Adventures in Appleton (Wisconsin, that is)

We left Michigan at 9 in the morning on Sunday and faced a 530 mile trek to Appleton, WI...it was about 11 hours in the car, but we finally arrived at our chilly destination. This morning Patty, Ashwee and I scheduled an 11am breakfast meeting to fuel up on bagels and muffins for an Appleton Adventure. Armed with maps and curiousity we hit the road for the post office...

It is cold. Patrick and Ashley are troopers.

Patrick took this candid shot of me intensely studying the map.

Must be a lot of tourism in Appleton, cause there was this map on the sidewalk.... but where are all the tourist? Must be here in the summer.

This marquee is outside the theater we're performing at...which is right across the street from our hotel! Very convenient.

Here's the theater we're performing in.

After our brief downtown adventure, which consisted of a Walgreen's visit, and me finding a music store where they are going to let me record an audition tape tomorrow, we organized an outing to the St. Mary's parish cemetary to view the gravesite of former Senator Joseph McCarthy, known for his leadership role in the Communist witchhunts of the 1940's and 50's. I parked the van in the middle of the cemetary and we all jumped out. Patrick yelled "First one to find his grave wins!" And we all went running. A woman at the St. Mary's Parish a few miles away told us it was over-looking the water somewhere, so that was a big hint. I found it first and called to the rest of the crew to come join me. It was large well-kept tombstone with several smaller ones littered on the ground around it labeled "mother" and "father".

For more info on McCarthyism see: the McCarthyism entry in Wikepedia

Last, but not least, we are left with this image of Appleton. When I entered the small sandwich shop that displays this sign and asked what "Free Smells" are, the teenage girl working behind the counter looked at me like I was one sandwich short of a picnic and replied, "They're just free...smells." And she was right, the pungent smell of fresh bread and sandwich fixin's filled the small shop. I was smelling, and I didn't have to pay for it. These smart Wisconsinites.

Tomorrow we perform at the theater across the street and I will make an audition tape...we'll see how that goes!