Christmas in Connecticut

On Sunday afternoon, Sister K, our parents and I drove down to East Haddam, CT to see a performance of "Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas" at the Goodspeed Opera House. This was the second year that K & I have gone to see the show (and Sister B came last year too), but this was a first for our parents, who both said that they enjoyed it. The show is a lot of fun with a nice story (it is a retelling of O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi") and music by Paul Williams, of "Rainbow Connection" fame. I have to be honest: the nostalgia factor is a huge part of the show's appeal for me. We taped the original television show off HBO years ago and watched it every Christmas. (I find this to be true of most of my friends and contemporaries; Je Glide would quote much of the original program when we were in college.) Every time Wendel (the porcupine) shows up on stage, I laugh, even if he hasn't done anything yet ("half of fifty cents... half of fifty cents.") I really hope that the Goodspeed makes this a permanent fixture for Christmas.

As a Christmas present (even though we said no gifts this year!), Sister K generously treated us to lunch at the Gelston House following the performance, which was a lot of fun, (although not quite as much fun as last year's post performance cocktails.) Many of the other people in the dining room had come from the show too so it was busy while we were there, but the service and the food were still good.

Sunday was a day of weird weather. When we first arrived in East Haddam, it was cold and gray, and a mist was rising off the river. By intermission, the sun had come out, and it had turned into a beautiful winter afternoon. It looked really picturesque so I snapped a few shots with my little camera.