We're at Chautauqua Again!!

We stopped at Mentor RV in Madison, Ohio, a Trailmanor dealer, and made arrangements to bring the trailer to them next Saturday for the roof leak repair. We can leave it there until we are ready to leave Chautauqua so we’ll save on parking fees.



We arrived at Chautauqua about noon. John pulled into the parking lot in front of the Turner Center (fitness center) and I walked through the gate and down to the cottage we’re renting. I needed to pick up the parking pass for the car. This rental comes with a parking place in front of our cottage, a real perk.



Then I walked to the Welcome Center and bought a week’s parking pass for the trailer. It will go in the main parking lot across the street from the Institution grounds. I bought tickets for a new play workshop tomorrow while I was there. I then met John at the gate to the main parking lot, we found a spot for the trailer, and then started transferring the cat, cat box, cat bed, our clothes, food, etc. from the trailer to the car. My goodness, we have a lot of stuff.

We left the cottage about 5:45 p.m. and walked up to Lenna Hall to say hello to Jared Jacobsen, our church organist and Chautauqua’s organist and Director of Sacred Music. He had a choir practice starting. We then strolled down towards Bestor Plaza which is the center of all things Chautauqua. It’s a 15 or 20 minute walk for John and we’re wondering how this is going to work. The advantages of our cottage are we can have the cat; we have a parking place; it’s close to the fitness center and Lenna Hall (a wi-fi hot spot and where lots of music things happen) and the bus goes right by our front door. The disadvantage is that it is so far away from everything else. I’m going to the symphony tonight in the amphitheater. They’re playing Mahler’s 3rd symphony. There is a pre-concert lecture at 6:4. I left John eating ice cream in the Refectory and went to Hurlbut Church, the Methodist church where the lecture was taking place. John is not partaking of the glorious symphony performance tonight so I went alone to the amp. I sat behind Carol Baker and her friends. We met Carol the first year we came to Chautauqua. It was her first year, too, and somehow we got acquainted. She was so smitten she’s come back every summer to work for the whole 9-week season. You get your gate pass, a parking pass, and enough pay to afford ice cream.

The symphony performance was amazing (they usually are). The Chautauqua Symphony is made of orchestra members from all over the U.S. Most of them are first chair of whatever instrument they play in whatever orchestra they are in. And they are here for MANY summers. The principal percussionist has been playing with the Chautauqua Symphony for 50 years. One cellist has been a member for 40.

Every night there is some type of performance in the amphitheatre which seats 5,000 people. The symphony plays most Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.