Monday, March 5, 2012

And Away We Go!

Welcome to the Sea Chanters tour log for our 2012 spring tour! This year we are covering approximately 3,400 land miles over seven states (Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska and Wyoming). As with every tour, families and friends were present as we loaded our things on to the bus to bid us farewell. We kicked off the trip as we pulled away from Joint Base Anacostia Bolling at 0800 and began the drive to Pittsburgh, Pa., for our first of 18 performances.

We reached downtown Pittsburgh with a few hours to spare before needing to head over to the performance site, so many of us headed out to find a place to grab a bite. Market Square was only a few blocks away and provided many local options that were uniquely Pittsburgh. I had the chance to act upon recommendation and grabbed a famous Primanti Brothers stacked sandwich.

A few hours later we were at the performance venue for our first performance: Soliders and Sailors Memorial Hall. What a great place to get this tour started off right! The hall was massive and adorned with centuries-old furnishings and memorabilia. Circling the hall were numerous museum exhibits detailing the stories of America’s Soldiers and Sailors throughout our history. Inscribed on the towering wall behind the stage was Lincoln’s famed Gettysburg Address which provided quite the inspiring backdrop to our program.

With close to 2,000 enthusiastic patrons our first tour performance exceeded expectations! After the show, many wonderful stories were shared as some of us had the chance to visit with our audience. We can’t thank you enough for your service and support of the United States Navy and all of our armed service members. You make it a joy to bring "The World’s Finest” to your cities and towns, and we are forever grateful to be able to share our program with you.

Today we continue west to Marion, Ohio, for our second performance. We’ll see you at the Palace Theater tonight!

Musician 1st Class Michael Webb is a baritone vocalist in the Sea Chanters chorus.

1 comment:

Bob Snider USN, (Ret) said...

2K in the audience AND a good sandwich...tour's off to a great start! Miss you folks. After running your tours for 15 years, it's very different to viewing your blogs from my "retired" life. Have a great tour!
Try some Valentino's Pizza when you get to Lincoln!