Another week, another city- San Jose, California was a great stop on tour!
Unlike our usual schedule of playing two cities in one week, San Jose would be the only city we would visit. It's always a treat when this happens, because it means I get multiple days off! It was funny to have another break so soon after coming back from our Memorial Day break, but the days off are always appreciated.
I always enjoy catching up on rest- show weekends and travel days mean long days and early mornings. No matter our schedule on tour, I will never be a morning person, and there is nothing better than knowing you can sleep without waking up to an alarm! The beginning of the week was much lazier and sunnier, so I was able to have some relaxing time by the pool, catch up on Fixer Upper (it's always a plus when the hotel television has HGTV!), and read. There wasn't a whole lot to do directly in San Jose, but I was able to explore San Francisco for a day!
Throughout the years, I've seen many episodes of Full House and That's So Raven, and of course, The Princess Diaries, so I was excited to explore their hometown! Naturally, the weather was miserable on the day my friends and I decided to visit- but the rain wasn't going to stop us! After purchasing some coffee and umbrellas, we first experienced the San Francisco public transpiration system. I love using public transportation, but my goodness, this was a hot mess. Living in New York, I've become pretty confident in the MTA subway system and can navigate the city pretty easily. Even though San Fran had a metro system about a fourth of the size of New York, I did not understand it one bit. Thank goodness for the kind strangers who helped us out! I was definitely feeling like a tourist that day- map, backpack, and all!
We first checked out the Castro District, an area mainly known as one of the first gay neighborhoods in the U.S. Though the rain and the fog made it dark and dreary, the presence of rainbows everywhere instantly brightened the day. Better yet, we checked out a local restaurant with an amazing brunch with bottomless mimosas- I was living it up for a Thursday! After wandering the neighborhood a bit more, we trekked to the Painted Ladies (the colorful line of houses made famous in Full House) and had visions outside of Raven Baxter's home!
Our last big to-do for the day was to see the Golden Gate Bridge- unlike New York, everything is SUPER far away, so that meant a long walk. Like Mia Thermopolis of The Princess Diaries, I was ready to take on the hilly streets of San Francisco. And those hills were no joke! My friends and I walked majority of the day, and I could definitely feel it by the time we ended our adventure. We walked through a nature trail called "Lover's Lane," crossed a huge lawn/ park/ village area and basically traveled through Narnia to see this darn bridge. Of course, it was still foggy and drizzling, so we weren't able to get incredible views of the bridge, but I can at least say I saw it from a distance! After we reached our final destination, we were exhausted and ready to call it a day. We covered a lot of ground, and it was a great day trip into another major city!
With so many days off, I had a lot of time to reflect and let my mind wander. I've been thinking about the end of tour a lot lately, and I know I'm nervous for exactly what my next step will be. It's easy to get caught up in the day to day craziness of tour life, but when life slows down for a moment, reality hits. I have a little over a month of employment left- like what?! (It only freaks me out a little bit.) But thankfully, every so often some inspiration hits, and it makes me feel like life is going to be okay. The national tour of Cabaret was performing in a theatre next door to our venue, and I had the pleasure of seeing the show one evening. I was instantly drawn back to my freshman year of college (it was my first college production!) and fell a little more in love with live theatre. (Btw, it was an INCREDIBLE production. Bravo to the entire company!) The TONY Awards were also broadcast last night; I was instantly homesick for New York and being a part of that world again. Gah, I wish I could explain it better, but there is nothing like live theatre. It is powerful, passionate, vibrant, risk-taking and real, and weeks like this make me so thankful that I'm a part of such an incredible community. With such a short amount of time left, I want to fully enjoy it. I know I've said this before, and it's just as corny as the last time I said it- I love my job, and I'm so blessed for the opportunity to travel the country and do what I love most every single day.
It's safe to say I had a pretty good week, and it ended with some pretty awesome shows! Despite the heat of the venue, the audience had a great time, and my friends Rosita and Jenny sure felt like rock stars. But alas, it's time to move on- Fresno and Anaheim, California are up next!
Signing off from the Street,
Shelby
City #68- San Jose, California
#shelbyseesthestates
Come to the cabaret...
Brunch at Cafe Mystique!
Love is love is love is love is love.
Even the streets were rainbow paved!
Everywhere you look, everywhere you go...
Going to visit the Baxters'!
That's So Shelby! (Yep, that's me!)
The Golden Gate Bridge- we made it!
The tiny island in the distance is Alcatraz!
We celebrated June birthdays this past week on tour- the cake was delicious!
My new shirt from the Human Rights Campaign store!
