2/15/10 – 2/17/10 – The Resting Place of Francis Scott Key and the Great Stomach Bug of 2010…Frederick, MD

With our fingers crossed again for good weather and safe travels, we migrated back to Maryland, this time to the city of Frederick. An outlying community of the Washington DC Metropolitan area, Frederick is situated in west central Maryland, and is the third largest area in the state (behind Baltimore and Rockville), with a population of 60,000. Founded in 1745 as “Frederick Town”, it was named for one of three people: 1) Frederick Calvert, 6th Baron Baltimore, one of the proprietors of Maryland (the most likely individual); 2) Frederick Lewis, Prince of Wales; or 3) Frederick “The Great” of Prussia.

Frederick has served as a major crossroads throughout history, playing an important role in the French and Indian War, the American Revolution and the Civil War. Due to its geographic location, it functioned primarily as a market town until the early 19th century, when it also became one of the leading mining counties of the US. It is the home of the Maryland Shakespeare Festival, and also the resting place of Francis Scott Key, author of the national anthem, “The Star Spangled Banner”.

I was excited to be performing in Frederick because I would have the opportunity to see my best friend from high school, Sarma. It had been several years since I had seen her last and I was looking forward to catching up. I was also very excited to see our Frederick performance venue, the Weinberg Center for the Arts. Originally called ‘The Tivoli’, the theatre opened in 1926 as a movie and live performance venue. Although the original theatre was decorated with crystal chandeliers, marble and silk wall coverings, it eventually deteriorated and was flooded in 1976. The theatre was completely renovated and reopened in 1978 as the Weinberg Center for the Arts. Since its reopening, this 1165-seat venue has been dubbed ‘The Jewel of Frederick’.




Unfortunately, immediately upon our arrival to Frederick, eight of our nine tour members, including myself, became violently ill with a NASTY stomach bug. The majority of my two days in Frederick was spent either in the bathroom vomiting, at urgent care, or passed out in my hotel bed. Given our proclivity on the road for eating in restaurants, I imagine that our illness probably resulted from poor food handling procedures at some establishment that we had frequented. I feel like my body has been steamrollered. My body is weak, my voice is hoarse from vomiting, and my diet now consists of chicken broth, saltines, ginger ale and watered-down Gatorade. Not the great start to the Year of the Tiger that I had envisioned!



Fortunately for our group, our Frederick performance, like our other Maryland show, was cancelled due to snow. This cancellation was a blessing in disguise as there is no possible way that anyone in our group could have performed that day in our poor states of health. While I am sad that I did not have the opportunity to see my friend Sarma and perform for her and her children, I am hopeful that there will be an opportunity to do so in the near future.

Next stop – the Schwartz Center for the Arts in Dover, DE. Until the next adventure…

Ciao!
XOXO-
Janine