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.

day 7 - Dollywood or bust

we almost didn’t come.

I thought it might be cheesy. it was definitely expensive. and it’s closed on tuesdays, which was the day we wanted to come. we had a meeting about a month ago and decided not to. it just didn’t seem necessary. but by the end of the meeting something made me change my mind.
I’m so glad. but I don’t know why.

there wasn’t a specific moment. no one thing I can hang it on. my traveling companions are throwing out suggestions from the front seat. I’ll spare you. you’ll thank me. but it was easy. it was sunny. it was very clean. and we laughed. all day.

we started by running through a kiddie water fountain to the great bemusement of some of the staff standing around. we ended eating corn dogs and funnel cakes which have seriously complicated our drive this evening. in between we rode some of the best roller coasters I’ve ever been on (which is saying a lot) and saw one of the strangest stage/movie shows I have ever seen. which included being sprayed with water. twice.

and we somehow managed to break into the only restaurant in the park that was closed to the public. I’m still not sure how it happened, but after searching the ‘country fair’ section of the park for 20 minutes we finally found the barbecue pavilion, and burst in triumphantly to find ourselves the highlight of someone’s power point presentation. I think it was some kind of security training. safe to say they hadn’t reached the slide on how to deal with hungry and confused lesbians.

there was a museum about dolly which was slightly unsatisfying and left us wanting more information. we were all disturbed to find that the souvenir shops not only didn’t carry her autobiography, but no books at all except cookbooks. especially surprising since dolly is such an advocate for getting kids to read. and we spent a fair amount of time watching the bald eagles, admiring the beautiful aviary but wondering about the symbol of our freedom begin trapped in any kind of cage.

the title track of dolly’s latest disc is about being judged by your looks and misunderstood. walking through her theme park I couldn’t help smiling at how appropriate she should be added to the soundtrack of our journey. our journey with gender, with identity, with class and with food. she’s taught us something.

that doesn’t mean I recommend you eat the whole funnel cake just because you can.

day 6 memphis/nashville/pigeon forge - got a lot of livin'

Wowza!  Today we said goodbye to Elvis, tried to say hello to MLK, revisited some old friends and rolled into neonworld.  

Today was one of our only "unstructured" days on the trip and it allowed us to just take it as it came to us.  We began the day with another thrilling hotel continental breakfast.  And if anyone can overnight us some decent coffee, we'd be much obliged.  We then said goodbye to the Heartbreak Hotel and to Graceland and joined the time honored tradition of signing the wall.  At first, we were hesitant, being law abiding citizens, this whole defacing of property, on video, in broad daylight - well, it just seemed wrong.  But we had a sharpie so there was no turning back.  We signed and we're glad we did.  It was more touching that we had anticipated to see this anonymous outpouring of emotion.  We signed and rolled on to the sweet tunes of "Always on my Mind."

We then went into Memphis to see Beale St. and the Civil Rights Museum.  Beale St. during the day just didn't cut it so we wondered a bit and then set down 2nd street towards the museum.  We had heard that it was one of the most underappreciated museums in the country and we can understand why - there was very little signage and it was off the beaten path.  Unfortunately, due to some oddly worded hours, we were unable to actually see the museum as it was closed.  But, we were able to walk the grounds and to pay our respects to the place where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated 40 years ago.  The Lorraine Hotel was saved for destruction and the actual balcony where he fell is still there.  It was intense and emotional in a way that caught us off guard.  We had expected to be moved by the museum but I think we were surprised how much we gained just from being there.  (This is Renee here.  I got really choked up at this one.  And even do right now.  I was just so angry that this unifier, this man of inspiration and hope and dreams and promise was taken so carelessly.  The simple indicator of his death, combined with the bright blue sky and incredible company was just a really poignant moment.  If nothing else, I am most grateful for that moment, it lit something in me that had been dormant for a long time.  Thanks for indulging, I just didn't want to speak for all... and now back to our regulary scheduled program.)

We then decided that Memphis was done with us and we were done with Memphis.  We boarded Dolly and headed to Pigeon Forge, which conveniently brought us through Nashville.  We decided a brief jaunt was necessary and we had a lovely time down by the River, picked up some belt buckles, hats and appropriately cheezy postcards!  We had damn fine fried chicken with our new buds - Josh and Elizabeth - and then hit the road once more stuffed to the gills!

We had a good ole drive to Pigeon Forge - singing Dolly, wearing funny hats and playing our favorite theater game - hodgy podgy.  It's certainly day 6 as the jokes just keep getting worse (think firecrackers and bodily functions.  yes, a joke of that caliber had us crying with laughter.  Punchy?  You could say so.).  We rolled into Dolly country around 11pm and were a little flabbergasted with the utter scale of it all.  Neon everywhere, LCD billboards, Christian Theaters, Upside houses and more!  Our hotel room had a Bible out and open to Ecclesiastes and for 3 northerners who aren't necessarily avid church goers, it caught us a bit off guard.  But the people are sweet and the hot tub was hot, so for now, Dollywood - you're just what we needed.

day 1 - boston to pittsburgh

10 hours on the asphalt.  3 turkey sandwiches.  2 great tunage mixes.  1 big boxy car (which has been lovingly renamed 'Dolly' because she's a bit top heavy!)

And it only took 8 minutes for Renee to have to mediate between Kathy and Mal.  It was an unfortunate bagel misunderstanding.

Today we loaded up the car and hit the road on the first leg of our trip.  The sun was glorious and the music was blaring and spirits were high while we were heavily caffeinated.  We discovered that Kathy can edit and digitize video on the road and that an orange Element means certain death to all insects.

We ended our day on the road at Renee's parents house in Sarver, Pennsylvania where we were greeted by her Mom, Step-Dad and sister.  After some pie, we sat down and perused photos of the wee redheaded Renee and discovered that as a child, she had a severe dislike for bowel movements but loved to play with imaginary people - which explains that directing thing.  We also heard all about the rebellious youth of her mother who chopped off all of her hair at age 8 to look like Elvis!

Tomorrow - we hit the road at 10 am for a 7 hour drive to Louisville where we'll meet with some area youth.  Watch out bugs - here we come!

T minus 13 hours

We're about to hit the road. Hardcore.

In 13 hours, the big orange box will be packed with 3 wonderers/wanderers, some suitcases, some cameras and a heck of a lot of cookies. And some Elvis tunes. We're heading to Graceland, via Pittsburgh, Louisville, Nashville and then we keep on going to Dollywood, Phill

y and finally home. We're meeting some great folks on the way and we'll be sure to eat every last pulled pork sandwich put in our way.

We've already started our journey... On Saturday we had the pleasure of teaching some RISD students what it takes to be a drag king/ genderbender on stage and sometimes off. Their energy, questions and complete openness astounded us and made us hungry for the road.

And last night, we had the pleasure of meeting with Mal's parents, eating some damn good chicken marsala and learning tidbits of Mal's childhood including an unfortunate mystery involving a Yucca plant.

Stay tuned to this page as we post updates on our journey including some pics and video along the way. We'd say it's going to be a bumpy ride - but we brought pillows with us to avoid that situation!