# 389 -- See Annie

Ever since I saw Annie student teaching in New Berlin, I wanted to see a Broadway or off Broadway production of it. The first time I noticed that it was playing at the Fox Cities PAC was shortly after I moved up here and it was only a few days beforehand. I couldn't find anyone to go with. I vowed the next time, Annie came to the PAC, I would be going -- alone or with anyone that wanted to go.

Last year when browsing the PAC website for shows for 2015 season, I saw that Annie was coming. I was excited and couldn't wait to go. During cookie baking, Stacy said she would go with me. We originally wanted to do the Sunday afternoon matinee but when I went to buy tickets both the Saturday and Sunday matinees only had single seat tickets available -- 3 weeks after tickets went on sale. We decided to do the Saturday night show. Good thing, Ticketmaster emails me a reminder about my show because I thought the show was at 7 and not 7:30. At least we would have been early, not late.

We had seat up in the Family Circle, the third row from the back of the theater. There really isn't a bad seat in the PAC so being up so high, didn't really matter. It isn't like the Pabst where you're sitting straight up and are afraid off falling over the railing. We were almost exactly center stage which was nice but if we were on the sides weren't have been bad either.

The view from our seats

What a show. I heard on the radio on Thursday morning that it was a great show and the morning DJ said her daughter enjoyed it even though it was a little long. And she was correct. It was a great show. Everything impressed me.

I may have seen the movie as kid but don't remember much of it. I barely remember the play in New Berlin. At least this time, I knew the basic story line but I did forget a lot of little things..like the whole FDR relationship

The singing and dancing were amazing. I personally loved "Easy Street". I loved how it wasn't all G rated and the shimmying just made it all the better. Watching the orphans dance and sing, amazed me, especially smallest one.

The one scene where Annie and Mr. Warbucks visit FDR at the White House and the cast breaks into "Tomorrow" somehow reminded me of the Carousel of Progress . It don't know if it was the "stiffness" of the characters but it some very robotic. Not that, it was a bad thing just a very odd connection.


There were a few things I learned
1. I need to go to the theater more often. I truly enjoy these shows. Once every 5 years or so is not a good track record.
2. If going to a Saturday evening performance, park in one of the other parking garages and walk. There are enough of them close that a few block walk won't hurt. It was a time consuming process trying to get out of the PAC lot after the show.
3. I must check all sports schedules, even ones that are not yet printed, to make sure there are no possible sports conflicts. Wisconsin was playing Arizona in the Elite 8 of the NCAA tournament starting at 5. Going to dinner and getting to the theater in time for the show, caused me to missed most of the game. At least they didn't play the 7:40 game. I had the hubby text me the final and the family in front us had updates at the end. It wasn't a deal breaker or anything but definitely something I hadn't even bothered to check or think of when I ordered the tickets -- March Madness.
4. Kinky boots is coming to the PAC next season.
5. The PAC has booster seats for kids. That is just ingenious.

Me with my Annie Game as a kid. I don't remember playing or seeing the movie.

#146 See the Northern Lights... Or Not

I came home from the dentist yesterday and my phone buzzes. My Northern Lights app tells my there's a very good chance of seeing the Northern Lights that night. This was the first I heard about them being so close. The hubby comes home and I ask him if he heard anything about being able to see the Northern Lights. We find out that there is a very good chance at seeing them last night.  I was excited. I've always wanted to see them and the one time that I could have seen them, while student teaching in college about 15 years ago, I wasn't even aware that they were occurring.  I probably could have seen them on our cruise to Alaska if I wanted to stand on the deck in the dark and cold.....

Before I went to bed last night, we check the status the of the Northern Lights and the hubby feels that they would not peak for a few more hours. I set my alarm for midnight. About 11, he comes to wake me up and says we should be able to see them. People are reporting them down in Sheyboygan.

I get dressed and out we head. I grab the camera just in case. I knew we needed to get away from the city. I would have headed east towards the country and farms in Manitowoc County. He had other ideas and headed northwest towards Shawno. We really didn't see anything. There was some milky whiteness in the sky that possibly could have been the beginning/end of the lights. We were out about an hour and I was truly disappointed.

This morning, after seeing pictures online and reading posts on Facebook, I discovered that we should have headed east as the Lakeshore was probably the best spot to see them. I was impressed by the pictures I saw. The hubby on the other hand didn't think they were all that great. He said he's seen better in Wisconsin.

Photo courtesy of Jennifer Collar from wbay.com

I guess when that cheap airfare to Europe becomes available I just will have to rent an igloo in Iceland and watch the Northern Lights.

On Wednesday, March 18, I did manage to see a bit of the Northern Lights right outside our apartment. I friend told me she could see them from her backyard on the north side of Appleton and I went outside  and was able to see the green of the lights. I tried to go up to USA Sports and by the time I got up there, they already dissipated. 

#3790 Visit Appleton's Indoor Farmer's Market

I really did not have much going on today. The hubby was at basketball all day. It was supposed to be nice out. I decided to take a look and see what (free) things I could cross of the bucket list today.

The possibilities included:
#3735 -- Take a Historical Third Ward Walking Tour in Appleton
#3744 -- Go to the Paperweight Museum (Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass) in Neenah
#3790 -- Go to Appleton's Indoor Farmer's Market

Since I really did not plan this out too well, I scratch the walking tour off the list. I need to look into that a little more. I didn't want to go the Paperweight Museum by myself. The idea of the farmer's market and window shopping downtown sounded like a good way to kill an hour or so and get some of my steps in for the day.

The one thing that always deterred me from visiting the Indoor Farmer's Market in the past was that I had to pay for parking. I am not one to have spare change or cash on hand. I remembered to grab a few quarters from the change dish before I left and found an easy to get into spot (I refused to parallel park) about a block or two from the Farmer's Market. It was a nice morning for a walk.

The Farmer's Market is held inside the City Center Plaza downtown. It is a very nice venue for the farmer's market. There were quite a few vendors selling crafts, food products, and even the chip clip guy was there. Many vendors offered natural or organic products.

I was slightly disappointed that there was not a lot of fresh produce but then again we live in Wisconsin and winter is tough. I was kind of hoping to spot some fresh green beans. There were several vendors selling produce mainly potatoes, cabbages, and the like. However, I was quite surprised to see a former co-worker selling some delicious looking Italian desserts. Too bad I left the cash at the bank.

The highlight of the trip was it was History Day and the Historical Society had scrapbooks and displays in a room. There were people dress in old fashioned clothes. The coolest display was about a local beer.  There were a lot of people in the room and it was very difficult to actually look at things. If it wasn't so crowded, I probably would have looked through the pictures, postcards, and other artifacts.

After I left the farmer's market, I strolled College Avenue for a little bit. I wasn't looking for anything in particular but did wander into a few stores that hit my fancy. I finally did check out Angels Forever/Windows of Light. It was very unique and I could possibly seeing going back in there for some gifts.

I also took a picture of the infamous horse statue. I have driven by it numerous times so it wasn't really on the bucket list but I still wanted a picture of it.

Some days it is fun just to wander the downtown and discover new things.