The first official RV trip of the year was to Fremont, Ohio.  Steve played guitar with The Living Deads Saturday evening at The Strand.  What a great venue-what used to be the Ball House Hotel and then The Jackson Hotel the theater was added and the hotel shut down.  It has been turned into a beautiful room with great sound.   The owner sells tickets ahead of time for guests, you can also purchase tickets the night of the show.  There are small tables with chairs and people bring coolers with food and beverages.  There is also a very nice stage.  This was a venue with an actual Green room for us to hang out in and there was a little meat and cheese platter –both treats – most venues don’t have these or offer these luxuries anymore except the ones that seem to be owned or run by musicians.

It was so good to see our friends Symphony and Randee and hear about all their cool new projects.  It was also good to see Andy and Amanda, they live closer but tour a lot also.  We are sort of the odd ones out with regular day jobs to maintain our hobbies.  So after hugs, some visiting and the show which of course was loads of fun we headed over to the local Walmart parking lot to sleep for the night.  It was unusually cold and the furnace in our little motorhome sure felt good.  We had some snacks and settled down in our tiny little bed. 

We woke up Sunday morning ready for adventure.  We decided  to go to some of the marshlands and state parks up north of Fremont by Lake Erie- but bad move for us there was some kind of big bird watchers event and we ended up just stretching our legs on the beach for a few minutes and hopping back in the rv.  One treat for me along our travels up there were several abandoned and decayed buildings that I quickly jumped out of the rv and explored with my camera! 

We thought we would head over to Oregon, Ohio for a festival –when we got there parking was terrible and we thought “to heck with this” and Steve had the big idea to go to Tony Packo’s Café-made famous by Jamie Farr bringing it up a lot with his MASH character Klinger.  Tony Packo’s original location–what can I say –fried pickles, spicy ketchup, homemade chilli, hot dogs, mashed potatoes, cabbage rolls and cucumber salad, great service-now I did not eat all this I had the cabbage roll which reminded me of my Mom’s cabbage rolls great food and a tasty surprise we were treated like royalty and received a free bottle of spicy ketchup yum!

Next stop Toledo Botanical gardens and visited the Blair Museum  of Lithophanes–porcelain made from molds that when back-lit displayed beautiful pictures-breathtaking artwork.  There weren’t too many blooms in the gardens yet but lots of greenery along many different paths with interesting sculptures-although we were surprised by some young woman changing her clothes for a photo shoot –I guess changing your clothes in a public garden is no big deal.  After that excitement we hit the road and turned toward home.  What a start to a summer full of travel, music and images.

In June of 2012 we took a little trip to Philadelphia, PA for a show at the Shore Road Tavern. 

We arrived in Philly earlier in the day and headed to the bar to check out the room etc.  The bonus on this trip-which was pre RV-was there was a nice little apartment for us to stay in for the night above the bar, no driving to a hotel after the gig.

The Shore Road Tavern itself is really cool inside.  There is a lot of history which you can read on the website-they do the history much better than I ever could.   The bar is a few blocks away from the Tacony- Palmyra Bridge  It is a friendly neighborhood bar with some of the best artists performing there.  If you are in Philly I highly recommend stopping by - check out the place, maybe have a drink and listen to some great music.

The Shore Road Tavern is owned by Kathleen and Mike Fiedler, both music lovers and fantastic hosts.  They took us to Chink’s Steaks for an official Philly Cheese Steak, no other cheese steak will ever compete with this. 

We met some wonderful people that night-a lot of time at shows I am sitting to the side selling some merch, moving gear in and out, and taking care of the guitars.  Of course taking pictures always.  But that night I had so much fun I literally laughed till I had tears running down my face.  We are hoping to head out there again soon.

One bonus on this trip was on my bucket list-The Mutter Museum.  I never thought I would get to go there and I did Mr. Trent got a little green around the gills in there but I loved it!

As we get the RV ready for another season of music travels I am very excited for all of our adventures on the road.

In April of 2012 we were on a trip down to Morgantown, WV-Steve had a gig at 123 Pleasant Street.  So while on this trip we did a little wondering on the way back.  We stopped in Weston, West Virginia and visited the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. 

We took the tour, our guide was very informative.  Not only is there a lot of history in this magnificent structure,  but also images to capture everywhere I turned my gaze.  Of course there is a ghost story or two-but you are on your own to research those.  We didn't notice any paranormal phenomenon on our visit but there are intriguing stories and lots of history.

So a little bit of history- The Asylum was built from 1858 to 1881.  It was designed by Richard Andrews using the Kirkbride plan.  This was a Linear Plan a design that was supposed to be more humane and encouraged healing of the mentally ill.  The buildings are very impressive.  It was interesting to walk through the buildings- knowing we were able to move freely but those that were here before us were not free to do as they pleased.

There is also a great museum area with an abundant amount of information about the treatments used in asylums throughout history.  There is also some civil war history in these buildings which is very interesting. 

I would highly recommend a stop by The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum and take the tour it is well worth the time and money.