East Coast Tour update: remind me to avoid TGI Friday's and Olive Garden
Howdy from the battlefield at Gettysburg, PA. Tonight I play here at the Lutheran Seminary, literally atop the battlefield where thousands and thousands of folks shot and bayoneted each other. It's a sobering town, and every time I'm here I get a slight case of the willies.
This tour is going very well. A quick rundown:
SATURDAY NIGHT, concert in Baltimore, MD: about 60 people came out to hear me play the first concert since the removal of my tonsils. My voice held up well, everybody had fun, and I truly enjoyed meeting the locals. Musical highlights were the first-ever public performance of my new song "If You Have a Question..." and an audience request for "Forgiveness Waltz."
SUNDAY NIGHT, concert in Lanham, MD (Washington DC area): 30 folks this evening at the show, and another great day spent visiting with new friends in the area. Another successful delivery of "If You Have a Question...", a cover of "Message in a Bottle" by The Police, and a somewhat rare performance of "747s."
LAST NIGHT (MONDAY), concert in West Milton, PA: after a beautiful drive up the Susquehanna River, I got to hang out with Catrina who I'd met in Minnesota. Very fun. About 40 people came to the concert, and highlights included the return of "Bright Funeral" to the setlist, as well as an unearthed version of "Smart Girls."
Tonight I play here in Gettysburg, where I've had some of my favorite concerts of my whole career. And I know folks in town, so it'll be fun to reunite.
Regarding restaurants: when I'm touring I like to go to comfy sit-down places with free refills of ice tea for my lunch. I enjoy some of the mall-area chain places that you see everywhere, but I usually try to avoid Applebee's and such, 'cause they can be kinda lame, and if Dawn is with me, she will not tolerate it. On Friday I had lunch at Macaroni Grill, one of my favorite big-box-restaurants. It was delicious, with excellent service. And on Saturday I tried a new place called Bertucci's Brick Oven Pizza Kitchen or something like that. I had a calzone that RULED, and the service was also excellent. BUT, then these past few days I really struck out:
Yesterday for lunch I was hoping for a decent food experience, but the only place I could find was TGI Friday's...so I gave it a try. I ordered the Caesar salad. The food was LAME and the service was LAME. Dawn, you're right, I just should avoid that place at all costs. PLUS, my lunch cost $18 (including the tip). Sucked! AND, today I felt Italiany, and the only place I found was Olive Garden. I haven't been there in years, 'cause Dawn won't put up with it, but I decided to give it a try. The service was LAME, and the food was okay there in the moment, but after the fact I just felt GROSS. So that's it...no more OG.
Here ends tour and mall-area chain restaurant review. Wish me luck for my gig tonight!
This tour is going very well. A quick rundown:
SATURDAY NIGHT, concert in Baltimore, MD: about 60 people came out to hear me play the first concert since the removal of my tonsils. My voice held up well, everybody had fun, and I truly enjoyed meeting the locals. Musical highlights were the first-ever public performance of my new song "If You Have a Question..." and an audience request for "Forgiveness Waltz."
SUNDAY NIGHT, concert in Lanham, MD (Washington DC area): 30 folks this evening at the show, and another great day spent visiting with new friends in the area. Another successful delivery of "If You Have a Question...", a cover of "Message in a Bottle" by The Police, and a somewhat rare performance of "747s."
LAST NIGHT (MONDAY), concert in West Milton, PA: after a beautiful drive up the Susquehanna River, I got to hang out with Catrina who I'd met in Minnesota. Very fun. About 40 people came to the concert, and highlights included the return of "Bright Funeral" to the setlist, as well as an unearthed version of "Smart Girls."
Tonight I play here in Gettysburg, where I've had some of my favorite concerts of my whole career. And I know folks in town, so it'll be fun to reunite.
Regarding restaurants: when I'm touring I like to go to comfy sit-down places with free refills of ice tea for my lunch. I enjoy some of the mall-area chain places that you see everywhere, but I usually try to avoid Applebee's and such, 'cause they can be kinda lame, and if Dawn is with me, she will not tolerate it. On Friday I had lunch at Macaroni Grill, one of my favorite big-box-restaurants. It was delicious, with excellent service. And on Saturday I tried a new place called Bertucci's Brick Oven Pizza Kitchen or something like that. I had a calzone that RULED, and the service was also excellent. BUT, then these past few days I really struck out:
Yesterday for lunch I was hoping for a decent food experience, but the only place I could find was TGI Friday's...so I gave it a try. I ordered the Caesar salad. The food was LAME and the service was LAME. Dawn, you're right, I just should avoid that place at all costs. PLUS, my lunch cost $18 (including the tip). Sucked! AND, today I felt Italiany, and the only place I found was Olive Garden. I haven't been there in years, 'cause Dawn won't put up with it, but I decided to give it a try. The service was LAME, and the food was okay there in the moment, but after the fact I just felt GROSS. So that's it...no more OG.
Here ends tour and mall-area chain restaurant review. Wish me luck for my gig tonight!
Comments
The NaNo Writer's group wanted to go out to eat. The two restaurants they had as options were Olive Garden and IHOP. Thank goodness we chose IHOP, but the service still sucked.
If you're ever in Lake Charles, the first place to go is Cotten's Famous Hamburgers (but it's only open Mon-Sat from 11am [or is it 10?] until 3pm). If it's anytime, then the place to go is KD's. They are a "road food" type place, but really good.