This begins four days in Provincetown to celebrate the End of Official Summer.
1) About 4 AM, I moved to get out of bed and before I knew it . . . CHARLEY HORSE! That all too familiar feeling of a hot vibrating baseball being injected into my right calf. God, the pain! It happened so quickly I actually cried out. My calf seized up as hard as a rock, but then vibrated intensely as it tried to relax. It went on much longer than previous experiences, at least twice getting to the point where it was almost done and then hardening like a rock again. Agony.
2) Number Ten in line to board the Salacious after a bleary morning of final packing, coffee, and paying the bills.
2a)
3) Got my banquette seat (so important for me) and wrote for about 20 minutes during boarding. A nice lady of my generation took the other half and we exchanged pleasantries as the ship's concierge - a well-known personality who always seems to have a lot to say over the PA system - warned us that we'd be in for a rough ride. I am happy to say that I myself was able to handle what came with equanimity, but some other passengers were less fortunate.
4) Andy, God bless him, came to collect me at the ferry, and we caught up on a lot on the drive home. His partner Robert was already at home, and I learned that lunch guests would be arriving shortly. Turns out that the lunch guests and I have more than a few friends in common. We're trying to figure out why we don't already know each other!
4a) During lunch (BLTs, pasta salad, and excellent rosé), and afterward in the hot tub, there was a lot of musical theatre talk, travel talk, and stories of best hotel experiences.
5) After a NAP that I really needed, I conducted some minor plastic surgery and we headed off to tea. The usual crush revealed no one I knew, but I met some of Andy and Robert's friends, got to see Miss Gogo at the bar, and then at last was able to catch up with Brandon. Now Brandon and I are in the same high school class, and Andy graduated the year before us, so I was very excited to have an impromptu IAA Boys Rendezvous! And to my delight Brandon had no plans for dinner and accompanied us to Saki P'town.
5a) The first of three OH MY GOD IT'S YOU! moments took place as we were leaving tea. I recognized an acquaintance outside tea who was delighted to see me - and I him, except I can't remember his name.
6) Saki P'town is upstairs next to Town Hall, and I remember it vividly as the original venue for Ryan Landry's Showgirls! back in the 1990s. It is now quite a glam-ish Asian restaurant with high ceilings, wonderful art, and a great menu.
6a) I still remember vividly that night in 1996 or 1997 during Showgirls! when, in that very room, Miss Sandy Krack sang "He Likes to Nibble on My Cupcakes" while stuffing cupcakes first into her décolletage and then directly into her control top pantyhose after hiking up her skirt.
7) We were seated in a booth in the balcony and shortly had the second OH MY GOD IT'S YOU moment when Mark and Zane recognized my voice from the next booth. What fun!
8) A delicious dinner (gyoza followed by scallops for me) included conversation about Eartha Kitt, Tom Lehrer, Washington, and a lot of "Whatever happened to . . . " and stories of misbehavior from high school.
Brandon, me, and Andy after dinner, sounding the call for IAA. I picked this spot for the lighting. :-)
8) Promenading down Comical Street, the third and last OH MY GOD IT'S YOU moment came when I suddenly found myself within three feet of my old roommate Robert and his husband Jim. OH MY GOD, IT'S YOU!
9) Next stop: The Shipwreck, aka the Wreck (Andy's nickname for it) or the Sweater Bar (mine). We got to inhabit the orange-cushioned conversation pit in the corner, how rare! And how fortunate I was wearing a flattering, contrasting blue. But after an hour or so, it was time to move along.
10) The stars always appear more clearly here, and Mars, Venus, and the Milky Way were pointed out to me as well as the Big Dipper, which is one of only two constellations I can recognize unaided. On clear nights here, it's the best thing.
11) Tomorrow will be a big day - White Party! - so hopin' for a solid night's sleep.