En mi mente, me voy por Carolina ("In my mind, I'm goin' to Carolina")

I had a really lovely day off today in Smithfield, North Carolina.
Yes, THAT Smithfield.
What?
You've never heard of Smithfield?
Why, it's only the happening-est suburb of Raleigh this side of the Johnston County Airport!

I'm still a little overwhelmed by the fact that I've woken up for the last seven days in the Carolinas, two states I knew absolutely NOTHING about, nor ever had any desire to discover of my own volition. And frankly, I've been very pleasantly surprised! We were in Asheville (NC) for the last couple of days, and what a gem of a city that place is! It very much reminds me of Santa Barbara in CA, with the very eco-friendly, locally-sourcing, vegan-munching, micro-brewing vibe, and the abundance of 20-somethings embracing both the ideals of Southern hospitality and global consciousness. Also, the prices. Very, very high prices. EXCEPT when it comes to beer! Cheap beer! I never paid more than $5 for a pint of a locally-brewed beer, and oh my oh my there were some tasty selections (Pisgah Pale, for one, named for the nearby Nat'l Forest). Today was a day off in Smithfield, and I was the only one who didn't have paper, laundry, or episodes of The Good Wife to catch up on, so I took myself on a date to probe the depths of Smithfield. After hitting up the outlet mall (adjacent to our hotel, btw) and treating myself to some cute charcoal-grey heeled booties and a soft-serve from Dairy Queen, I headed into town. Though "town" consists of about 2 swuare miles of antique stores and law firms (go figure), I headed straight for the Buffalo Creek Greenway, a 3-mile paved path through the woods surrounding the Neuse River. I walked the whole length and got a kick out of all the hellos tossed my way. I was more relaxed and less on guard than I would have been in a similar situation in NYC.

This picture taken by a Hello-er.

Of course, NYC doesn't have meandering paths peppered with tiny creeks and chirping cicadas (cicadas? crickets? I don't know. Bugs are weird down here) either..

The greenway ended at the local high school, and I looped around down Buffalo Ave back to the the trailhead. All in all, I probably walked a good 5 miles over 2 hours...so I totally deserved that pulled pork sandwich and shave ice I ate later.

Right? Right?

I took a quick jaunt over to Sunset Memorial Park to see Ava Gardner's gravesite. It was interesting to see that this woman (who was born and raised in Grabtown, a small farm village a few miles outside of Smithfield), ranked #25 on AFI's Greatest Female Film Stars of All Time, is buried in a tiny family plot in a small town in north Carolina, right beside her brother, and a few steps from her parents and other family members.

There were other memorials and tombstones that were SIGNIFICANTLY more pimped out than hers, and you never felt like you were going to AVA GARDNER'S gravesite..you were going through the Gardner's Family Gravesite. A classy broad indeed. Unfortunately, I didn't get to town in time to visit the Ava Gardner museum, but I think she appreciated my visit.

"You bet I did."

We perform tomorrow and Tuesday at Johnston Auditorium on the campus of Johnston Community College, then work our way south to Florida for a good two weeks of exploring America's Favorite Peninsula.

But most importantly...

MY DADDY IS COMING TO THE SHOW TOMORROW!!!
I'm so excited! He has some business meetings in Charlotte (a good 2 hours away...MAJOR brownie points...redeemable in actual brownies, most likely), then is making the trip to see the show. I get a few hours with him before he has to head back for some p.m. meetings. WHAT A GOOD DADDY!! I have a feeling that North Carolina-style BBQ pork is in our near futures. To Yelp!

Shows are still going really well, and the kids are having a great time. They're gonna LOSE it when we're actually performing in Latino-heavy areas, especially with two Cubanos in the cast!

Hasta la próxima vez...