From the Rocket City, Spamalot traveled to the Space Coast: Melbourne, FL is just south of Cape Canaveral on Florida's Atlantic Coast.
No visit to Florida is the winter months would be complete without a visit to the Westfall winter compound in Haines City. The full complement of wintering Westfalls were in attendance: Barb, Donn, Rhoda, Dale & Joyce all welcomed me as did visiting Dean & June Andrus (Barb's brother and sister-in-law). We caught up on all the Westfall family news and they grilled up a storm for me. It was awfully nice to eat al fresco and to share the meal with so many of the people that I love.
As the sun went down, I headed back toward the ocean - all the way to the beach! While much of the company stayed in a perfectly lovely Candlewood inland and near the theatre, Paula Wise hooked 8 of us up with a HUGE vacation rental on Melbourne Beach. Our 8 bedroom house sat right on the ocean. My windows faced the Atlantic - I woke up each morning and fell asleep each night to the sound of crashing waves. It made for some pretty nice VFMHRW shots:
VFMHRW as I left for load-in
VFMHRW as I woke up mid-week
The waves weren't all that large, but there were surfers out there a couple of times.
One last VFMHRW as I prepared to leave Melbourne
The house, itself, was spectacular. It was two houses that were joined together with a series of big living rooms. The house featured two pools (one heated, one not), big kitchen, wet bar (where the second house's kitchen had been) and a deck that faced the ocean. We had a blast in the house. Paula ordered a King Cake to be delivered on Fat Tuesday so we could celebrate in style. We hosted a poker night and had a dog play-date in the sand as well. I wouldn't want to live in an 8 person fun house all the time, but I had great time for the one week.
Our beach house as seen from the beach
The house with a crescent moon and Jupiter rising in the evening sky as the sun sets
In addition to the 7 other people I lived with (Matt, Paula, Jeff, Matthew, Roy, Jason & Mitchell), there were three animal companions in the house: Dorian, Patisse and Satine. I loved living with the dogs! This is Satine's adorable butt while she waited for her mom...
Spamalot's home for the week was the Maxwell C. King Performing Arts Center. The King Center is named for a former president of Brevard County Community College, of which the performing arts center is a part. The facility was completed in 1988 and boasts a 2,000 seat auditorium. The facility is quite nice, if a little small compared to many of the other theatres we've played on the tour. There weren't enough dressing rooms, so some of the principals had to share with the ensemble men and the Stage Managers' office was in the green room. Ken had fun during the over-night load-in redecorating and rearranging the catering tables to make an office.
Somehow, my corner of the room turned into a jungle of artificial plants!
The sun setting behind the King Center and its palm trees
The big activities for the week were, happily, baseball-related. Spring Training kicked off while we were in Melbourne and we were close enough to catch a couple of games!
On Wednesday I piled Roy and Scott into my rental car for the short trip north to Viera, Florida and Space Coast Stadium: spring training home of the Washington Nationals. The Nats played host to the Detroit Tigers in their Spring Training home opener. It wasn't a great game, but the weather was beautiful and it was great to feel the sun and hear the crack of the bat again. The Nationals held off the Motor City Kitties for 2-1 victory.
The first game of 2009 with Roy & Scott
Thursday we had a mid-week matinee, so no baseball that day; but Friday I put together a bigger outing. The Mets workout an hour, or so, south of Melbourne in Port St Lucie at Tradition Field. Alexa, one of our ensemble women, is engaged to Chris who works in the Mets' front office. Though all the box office had left when I called were seats on the grass in the outfield, Chris hooked us up with 14 seats along the third base line and even comped some of them! It was another beautiful day for baseball as the Mets took on the St. Louis Cardinals. Of course, we have some Mets fans on the road with us and the game pitted their loyalties against those of my long-time baseball tour buddy Matt Allen and his Red Birds. We had a wonderful afternoon in the sun cheering for our respective teams. In the end, Tony La Russa's Cardinals were too much for the Pond Scum; fending off a late inning rally to win 9-8.
David Wright with a big swing and a miss.
Though the girls were all happy to see Wright, I was bummed that Mr. Met was not in attendance (nor did we get to sing "Meet the Mets").
Spamily at the ballpark
Left to right: JV, Matt, Berg, Jen Mathie, Graham, Karl, Cuz, Cara, Ben Davis, Alexa, Havasi, Sarah-Lin & Merle
The mid-week matinee meant we got an evening off on Sunday. I went back to enjoy one last evening on the beach. Cara and Graham brought their beagle, Lucy, over for a doggie play-date and a cookout. Suzanne and Gurr also dropped in for a visit. The house was full and fun for our last night. I took a long walk on the beach and caught the end of the MSU basketball game. It was a really pleasant and relaxing end to the week.
Monday morning, I was on the road again. I drove across Florida toward the tour's next stop in Tampa. Ken took the weekend to visit his beloved Miami, so I had to be at the theatre for load-in on Monday night. But more on that adventure in the next post!
The extra pics:
My toes in the ocean. The waters of the Atlantic were still quite cold during the last week in February - this is about as far as I wanted to go in!
The sandpipers didn't seem to mind, though.
Blue crabs were in season! Between shows on Saturday, I plowed through an embarrassing pile of shellfish at the Eau Gallie Crabhouse. Several of us sat beside the Eau Gallie River for dinner and the restaurant's proprietress came out and showed us how to pick the crabs clean. Delicious and very decadent.
JV
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