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Documentation is so important when visiting all 50 states! Today was a travel day from Augusta, Georgia to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. It was rather uneventful, but we had a lot of work to do on the road and in the hotel! In the hotel, Jack and Dan discussed storage of the film while Erinn worked on a couple personal projects- one is a 50-States Traveled Journal with two pages per state of questions and prompts to make memories in each state. We're also taking a polaroid of our group in each state which gets added to the book. :) The other is a scratch-off journal with a scratch off in each state that we're making into a quote book for tour with meaningful and funny quotes from our team. We laugh a lot as a team and it's pretty great.
Our hotel is right on the beach, so we had a nice walk on the sand tonight all the way to a lovely Japanese restaurant where we shared bubble tea, sushi and teriyaki.
Today, we performed at the beautiful Miller Theater in downtown Augusta, Georgia. The staff at the theatre was amazing helping us load in and get everything set.   Backstage, we got a kick out of signing the performer wall, right next to Wanda Sykes who performed at the Miller earlier this week. This young man is World War II Veteran Luciano “Louis” Graziano- he is the last known living witness to the German surrender, which ended hostilities in Europe in WWII. Louis landed on D-Day in the 3rd wave on Omaha Beach and was later in the Battle of the Bulge. He is the author of his book titled, “A Patriot's Memoirs of World War II.” What an honor it was to spend time with him and have him at the show!  The turnout was so wonderful, we were thrilled to see so many currently serving at Ft. Gordon at the show! Erinn and Dan were also reunited with many passengers from the American Duchess where they sang last year. We were also excited to have Brad Owens who provided his beautiful jeep at the show.  After the show, the Quilts of Valor presented two veterans with quilts- one was Louis' son, (Louis Jr.), and another was this amazingly special veteran, Ned. The Quilts of Valor has given over 300,000 handmade quilts to veterans and we are partnering with them to give them a quilt in all 50 states, wrapping them with love from a grateful nation.  Our hearts are full, and we're tickled at the great response to the show, and we're all ready for a good night's sleep. Much love! -Erinn
 Another long day of travel, but still room for adventure in Florida! While checking out of our Air B&B this morning, we had a beautiful conversation with a neighbor who had seen the show the night before. She had lost her home in a hurricane and said that going to the show reminded her that there was still life out there. We stopped at the Bulow Plantation Ruins- a Florida State Park in Flagler Beach, Florida with ruins of a sugar plantation!  Later down the road, we stopped also at the St Augustine Lighthouse so Dan could grab this beautiful shot.
A rewarding, amazing day. We opened our 50-States Tour to a sold out house in Punta Gorda, Florida. With friends, family and fans from all over the country, it was definitely a great way to kick off the tour! Our team: Myra, Jack, Grace & Tyler were outstanding all day, and we had several volunteers we couldn't have done the show without! Many thanks to our official Florida hosts, the Gulf Theatre!  The first Quilt of Valor presentation for the tour happened and the quilt went to Captain Jerrold “Dick” Scribner. After the show, we went back to our Air B&B for a little opening night shindig. Though tired after a long day, we are happy and our hearts are full.   We're coming for you, Georgia! Thanks to WRDW for this news story about coming to the beautiful Miller Theater! Show #2 is tomorrow at 2pm, we can't wait to see y'all at Augusta!
Ticket are still available by clicking here: https://ashertheatre.com/event/letters-home-50-states-tour CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE INTERVIEW! https://www.wrdw.com/.../letters-home-is-coming-augusta.../  This morning was incredible. We all decided to wake up for sunrise and head to Driftwood Beach on Jeckyll Island. The entire day before was rain, rain, rain..... and it made for the most beautiful clouds for sunrise this morning. Dan took photographs, Jack filmed and the rest of us breathed in the amazingness of the morning. We met some other local photographers, had breakfast and got on the road.  After that, we had another long drive, and ended up at a beautiful Air B&B in Cape Coral, Florida, just about 30 minutes from our venue. We had a dry tech and worked on the show most of the night, but made time for some Chinese food and pool time.  Day one on the road! We picked everyone up in the rain.... Drove in the rain..... Ate lunch in the rain..... Got gas in the rain..... Checked into our hotel in the rain.... slept in the rain. The clouds may be out, but spirits are high! What an incredible kick-off event at Richard Childress Racing! We had over 350 attendees including veterans, press and members of the community. Here are some of our favorite shots from the event by David of Strategic Arts & Productions! 
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