OUR LADY OF THE LAKE CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL FUNDRAISING EVENT WITH STEVE AUGERI FROM JOURNEY IN BATON ROUGE, LA:
Strange to be writing a “Road Report” about an event other than Military and in the USA!
Left this morning to attend the Annual Fundraising Event for “Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital” in Baton Rouge, LA. This is my first time working with this event and everyone has been GREAT! I booked Steve Augeri from “Journey” for their entertainment this year.
Arrived at the airport for check in and as I was standing at the kiosk, Darryl Worley walked up! We chatted about “old times” for several minutes. It was great to see him. I am flying American Airlines (which I don’t like) but a roundtrip coach ticket on Delta cost over $600. Delta has gotten crazy expensive!
Flight left on time and arrived DFW early. Weird to fly over Baton Rouge to DFW then fly back to Baton Rouge. But, there were no direct flights and SWA doesn’t fly into Baton Rouge. I checked in with Steve and his group and they were on time arriving Atlanta.
I grabbed a Matcha Green Tea Latte and egg white bites at Starbucks and got a little work done on the layover. Flight departed on time and arrived early into Baton Rouge. I grabbed my bags, called the transportation driver who is picking up Steve and his group to make sure they were at the airport and then picked up my rental car.
It was a really short drive to the hotel from the airport and my room was ready. I left Nashville at 10:30 this morning and arrived at the hotel at 6:30 pm. I think I could have driven here in about the same amount of time! My purpose in arriving at the hotel before the group was so I could check everyone in. But, nope, the desk clerk insisted that she had to see ID on each person. I tried to change her mind but she was insistent. Fortunately, Adam (Steve’s tour manager) wasn’t upset at all. He has been great to work with as well. Met the entire group and they are all so nice.
We dropped bags and went to dinner at a restaurant that was about a block from the hotel. The food was amazing. I had a grilled Caesar salad (first time for that!) and grilled salmon. It was a fun dinner getting to know everyone and Steve paid for everyone’s dinner – which I was NOT expecting. I had brought everyone a “Goo Goo Cluster” from Nashville for “dessert”. LOL
I was back at the hotel by 9 pm and have been working ever since. After 1:30 am now and I’m going to bed. Tomorrow is the event and it will be a long day!
Jude
FRIDAY, MAY 2ND – STEVE AUGERI FROM “JOURNEY” PERFORMANCE AT OUR LADY OF THE LAKE CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL CHARITY FUNDRAISER – BATON ROUGE,LA.
Our lobby call was 11:15 am but after exercising and showering, I was rushing to get dressed and be on time.
The event is being held at Dow Chemical Private Hangar and Dow is the title sponsor. The theme is Enchanted Garden”. (At least I think it is!). The stage was set and ready for sound check when we arrived. And, the Green Room was already set up for lunch. I had asked for some “local cuisine” and they definitely provided that. I met all the ladies I have been working with for months. Everyone is so nice!!! The decorations in the hangar were spectacular and the event is sold out! Sound check moved along quickly and we left at 3 pm and drove back to the hotel. Lobby call was 6:15 pm and the guys walked to a sushi restaurant where I really wanted to eat. But I just did not have time to join them. I ordered a Caesar salad from room service but didn’t have time to eat that either because of trying to get some emails answered that couldn’t wait until after the weekend!
We were back at the venue by 6:30 pm and had to immediately go to the meet and greet to take photos with the sponsors. That was over at around 7:30 and we were supposed to perform at 9:30 pm. But everything ran late — as is typical with fundraising events. Looks like the show will start at least an hour late. Heather from Paradise Artists (Steve’s booking agency) lives near Baton Rouge so she drove over with her daughter to see the performance. Both mother and daughter are so sweet!
Steve and the band put on a great 75 minutes of entertainment. The attendees were singing along and dancing to every song. We were back at the hotel by midnight. I had parked in a lot across the street from the hotel because I didn’t want to wait for valet every time I needed my car. Even though I paid for two nights, the lots was full – mainly because two huge trucks were parked over the lines and there was one vehicle with a boot attached to the tire! I had to drive around at midnight looking for another place to park. Finally parked on the street and prayed I wouldn’t get a ticket.
FRIDAY, MAY 3RD – FLYING HOME:
Got in bed at 2 am but had to get up at 5:30 am so I could get dressed and be at the airport by 8:30 am. Flight doesn’t depart until 10:30 but I have to buy – gas and turn in the rental car. I made it exactly on time and learned that the flight was delayed by about 10 minutes. There is a lot of rain and lightning in the area and in the DFW area where my connection is. The flight landed about 10 minutes late. Then there was an announcement stating that the flight would either be delayed by around 15 minutes or up to 4 hours and they didn’t know which it would be yet! Evidently there are 4 antennas – 2 on each wing – and one is missing. The folks at the airport and the air crew had no idea if they could fly with just 3 instead of 4.
I called American and tried to find an alternate flight through another city but everything was full. I thought about renting a car and driving the hour to New Orleans and taking a direct Southwest Airlines flight but couldn’t decide if that was a good idea. I really wanted to be home in time to see Zoe’s band concert. We finally departed 4 hours late and I was booked on a flight out of DFW that got me into Nashville at 8:30 pm – too late to see Zoe’s concert. So bummed I missed that. At least I was able to meet her at a local ice cream shop after I landed. It took me as long to fly home from Baton Rouge as it would to fly to Europe!
Jude