Friday was a wonderful adventure. We got up after not quite enough sleep and made our way to the theater. On our way there, we cut through on 14th and there was a sandwich board advertising coffee… and yarn. Really. Totally accidentally, I stumbled upon a yarn shop between my hotel and the singing venue.

I swear, I was ready to make this a totally singing weekend. It was a business trip, if indeed a fun one. And there it was. Knit New York. We passed it that day, but I figured I might have a chance to check it out before leaving town.

(In the end I did stop by there on Saturday morning on the way to the theater, while Brian waited on a bench outside, playing his ukulele. I had so little time I just found two pretty balls of Gedifra wool single-ply yarn in turquoises and spring greens, and went merrily on to the theatre… not sure what the yarn will be when it grows up.)

At the theater we were scheduled for the Vaudeville Review. We rotated short sets with several other performers, to give a little taste of many styles to the afternoon audiences. It was great fun.

Oh… for the record, I crack myself up. I regard costuming/dressing up as an artform and thus spent quite a bit of time figuring out what I would wear long before we left home. I settled on a long black strappy dress for Friday, a short sequined turquoise dress on Saturday, and my long sleek turquoise silk gown (my wedding dress, which I wear in promo photographs) on stage Sunday night.

I first swore I didn’t need a zillion knitted wraps and was just going to take my cobalt blue (with green and magenta) mohair ColorJoy Stole as my only wrap. It truly would go well with all three dresses. But somehow by the time I got to New York, I had four handknit wraps and a rayon wrap I bought in Kenya in my luggage.

So then on Friday I wore my mohair Bloom Shawl, on Saturday I wore the mohair ColorJoy Stole, and on Sunday for the big show I wore my scribble lace, the first time I’d worn it. I can’t help myself, apparently! I just love dressing up and I love my knitted wraps.

OK, back to Friday. When we got to the the theater, there were all sorts of vendors set up, mostly to sell ukuleles but also sheet music and related items. There also were two tables for we musicians to sell CDs and related merchandise (kazoos, t-shirts, bumper stickers). It was crowded, but that was no surprise. There was enough room but no extra. After all, this was New York where space is at a premium.

We watched our merchandise between sets. I chatted a lot with others and Brian did his best to jam with as many people as he could. When it was 5pm and our show was done, we changed into street clothes, went to 6th St. for some Indian food (the restaurant was really pretty but the food was fairly ordinary) and came back to watch the evening show.

I am just humbled by the folks on these stages. I mean, we play music on the same stage with them. And I am continually blown away with the originality, the energy, the showmanship, the musicianship, and the authenticity of the other performers at these ukefests we have attended over the last three+ years. I tell you, these folks are just great on stage, and then everyone is so approachable and human when they get off stage! I am living a dream, my friends.

The lineup on Friday was (I believe) these folks in about this order (it all went so fast that my mind can’t remember who was when so I’m using the program to help with the list):

Victoria Vox
Uke Jackson and the Radio Aces (with some amazing guest hula dancers on one number)
Lil’ Rev
Akamai Brain Collective with Abe Lagrimas Jr.
Mad Tea Party
The Moonlighters
Shorty Long

Any of these acts would have made a perfectly satisfying show alone. Together, well, it was magnificent. But it was not over yet…

Photos: 1&2) Vendors in main hallways at festival (top right photo, at left in cowboy hat, is Lil’ Rev). 3) Joel Eckhaus, instrument maker and musician, on stage. 4) A ukulele band of schoolchildren Saturday afternoon. 5) Friday’s Restaurant. 6) Victoria Vox (she of the wonderful voice). 7) Mysterious John of the band called Shorty Long, playing a Hershberger Art Kazoo I made for him. Behind him directly at left is “Just Plain Bob” Guz and at right is Pops Bayless… both playing ukuleles.

It was time for a dream come true. We were going to New York City to perform music at New York Ukefest. (We already have performed three times at Midwest Ukefest in Indianapolis, which is not affiliated but which attracts many of the same attendees. This was the first New York event.)

I was thrilled… I love singing on stage. New York is the ultimate spot for a live stage, at least in my mind. Brian is more mellow than me but I think I can safely say he was looking forward to this trip as well.

Of course, I can never start a trip without running in a few circles the day or two before the trip. I was up packing until wee hours of the morning. We got up pretty early (considering I set my alarm clock for PM rather than AM) and we got on our way. I forgot a few sweaters and a skirt I’d planned to wear off-stage, Brian forgot one thing he could buy in NYC easily, and so it went fairly well.

We drove about 2-3 hours and stopped in Monroe, Michigan (just north of Toledo, Ohio), for a rest room and beverage break at about 10:30am. We parked the car in the Wendy’s parking lot and were not in there very long. When we got back out to the car it sounded like it was going to explode! At first it sounded like an exhaust pipe had fallen off (I’d had the car looked over before the trip with a long journey in mind, so that was unlikely). Then we realized it was not firing all four cylinders.

A truck driver in the parking lot told us which way to go to get into downtown Monroe. We putted along as gently as we could and found a woman walking on the sidewalk, on her way to pick up her son from school. She picked him up and then led us to a shop. They were kind but said they could not work on a foreign car (I drive a VW New Beetle). They told us how to find the only independent foreign car shop in town. We putted again, at about 20 mph, slowly to the shop.

When we got to the shop, the owner said he was really booked solid that day, could not get to us till late afternoon at best. We let him know we were from out of town and just passing through on a long trip. Bless his heart, he adjusted his schedule and worked on the car.

It turned out that a spark plug had come loose and nearly fallen out, and another one was ready to go. Ack! Fortunately he was able to fix it for significantly less money than I expected, and three hours later we were back on the road, no worse for wear. Whew! You can be sure we gave that guy a CD in thanks. I hope he likes our music. If we’re not his cup o’tea I’m sure he’ll know someone who will enjoy it.

So in the end we got to NYC around midnight on Thursday. We pulled by the theater just in case we’d see some folks we knew. Darned if we didn’t see friends on the sidewalk and a parking spot on the next block! We ran down to chat for a while before we checked into the hotel and then found a parking garage.

For the record, we stayed at Hotel 17. It’s on 17th Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues. It was very pretty, clean, friendly, nice. It was significantly less expensive than most other hotels in New York. There is beautiful wood molding around old fashioned tall doors.

There were about 8 rooms in our hall sharing two restrooms, but each room also has its own sink and mirror. It worked out great. I never had to wait for a bathroom once in the four days we were there. I’d definitely stay there again… and the other Ukefest people who stayed there said the same.

Photos: 1) Me waiting at the car repair spot, with laptop and multiple knitting bags. 2) Me going down 1st Avenue from theatre toward 6th Street (where much good food can be found).

My friend, Susan Luks, has made it into the news! City Pulse wrote a wonderful article about her. Please check it out.

Brian just set up a Flickr photo spot for us, and loaded nine photos from our New York experience. Come visit at:

http://flickr.com/photos/fabulousheftones

For knitters, the last photo is a close enough shot for you to get a peek at my wrap. It is scribble lace, inspired by Debbie New’s book “Unexpected Knitting.”

We’re home. New York was wonderful. More soon…