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Today was an amazing day driving in West Virginia! We had two great interviews this morning- one for WBNJ in New Jersey and one for Morgantown Metro News in West Virginia. We drove to Dollie’s Diner and we got to meet Dollie herself! Here we are with her and her lovely husband Leonard.  After that, we made a stop at the New River Gorge Bridge and went on the path to see the historical bridge. At time of construction, the arch made it the longest steel arch bridge in the world, a title it held until 2003 with the construction of China's Shanghai's Lupu Bridge.  We went to a national park where Dan got his photo for West Virginia (it's GORGEOUS.... to see it and all of the amazing pictures Dan's posting in every state, be sure to follow his facebook page at Dan Beckmann Photography).   We had wings and tacos and then headded to Starport Arcade & Pub for some pinball, Galaga and PacMan attack. A good day in West Virginia.
FIFTY STATES TOUR STOP #3 : South Carolina I woke up at sunrise every morning hoping to catch a brilliant light show over Myrtle Beach, but the clouds persisted for three days. Nonetheless, I was able to get this high-tide shot of Pier 14 underneath the stormy skies. Dan is taking one photo in each of the United States along our tour. Keep up with our blog and with Dan on his website- www.DanBeckmannPhotography.com  South Carolina treated us so well! First of all, we'd love to thank the sponsor for our official "home" of the 50-States Tour in South Carolina- the lovely SeaMist Oceanfront Resort! Though it was cloudy, checking in and feeling the ocean breeze on our face was refreshing and wonderful!  Our official South Carolina show was at the Asher Theatre in North Myrtle Beach, and was an incredible venue to work with! We loved the owners, James & Grace Stephens. After getting to know them, we were impressed with their heart for kids and their passion for art. James was a veteran himself, and has performed all over the world for enormous audiences, including USO shows. The show was a blast and very well received by another FULL HOUSE! Many friends, new and old were there, and afterwards, the Quilts of Valor presentation was beautiful, especially when all of the veterans attending stood forward and saluted our honoree.
We had a day off in Myrtle Beach which we filled with fun mini-golfing with the team, beach time in-between the clouds, and a walk around Broadway at the Beach. We had dinner at the Grumpy Monk, and stopped at the candy shop for Jack and Dan. Thanks, Myrtle Beach. You've made South Carolina a very memorable stop for our little group.
  FIFTY STATES TOUR STOP #2 : Georgia
Driftwood Beach on Jekyll Island treated us to our first big spectacle of the tour with a stunning sunrise over low tide at this wood-strewn shoreline. Dan is capturing a photo in all 50 states on this tour- follow him on facebook BY CLICKING HERE for more amazing art! 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.  |
