day 9 philly to boston - homeward bound

9 days, 207 hours, 3012 miles, 11 states, 7 different beds, one helluva trip

We write to you today from the coziness of our own homes, after a night of sleep in our own beds and dang does it feel nice to be home.  But before we rest, we had to get home.  Our final day was really the perfect way to end this trip.

We woke up and had a lovely morning at Gail and Penny's in Philly.  Gail had to leave for the day (happy birthday!), and we spent the morning learning about Penny's female iconography collection.  Everywhere you turn in the house there are dolls, images, commentary on what it "means" to be female.  Statues, barbies, figurines, photos, record covers, you name it - she had it.  It was great for us to hear about her joy in collecting and her subversive vision for all of the images and things.  She displays them in cheeky installations which are just delightful, sardonic and beautiful.  We discovered a classic Barbie dream house, a Wonder Woman doll and a Drag King Barbie -  and then had some fun!  We played with the dolls in their home and found that with an adult sense of humor, playing with Barbies is actually pretty fun!  Before leaving, Penny sent gave us toy care packages that we weren't able to open until we had left.  Once we did open them, they were just the perfect thing for each of us.  Thank you.

We did a whirlwind driving tour of Philly with Renee showing us Penn's campus, her alma mater.  We even drove past Hollenback Center, the place where Renee was in Navy ROTC and where she was "on trial" and ultimately discharged from the military because of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Policy.  After that we needed some greasy goodness so we headed to Pat's, King of Steaks and had such good greasy cheesesteak goodness.  (Including the traditional 'wiz wit'  which is a cheez whiz covered steak.  Yes, that sounds disgusting but it's so, so good.)  With the grease lining our bellies, it was time to head home.

With Kathy playing DJ, the road home was filled with song, laughter, planning and reflection.  It's been a whirlwind trip and one that we think will settle in our bones in the days and weeks to come.  We've met some amazing people, seen some inspiring sites and kicked up a lot of stuff.  We really learned so much more about ourselves because of the people and places we visited.  It's cheesy, yes, but true.  

We'll be continuing to update the blog in the next few days/weeks with videos, reflections, photos and more.  As we start to shape the show, we'll also be sharing thoughts on the blog.  Our plan is to have a workshop production ready for early fall and then a full show shortly thereafter.  

Thank you for taking this trip with us, for your support and your feedback.  We can not wait to take this experience and to continue to make our art.  It may not include 3000 miles, but it's a going to be a journey like no other.