[Sharon says:]
OK, OK!! Well, after a mostly uneventful flight (travelling with a bass is never easy, and I almost lost my backpack at the airport), we reached New Orleans airport on Wed. afternoon and were met by a cab which took us to a hotel in the French Quarter (Bourbon Street!). The hotel was amazing, and the French Quarter was a hoppin' place, especially considering that it was a Wednesday night in the off-season. Can you imagine an entire city of manic party-hunters? I felt like an extra from "Little House On the Praire". I kept asking Jim if I had a bulls-eye on my back, as everyone seemed to want money from me. People hanging off balconies. Loud jazz and zydeco blasting from doorways. Even the air smelled different. It smelled wild and green and very different from New England (at least what I could smell through the alcohol.) Needless to say, Jim brought his laptop (sigh) and we used it to locate the restaurants, markets and other points of interest. We had a lovely dinner, along with 8 other folks, in a place called "The Gumbo Shop". Unbelievable food..... And we sat in an open courtyard under banana trees. (It was in the 70's!) Gumbo and Pecan pie to die for...
Well, the next morning we all got a ride to the Riverbarge. It was huge, and the rooms were enormous, immaculate and airy. And every room had a river view. We all had a fridge, tv/vcr, lots of closet space, and a full bath. Well,after unpacking, we scoped out the small concert hall and began to set up the sound system. The riverbarge folks put out a nice buffet lunch for everyone (fruit, sandwiches, cheese, crackers, lemonade). About this time the guests started to trickle in and the energy level took a quantum leap up. Lots of hysterical hugging and excited jumping up and down. A bunch of fans gave us mementos for the band's anniversary (wine, and such). And a few even wrote spoofs on a couple of our songs, which were hilarious.
I met with the activites director, who insisted on being called "Skippy", and I arranged for us to do workshops, dance instruction and jam sessions during the free time in the afternoons, and a concert in the auditorium every evening.
By Friday afternoon we held some workshops on singing and dancing. Eventually we had all the guests singing four-part harmonies (they clustered around each of us, depending on which part they wanted to learn). Then Paul taught them all the Virginia reel. We had the place hopping! The staff, probably used to a more sedate atmosphere, just watched in disbelief. And kept filling the cookie jar.
During the down time we wandered up on deck, visited the pilot, watched our progress on the radar screen, watched the river, and visited with fans. There was non-stop eating. In addition to huge buffet breakfasts and lunches and wonderful dinners, there was a cocktail hour with seafood goodies, plus a full refrigerator in the galley especially for foraging, and a bottomless cookie jar. As well as hot chocolate and coffee dispensers at every turn. Quite a dieter's nightmare! (And we enjoyed every minute of it.)
We also had two excursions to plantations. Oak Alley was very "Gone With the Wind" complete with mint julips which made my head spin. And Laura's Plantation was an amazing Creole plantation. The tour guide had gotten hold of the memoirs of one of the original inhabitants, and some of the tales he spun would take your breath away. It was a scary time!
Our evening concerts included all of the material in our repertoire, as well as a lot of stuff none of us knew(!) and the audience loved every minute of it! We performed for 2 hours each night. On the last night, the entire audience arrived wearing Mardi Gras masks (courtesy of our travel agent who did an unbelievable job with all the details). And to their surprise, we charged onstage with our own Mardi Gras masks! It was hard to sing because my gold beak kept hitting the microphone, and Jim had to take off his glasses so he couldn't see worth beans. It was hilarious...(you had to have been there...).
Our flight home was mostly uneventful, except for flight times getting shuffled around. And I'm still tired, but boy, what an adventure!!! I'm ready to do it again!