Luxury and Debauchery

Early research showed that if I stayed out in the deep suburbs, I could get a decent hotel room cheaper than I expected. So I ended up at a Best Western plus. Only $90 for the night, and oh, what a sweet bed. Plus a pool, and air conditioning.  (When in hotel rooms I love to crank the AC). I spent most of Saturday luxuriating- showering, napping, swimming, hot tubbing. I'd discovered via twitter that the Vancouver Fringe Festival happened to be wrapping up this weekend, and that my friend Tonya was performing. They were having a end-of-fringe 'Artists Cabaret of Debauchery and Delight,' and she had a bit in it. Having already seen her show Threads in Portland, I thought I'd check out the Cabaret. 

I left the hotel in plenty of time to drive in, get some food, and make the late night show. It said online that it was sold out, but that didn't stop me last weekend, so I was going for it.

Driving in on the freeway there were lots of warning signs about a toll bridge and I decided to try an alternate route, crazy without GPS, I know. There were definitely times when I felt totally lost. But I found my way, keeping an eye out for interesting restaurants as I went.

Suddenly I saw a familiar looking sign that said 'Nando's.' No way. Not possible. You see, Nando's was one of my absolute favorite restaurant chains in London- a Portugese Chicken place that would completely burn your face off. Their Peri-Peri spice is hot and tasty- the taste is also different from anything else I've had. The kind of place that swells your lymph nodes and leaves you in need of a bathroom all night because you drank so much water. Took my mom there and she said the super-mind lemon chicken was too hot. THAT kind of place. But it's London chain. The logo looks the same, though...

I parked. Wandered over. It IS the same place! Awesome! I was a very happy camper for dinner, even without Wifi. I was even able to buy a bottle of their sauce to take home.

Made my way into Vancouver and into the fringe area of downtown. Now these Canadians know how to fringe. Reminded me of MN in so many ways. The show was NOT sold out- that was just misinformation. But the line was long and took forever. The show was entertaining, though I sensed there were a LOT of inside jokes I was missing. The one strip tease bit was interesting when one of her tassles dropped off and she didn't notice.... The entire show was lit by flashlight from the audience, which reminded me of a certain Midsommer performance. (I wonder if we should PLAN an Ops show like that sometime...)

The 10:45 show started at 11:15, and ran almost a full two hours. I'd planned to meet Tonya for a drink after, but with an hour drive ahead of me, I bailed. I also wasn't sure I had the energy for a fringe crowd- the line had been fringey enough. I had it in me for that in my mid 20s... Guess I'm getting old.

The drive back was an adventure. I decided to brave the toll as I just wanted to get back, but the main freeway was closed- with no warning, just signs guiding you off the road. No detour signs. No idea how to get where I was going. Eventually found my way back to the road after the closure. And drove into the thickest fog I have ever seen in my life. I could barely see past the front of the truck. How people were blasting past me I'll never understand. Blind hares to my tortoise.  I just crept along at about 20mph, worried I'd miss my exit since I could barely read the signs.

Home to hotel about 3am, I felt arty so did some writing- came up with a poem I'm really happy with, though the final line is eluding me. Late to bed, I slept right through my hotel breakfast, and even missed my (late) checkout time by about 10 minutes. 

And yet no one threatened to call the police. 

One day left!