After a brief lay-off, the tour resumed in Fayetteville, Arkansas. (I had a wonderful week at home: I saw a couple of shows, caught up with lots of friends, cooked several dinners in my own kitchen, finished my holiday shopping and enjoyed my wife's company.) Fayetteville is the ancestral home of the Spamalot tour's Lady of the Lake: Esther Stilwell. When I arrived to check-in at the hotel, Esther had left a gift bag containing a list of some of her favorite places in town and some homemade goodies! Esther's family also hosted us for an opening night party complete with more homemade fudge, mulled cider and all kinds of holiday goodies in their converted fraternity house at the edge of the University of Arkansas' campus. I can't imagine a warmer welcome!
Esther
Spamalot's home for the week was the Walton Arts Center. The Arts Center is, of course, named for its prime benefactor: Sam Walton, founder of Walmart. Much of Northwest Arkansas owes a great deal to the Walton family, their charitable giving supports the arts organization and the company they founded is the cornerstone of the local economy (along with Tyson Foods and the University of Arkansas). What the Arts Center lacked in charm, it was a pretty institutional place, its audience made up for in enthusiasm. Our audiences were wild all week - especially for the hometown girl (she even got entrance applause at many performances).
The Walton Arts Center
Downtown Fayetteville is lovely. Like many University towns, its main street features an assortment of restaurants, bars and funky shops. Fayetteville also features a quaint square centered on its former post office. The square is ringed with more shops and restaurants , making for a nice afternoon's stroll. The local merchant's association is proud of their diversity - their slogan is: "Keep Fayetteville Funky, Support Your Local Merchants." During our visit, the square was decorated for Christmas.
Lights on the Square
Like EVERYTHING in Fayetteville, the Lights on the Square featured a Razorback
Did I mention that were lots of restaurants scattered around Fayetteville? I certainly didn't go hungry while visiting the Natural State - in fact, I was glad it was only a week long visit. Had we stayed longer, I might have needed a flat bed truck to haul me away... There were big breakfasts of biscuits and gravy, lunches of pan fried chicken and dinners of delicious barbecue. (For a town bedecked with "Go Hawgs, Go" at every opportunity, they love to roast a pig...) I enjoyed soul food, country ham and green beans with with nearly as much pork as green beans. I love eating in the South!
The University of Arkansas attracted another food lover: Bill Clinton was a professor of law for several years before he moved on to political office. Bill taught at the U from 1973 to 1976 and Hillary also taught at the Law School for two years. In 1974, they moved into (and were later married in) a house on California Avenue that has since been converted into a museum. The Clinton House Museum features a replica of Hillary's wedding dress and a lot of Bill's campaign memorabilia from his various campaigns. It was in the house on California Ave that Bill campaigned, unsuccessfully, for a congressional seat and, successfully, for Arkansas' Attorney General. Bill ran his campaigns from a folding table in the dining room! Visiting the house was a fun peak into the life of the Clintons when they were just folks.
The Clinton House Museum - Hillary reportedly remarked that she liked the house as Bill drove her back to the airport after a brief visit from Chicago. When she returned, he told her he had bought the house and proposed.
Bill and Hillary were married in the house's living room. Hillary wore a dress like this one (it was 1975).
In addition to being the one-time home of The Lady of the Lake, the 42nd President and the future Secretary of State, Fayetteville is home to one of my college pals. Erin Gardner and her husband Brandon graciously offered to host me in their home for the second half of the week. While the hotel in Fayetteville was wonderful, staying with Erin, Brandon and their houseful of pets was wonderful. Erin's working on an architecture degree at U of A and she and Brandon gave me an architectural tour of Fayetteville that was fascinating. Scattered all over town are varied and beautiful structures. Turns out the architecture school at the University of Arkansas has attracted some top drawer talent over the years, many of whom have built locally. Erin and Brandon's house is one of these cool structures - it was built in a updated Frank Lloyd Wright style. Unfortunately, it seems that the newly wealthy Walmart millionaires in Northwest Arkansas prefer McMansions to homes of architectural distinction...
Erin and Brandon's extremely inviting front door
Lucy and Fran
My roommate, Juan Pepe
Erin and I enjoyed an afternoon glass of wine on their deck
The Spamily spent the week in the grip of holiday fever. With Christmas approaching, much of the cast and crew of Spamalot was playing Secret Santa. We drew names and took gift lists home with us from Sioux City, returning with small gifts in our suitcases. Each day, the sounds of folks surprised with goodies left on their desks, workboxes or dressing tables could be heard all night and the sly smiles of our "elves" (a select few company members were entrusted with delivering gifts) lit the hallways. The game carried over into Christmas week in Des Moines.
Brad models his elf gear
One of the gifts I received from my secret santa was this bit of Razorback gear.
When in Hawg country...
Happily, the gift giving wasn't all silly. The Spamily adopted two needy families in Des Moines. One family was adopted by the company as a whole and the second was adopted by Team Spama-Management on behalf of the company. We shopped and wrapped all week, warmed a bit by the feeling of charity. It was a great knowing we were doing more than entertaining the community in one of our tour stops. Special thanks to Tim for coordinating the effort as a whole and to Francesca for marshaling Management's efforts.
Francesca packs a trunk with the gifts for one of the Des Moines families
Monday morning came quickly. I rose early for breakfast with Erin at their local coffee shop. We said goodbye in the parking lot and promised that it wouldn't be another five years before we saw each other again. Then I picked up Jason for the trip north to Des Moines. The two of us tuned in series of Bing Crosby Christmas Specials on the XM and swapped stories for the duration of the trip. As we moved farther north, snow started to be more plentiful. By the time we got to Kansas City for lunch, the landscape was blanketed in white.
Monday's sunrise
I talked Jason into a stop at a Roadfood favorite for lunch: Stroud's. Some of you may remember that when the show played Kansas City, Piper and I drove out to Stroud's between weekend shows and brought the company more than $200 worth of fried chicken. When I looked at the route for the drive to Des Moines, I couldn't resist a return visit. Jason and I shared a wonderful lunch and I'm happy to report that the chicken is even better served piping hot than from a styrofoam take out container!
Jason and our lunch
Just as we arrived in Des Moines, a light snow began to fall - setting the stage for Christmas! More about the week in Des Moines soon -
JV
No comments:
Post a Comment