is. Grab a corner table by a window and people-watch the shoppers.

Boston Chowda in Quincy Market. Quincy Market is a whole dining experience on it's own. I had heard rumors that this place had pretty killer lobster mac and cheese and the rumors were true (veg fail). They basically mixed their mac and cheese with their lobster bisque and baked it, but there weren't tiny chunks of lobster meat, I was pulling out full claw meat outta there!

Pho Pasteur

Max and Dylans in the Theatre District. I know, I know, mac and cheese twice in one week is a bit much, but this place had a great variety and the large amounts of spinach and artichokes in mine made me feel a little better..right? Plus it was right by the theatre, gave cast members a nice discount, and even had South Pacific appetizer and drink specials!

Pho Pasteur in Chinatown. The Boston Opera House is right on the edge of Chinatown. I went with Hsin, the young lady playing Liat, for my first pho experience. I could eat pho forever. Or at least for a while. At least until I get really good at using chop sticks. Still delicious with tofu and veggies instead of beef.

Clover

Clover in Harvard Square. Great vegetarian joint, mainly sandwiches. I got a chickpea fritter, lots of cabbage and various pickled veggies. Also a great beer selection, but since I was pre-show eating I stuck to a pumpkin soda. Local food that changes with the seasons, they grow their own herbs on the second level. They also have a handful of food trucks around the city.

Clover

Desserts and Sweets (Ok, I had a lot on my list of sweets to try. I generally do not eat like this in a normal week. Stop judging me)

Hot Chocolate at L. A. Burdick in Harvard Square. Really great chocolatier known for their hot chocolate. Basically shaved dark chocolate melted down with a little bit of milk. Heaven.

The Thinking Cup

Hot Chocolate at The Thinking Cup in the Theatre District. Yes, I'm writing about two hot chocolates, but I was already in the neighborhoods of both. I actually frequented Thinking Cup quite a bit, as it was conveniently located a block behind the stage door of the Opera House and they ALSO served Stumptown Coffee. My first time there I loved the shop so much I even got a coffee punch card (a bit ambitious, I only left Boston with 4 punches).

Ice Cream at J.P. Licks. About 10 locations across Boston, I was told this was the place to go in Boston for homemade ice cream and yogurt. I went to the Jamaica Plains location (and maybe the Newbury Street one too. Maybe). The oreo cakebatter ice cream was heaven. And they have little symbols next to their flavors to let you know if it contains egg or nuts, so I didn't have to be the annoying person who asks "Excuse me, does the coffee ice cream has egg in it? Can you check to see if there are walnuts in the rum raisin?"

Mike's Pastry

Cupcakes at Sweet. Really girly atmosphere, which I guess is what people come to expect with cupcakes now. We went to the downtown location and I got a red velvet and a pumpkin. Pumpkin won, but doesn't it always?

Canollis at Mike's Pastry in Little Italy. I was told it was the hands-down, must-eat canolli in Boston. The place was packed, with nearly a dozen different kind of canollis and a slew of other baked goods. Cash only and you had to fight your way to the front and be a little aggressive (or patient) to be served, but absolutely the best canolli I've had in my best. Large enough to be mistaken for a small burrito, I would recommend sharing with a friend.

And we did at least try to do some things besides eating (and performing). Wednesday morning after opening we walked the Freedom Trail (and tried to recreate some historic moments. I visited the Boston Public Library and the Public Gardens, and walked Newbury Street and visited Harvard and Harvard Square (a few times) in Cambridge. As far as neighborhoods and the city in general, I think if my career weren't centered in New York City, there's a strong chance that I would spend some serious time in Boston. Overall, the public transit was clean and prompt (even if the bus only came ever half an hour), but the T shutting down at 12:30 certainly cut most of our nights short. Access to healthy vegetarian food was a huge plus, it seemed like everywhere had veg options and there were vegetarian and vegan restaurants around every corner. I'd say it was easier to eat meatless in Boston than it was in New York.

Courtyard of Library

Boston Public Library

Public Gardens

Freedom Trail!

Our director, Sarna Lapine

And yes, besides touring around and eating, we did officially open the 2nd National Tour of South Pacific at the Boston Opera House. It was a stunning theatre in a beautiful area. We sold very well and had a great opening night party (NETworks even paid for our cabs home!).

Next Stop, Baltimore!