Haiku #47 - Food Mooch

Champion food mooch
Other people's waffle fries
Look so delicious


This is a big country, y'all.  I can say y'all, because we're in the South now, having spent the day in the bus driving in that direction from Scranton.  We're parked for the night in NC; tomorrow morning we continue to our next performance town of North Charleston, SC.


I had a stomachache when we stopped for a break at a mall somewhere in VA, and the only things in the food court that appealed to me were a strawberry shake and other people's waffle fries. I am, incidentally, totally winning the informal food mooching contest I'm having with Perry, the actor who plays our lead.  No one in my family will be surprised that I'm ahead at swiping food off of other people's plates.  My tour-mates should be flattered; it's a sign of affection.  

Haiku #46 - Insomnia

of all the things that
go bump in the night, my mind
is one of the worst

Haiku #45 - Dollar Beer

Five dollars will buy
A great hoagie or five beers
Scranton has its perks


I am hungry, but I'm about to go to sleep, so instead of ordering pizza, which is what I really want to do, I'll just make a list of what I've eaten in the past couple days in Syracuse and Scranton:


Syracuse:
both ends of the spectrum - incredible milkshakes at Strong Hearts Cafe, a vegan eatery near our hotel.  ...And then there was Dinosaur BBQ.  Biploar much?

Scranton:
they seem big on their hoagies in this town.  I had an amazing prosciutto, fresh mozz and roasted red pepper sandwich for lunch from a place called Cangiano's.  Dinner between shows was scallop and bacon chowder from the local hipster coffee shop, Northern Light Espresso Bar.  I ate it on a bench in the plaza, because A) it was pretty nice outside and B) I felt wrong about taking my carnivorous soup into the vegan cafe to pick up the rest of my meal.  


What's up with the recurring carnivore-vegan theme?

Haiku #44 - The Understudy

the understudy
must recall many details
and still tell the tale


The first time one of the lead actors was out sick - Perry succumbed to the bug that has been going around our little petri bus, and Jeffrey Nuñez went on in the lead role.  Everyone did a great job!

Haiku #43 - Real American: Luis

we were running late
we would have starved but for the 
kindness of strangers

Some hotels are surrounded by walkable food options, or at least have a restaurant of some kind on site.  Other hotels, not so much.  Alex and Benjamin and I were running late one morning about a week ago when we were looking for breakfast.  Of course the hotel restaurant was closed, and the hotel itself was surrounded by a pedestrian-unfriendly moat of concrete and asphalt.  Luis, one of the managers, very kindly gave us a lift to a diner about a half-mile away, and waited while we got our food to go.  


"Are you Boricua?" Benjamin asked on the way back, seeing the Puerto Rican flag hanging from Luis' rearview mirror.  Oh yes, Boricua through and through.  We told him about our show, and how we hoped he could make it that night, since it's all about Latin culture, and full of music he could really get into.  Unfortunately, Luis had to work all day at the hotel, and then go to his second job at a club in the evening.  Kind of like seeing the story of In the Heights in real life - the guy this show most personifies couldn't come see us because he was working two jobs.  Hopefully he at least got to check out the music!

Haiku #42 - Always Carry a Towel

In honor of the number 42 (perhaps that is the number of towels you should carry):


Towels are useful
to wipe your fingers after
Dino BBQ

Haiku #41 - Jam Session

cast of in the heights
hopped up on vegan milkshakes
lobby jam again

A Foggy Day, Four Hands
Photo by CBT