Greetings and Salutations, rock ‘n’ rollers! I come to you in between my travels. I want to tell you all about my journeys with travel twinsie Carolyn in Philadelphia and Baltimore, and the inaugural Read the Rainbow signing in Havre De Grace, Maryland. I’d never been to PA or MD, so this was quite an adventure. A few stats:
- walked a total of 47.9 miles on the trip
- visited five significant Edgar Allan Poe sites
- took approximately 6 Lyfts with some helpful and some dead-silent drivers
- took one tourist bus with one cliched Philly narrator and one enthusiastic and knowledgeable
- explored the very first penitentiary in the world and learned a lot… Very moving experience
- visited one National Park Historic Site and were props for a special Heavy Metal Day during Music Week. I’m not making this up.
- walked down one highway twice
- observed a late-night traffic incident and foot pursuit
- went to the same mall twice to use the bathroom
- ate delicious breakfasts at Loews in Philly
- ate at two Irish pubs (? I think? Might have to check this one with my travel twinsie)
- walked the Philadelphia Music Walk celebrating great artists from the city
- perused a very cool record store, The Sound Garden in Baltimore
- took pictures of more than a dozen breathtaking murals in Philadelphia
- visited two Hard Rock Cafes
- saw two Rocky statues
- walked through the setting of The Wire
- met a phenomenal woman on the plane, Barbara of the Quakers.
- took a theatrical historic haunted tour of Fell’s Point
- went to a minimum of three cool bars
- hung out with countless amazing author pals
- signed loads of books
- met so many awesome readers
- and had an incredible time with my new travel buddy. This is hopefully the first of many we will take together!
Carolyn probably has more stats to add, so I’ll update if I left things out.
Read The Rainbow was a fantastic signing, and I would love to go back in 2027 for the next one. Huge thanks to Katherine McIntyre and her crew for a superb event. I loved Philadelphia so much, such a great vibe, I can’t wait to go back! Baltimore was very cool as well, but we had such a short time there, we didn’t get to see everything we wanted to, so I reserve judgment. The people were so freaking nice in all the places we visited. It was such a great adventure, and MAN did I get a lot of steps in! Big thanks to Carolyn my travel twinsie for doing much of the planning and setting us up for maximum success in a minimum amount of time.
Next up… VEGAS BABY! STAY TUNED FOR MORE…
