Blog

First the show – This is a fairly small show that went from one day to two days this year.  It is setup on the streets of colonial Williamsburg and is part of a month log celebration of the arts.  Setup is on Saturday morning.  Warning it is dark in some places especially in section D.  It is also “tree lined” streets, which means look up before you start setting up.  I had to be moved over one space because I would have been lifting my tent directly into a tree.  As with most show setups I’ve found, they say it begins at 5AM but Clif and I arrived at 4:45 to find people already setting up.  The streets are a little tight and there was one impatient bozo who made things a little difficult.

The weather purely sucked, as only fall weather in Virginia can suck.  It was cold and rainy both days.  Heve having done this show before, I’m not sure if it affected the crowds.  It was, however, well attended and sales were good for me.  Per my usual disclaimer, I work alone and don’t get out of the booth much so I’m not sure how others did.  The couple booths to my right were happy.  Several booths to my left did not seem to make many sales.  Section D, where I was, is probably the worst section to be in.  I expected this to be my best show of the fall in the north.  Although I was happy I was hoping for more.  I did make more than 4 times what I made in Maitland, Florida last year so I’m not complaining.

Parking is easy and close by.  Load out was fairly simple.  Don’t believe the show prospectus that says we have only an hour to break down.    Clif and I were out by 6:30 and most people appeared to be gone by then but there were a few stragglers.  The same impatient bozo decided to bring his van in the wrong direction at 4:50.  He seemed totally oblivious to the customers who were still in the streets and the long scratch my awning made on the side of his van.

The weekend –I started out by losing my phone, in the dark, in the middle of Saturday morning setup which always stresses me anyway.   This is after my credit card terminal dying in the middle of the show last week.  Once again I was unable to take credit cards except with the knuckle buster.  I know I had it prior to the show because even after I told my dear husband several times we needed to go west on 199 he went east and I went west.  He called me to tell me I was going the wrong way.  Men!  So I’m sure it dropped out of the van while I was looking for my space.  Everyone looked for it, no one found it.   For the next year I will probably be running into people who say “Oh, you’re the woman who lost the phone”.  Clif left his phone for me and all seemed well until I set out to go back to the hotel.  I had no navigation system!  I became extremely lost and finally made it back to the hotel.  Luckily Best Buy was across the street.  I had already decided to get an I-Pad, now was the time.   Midway through the buying process I inquired about places to eat nearby.  They had already heard about my phone and lack of navigation.  Everyone had.  I was going on very little sleep, one egg Mcmuffin for breakfast that Clif brought me so I had no idea where the McDonalds was, and way too much caffiene.  There was no place nearby to eat except Target?  Note on Day’s Hotel, it is a tall Day’s Inn.  There is no restaurant; there isn’t even candy in the vending machines.  So I ate at Target.  In best Nels fashion I will report that the chicken, spinach, and artichoke sandwich is quite good but very small.  DO NOT get the soup.  As my husband once noted about food gotten at a New Jersey turnpike rest stop, it would have been better if it had no taste.  The brownie was quite good.

The next morning I gathered all my stuff, loaded the truck and set off again, very hungry.  After losing my phone I had sworn that the I-Pad (in its carrying case which I also bought) would never leave my side.  Throughout the entire loading process I was constantly aware where the I-Pad was.  I managed to find a 7-11 for breakfast.  One small bottle of chocolate milk, three granola bars and more caffiene.  Life was good until I got to the parking lot and couldn’t find my purse.   This was it, I had lost my mind.  I now endeavored to call the hotel.  My greatest fear was that I had left it on the luggage cart because I was positive I had both it and the I-Pad when I left the hotel room.  There are many, many, Days Inns in Williamsburg.  And voice recognition is not able to understand the difference between a Days Inn and a Days Hotel.  After going through five of them and getting terribly irate at the 411 voice recognition software I headed back to the hotel.  Miraculously I was able to find my way and I had left my purse in the room.

I am now home, with all my possesions intact and a replacement phone on the way.  Time to do it again next weekend.