Shakespeare….we LOVE!

The last weekend in July we ventured off on a road trip to Cedar City, Utah for their annual Shakespeare Festival.   It is something we have always wanted to do but with the encouragement of Steve and Kathy it became a reality.   At the last minute, we convinced Krissy to come along and bring her kids.   We loaded into two vehicles and left Thursday night after work for Las Vegas.  We stayed at Texas Station and endured a very long night.  Elle must have thrown up atleast ten times.  After we exhausted all the linens we called housekeeping.  Then a few hours later we had to call again for more clean linens.  No more Skittles!   What is crazy is the next morning when she awoke I asked her how she slept and with a smile on her face she said “Great.”    

Friday we drove the three hours to Cedar City, arriving just in time for the first play, 39 Steps.   It was a Hitchcock murder mystery played by a four man cast.  Despite the British humor and great acting, I found it hard to keep my eyes open.  Following the play, we went out to a steak dinner up the canyon with Steve and Kathy.  The creek/river was running high and very chocolatey!

Our favorite play of all the weekend was Merchant of Venice which was performed in their outdoor theater.  The theater was built to be as close to the Old Globe as possible.  We had front row seats otherwise known as the spit section.   It was fabulous.  

Saturday, we got off to an early start and hit a few of our favorite places:  Shopping at Maurices and lunch at Cafe Rio.  We  attend the matinee of Great Expectations.     It was premiering for the first time at the festival.   We all enjoyed it but wished we had been more familiar with the music.   We thought Miss Havisham was incredible.   We ran into a couple of people from the past and from home…… Vicky Rogers and Julie Searfoss. 

Swimming and pizza were on the agenda for the youngsters.   My parents went to dinner with Steve and Kathy while we stayed back at the hotel.   The final play was Macbeth and due to the rain we were forced to watch the first act inside.  This meant giving up our front row seat which we missed terribly.   Luckily the sky cleared and they moved the second act back to the outdoor theater.  Back to our front row seats, we were able to watch Lady Macbeth loose her mind before our very eyes.   

Sunday we drove  back to Las Vegas where we spent the night before returning on Monday.  We stayed at the amazing South Point hotel.   Kelly and my mom went to the movies in their   theater.   I took Elle to the arcade while Kent and Nicole rested in the room.    Elle and Kent were very preoccupied by the lights and noises of the slot machines and sat there long enough for security to find us. 

The trip home was hot and long but luckily we stopped in Primm for some outlet shopping!  Fun was had by all the girls!   A very special thanks goes out to my Dad who made the trip possible.   He was a driver, a lifter, a facilitator, and the best grandpa/babysitter.

We are hoping to make this an annual event and have already looked into next years performances.   We are going to try and actually read and study them before we go next time.