DE Day 2- Explosives, Exploring, and Experiences
Today started with a drive up to Wilmington. I got breakfast and coffee at the Treehouse Cafe. It was a cozy little spot, and despite not actually being a tree house, I really liked it. I ended up talking to my server, a former navy vet for a while, about politics, comedy, and gun control which was unexpected but pleasant. I had a great egg, cheese, and avocado sandwich and I enjoyed the coffee quite a bit as well
From there I went to the Hagley Museum, which was focused ont the Dupont gunpowder mill and family home on the Brandywine River. The visitor center had the history of Dupont innovations as well as a brief history of water powered milling of all varieties. Then I took a bus tour past all the renovated mills and up to the old family mansion. The house had beautiful paintings, porcelain, old cars, and a collection of vintage weather vanes.
Outside of the main tour, there was an exhibition of old patent models. Patent laws used to require that scale models of whatever invention was being patented were submitted for approval. The models were all about the same size, but the actual inventions ranged from trains to door clasps. It was a fun little bit of history.
After the museum I went to the Riverfront Market. I had an incredible crabcake sandwich from Harry's Grill. The market was reallycool with plenty of other tasty and affordable options i didn't get a chance to sample. These included baked goods, sushi, burritos, and deli sandwiches.
Right near the market wasa park dedicated to Harriet Tubman. Apparently Wilmington was the last stop on the Underground Railroad before Philadelphia so it was a very stressful spot for Harriet Tubman as it was the last chance for slave catchers to stop people from crossing into free states.
After my lunch I went to Cafe Loma which is one of the most highly rated cafes in Northern Delaware. I have to say it was probably the nicest cafe yet aesthetically, with lots of comfy seating options and a pleasant atmosphere. It was also a total bargain with really good coffee for really low prices, and plenty of flavor options and baked goods thrown in to boot. Between the servers here and at the treehouse cafe, I got a very friendly vibe from WIlmington in general.
Unfortunately this was another night where I couldn't find many open mics in Delaware so I went to Philadelphia for a mic at the Helium Comedy Club. It was a lotteried mic, so I got there real early to put my name in. I was too early and the list wasn't up yet, so I went to to a cool record shop, called Long In the Tooth.
After perusing their vast selection I went to sign up then and then walked around for a bit and got gelato at Capogiro Gelato Artisans. I got a mix of coconut and hazelnut. It was delightful reminder of my Italian heritage.
I went back to the comedy club and had some drinks while I waited for the lottery results. I didn't end up making the list but I decided to stick around and watch the show.
Because I wouldn't be performing and I'd have a couple of hours to kill, I had more beers than I usually would (Victory and Yuengling, class PA beers). Because I was more drunk than usual, I also ordered a house spinach and artichoke dip with tortilla chips. It was everything I wanted in that moment, but basically I spent more money than I needed to in Philly.
The show was right down the middle. All the comics were pretty consistent. Nobody did poorly, but I don't think anyone did particularly amazing either. It was great for an audience member to be consistently laughing the whole time, but weird as a comic because it made it feel clear that there's very much a middle ground where a lot of comics (and very likely myself) will stall out between being an amateur and being a success.
Some highlights from the night:
Lemaire Lee- Online dating makes you have to pretend to like animals
John Kensil- Told a story about taking his 80 year old father to a strip club for abachelor party
Chris O'Connor- He might have been the one I thought was the most naturally funny. He did some on the fly riffing on the guy before him and told a joke about how he doesn't trust Trump because he never sees him touch his face so it feels like he never sees Trump think. He just says everything he thinks as a first thought.
The best overall was probably the closer Shane Gillis- He had a great confident delivery and used a mix of silly voices and physical expressions and strong material. I particularly liked a bit about how the even the saddest tragedy can be funny if the person telling you about it has a funny accent.
My favorite joke of the night came from Brandon VIncent Jackson: "A guy tried to sue a strip club and when the lawyers asked him what he was doing there he said he was minding his own business. That literally can't be true. All you're doing there is minding other people's business."
Favorite Random Sightings: Posh Yoga; A license plate that said "FINFOLK"; a wifi network called "TellmyWIFIloveher"; Dudes Barbershop
Regional Observations: There is almost zero transition from towns being very idyllic Leave It To Beaver type suburbs and big concrete strip malls the closer you get to the highway.
Albums Listened To: East Coasting by Charles Mingus (Fitting album for this leg of the journey); Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes by Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes (they remind me of the Chili Peppers in that, musically they're really good but sometimes their lyrics are just so stupid); El Camino by the Black Keys (It's a good album but I'll never understand why they took off as opposed to literally any other band); Electric Ladyland by the Jimi Hendrix Experience; Electric Slave by Black Joe Lewis
People's Favorite Jokes:
Knock Knock/ Who's there?/ Interrupting Cow/ Interrupting cow wh-MOO (that two for this one)
A duck is flying from the US to Mexico and he lays his egg on the border. Who does the egg belong to? ... Male ducks don't lay eggs
What did one lightning bug say to the other? You glow girl
Song of the Day:
