Gone Fishing in Columbus and the cast soak up the last of the sun in Jacksonville

From the city life of Atlanta we traveled to the peaceful town of Columbus, Georgia. One of the best things about being on tour is getting to experience all different types of places. We generally have a nice balance of busy, cosmopolitan areas and more relaxed small towns-so you never really get tired of either one. Columbus is primarily a military town, but seeing as we were staying about 20 minutes outside of the downtown area we were in a more rural setting. Our hotel was located right next to a small lake which had several varieties of fish in it. On the Monday we arrived some of the boys went out and bought fishing poles and bait and decided to try their luck. Surprisingly, they caught a bunch of fish over the next several days. None of them were very big and all were returned safely to the lake but it was a lot of fun trying to see who could hook the biggest fish.

There were several nice paths surrounding the lake and the weather was sunny and uncharacteristically warm for mid-fall so it was an ideal setting to go for a walk during the day. The hotel also had a paved walkway along the lake with benches facing the water. Pretty much any time of day if you walked down there you could find company members sitting and quietly talking, reading or listening to a CD. If you didn't feel like partaking in either of these outdoor activities there was always the alternative of shopping. The only stores in the area were about two miles away and across a highway. We were very fortunate to have an extremely accommodating hotel staff who shuttled cast members back and forth from the hotel to the shopping center all day long - for which we were all extremely grateful.

After Columbus we went as far south as this fall tour goes - to Jacksonville, Florida. Although it was warm in Georgia it didn't compare with the Florida sun. Our hotel had a rooftop pool. It was a bit cool for swimming but many people enjoyed the opportunity to soak up the sun outside for the last time before winter. Jacksonville is situated on the St. Johns River, one of only two rivers in the world that flow north (the other being the Nile). Right along the water is a lively area of restaurants and shops where people come to dock their boats called the Jacksonville Landing. Many of the restaurants have outdoor patio seating along the water so this was a popular spot to go for a bite to eat either before or after the show.

On the Sunday when we were in town there was a big football game between the local team - the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Baltimore Ravens. Hundreds of Ravens fans had traveled down from Maryland to see the game and a large number of them were staying at our hotel. They also had a big pre-game party at the Landing on Saturday night. It was a very strange contrast to see the dedicated football fans with faces painted, team jerseys, hats and assorted other Ravens paraphernalia mixed in with all the Riverdance performers in our show make up and track suits on our way to and from the theatre. They were very entertaining but just slightly intimidating as they towered over most of us girls!