2009JudyReports

My Fest Report

...that I always start and never seem to finish, starts this year where Diane's finishes. That is, she's covered the fest stuff and we were roommates, so nothing is terribly different...except, of course that she's in the Collinsport Players and I'm not, she got a lap full of ice water and Coke, and I opted for the coffee which came in a nice pot with a lid and everything and I was not required to wear it (the coffee, not the pot with a lid) AND that Diane always looked HOT in anything she wore, and I wore my Salute to Johnny Depp Pirate Ears, enough said.

Now, if you twist my arm, I guess there are FEW HIGHLIGHTS to mention...

First of all, there's my Sunny report. SUNNY is the BEST. EVERY YEAR that I've had my buttons for sale, she goes up and down lines and in and out of crowds selling buttons. The first year, at Tarrytown, she went on the day trip to Lyndhurst and told EVERYBODY to look for me at the Fest. Several times a whole crowd of people would spot me at once and it was almost like a feeding frenzy. THEN I got wise and just GAVE her the buttons to sell so the sales could be one at a time. She was GREAT! She was funny and helpful and sold a LOT of buttons! (However, there ARE some left if anybody is interested...:)

And I can't do a fest report without a Lara Parker report, too, so here goes: After YEARS of taking grief from her about my profuse prose and poetry...(Last year, she told the person (Sally) in line front of me, "this person FILLS MY MAILBOX..." To which I objected, "NOW, all I sent you was a birthday card and a poem at Christmas," and she admitted, "Well...you are getting better." This year, I had decided to leave the poor woman in peace, opting only for a birthday card (on her birthday) and a Christmas card. So THIS year, she goes, "I haven't HEARD very much from YOU lately..." LOL! As it was, I missed my chance!!!   I SHOULD have said, "Since you PROMISED to read my story in 2005 (and yes, I have a contract in writing) and haven't managed it yet, I thought you had ENOUGH to read..." There's always NEXT year...

I also witnessed a clarification in person of "how to say 'LARA." I've heard many different pronunciations over the years. Well, this year, I heard a new one. "LAIR-ah." Now I have a great-niece named "Karaleigh" and it's pronounced "KAIR-uh-LEE," so you CAN pronounce the ARA like that... I was standing to the side of her autograph table looking at pictures of her grandson Wesley and this guy stepped up and was asking Lara to sign something for him. When he called her LAIR-ah, she very politely tried to help him pronounce it correctly. It didn't work. He still said LAIR-ah. So she said, "It's not LOR-ah and it's not LAIR-ah, it's LAR-ah." And he nodded and said, "LAIR-ah." And she said, "No, you see, it's like BARbara." So he nodded and said, "Barbara." She said, "Right. Now say Lara."   He said, "LAIR-ah." She gave him a sort of fleeting helpless grin and then asked him what he wanted her to write on the picture he had.

Sometimes, just the briefest moment can be very memorable. There was a cast reunion on stage and Lara wasn't there yet. They had announced she'd be there "momentarily" or something similar. Jonathan was sitting in a chair about center stage, Kathryn Leigh Scott was next to him, and then Jerry Lacy, I think, Marie Wallace and John Karlen. So Lara walks on stage opposite all of the chairs and the moderator goes, "Now let's welcome Lara Parker." As she walked towards the rest of the cast, she paused, as there wasn't an empty chair for her. Jonathan goes, "Just come and sit on my knee." So, with a big smile (and the look of the cat who got the canary AND the cream) she sat on Jonathan's lap for a few moments while they got her a chair. Now I can separate the actors from their roles, but sometimes, they seem to slip back into their parts, because I could have SWORN that Kathryn Leigh Scott had a rather indignant look on her face for just a split second until she laughed at something that one or the other of them said. It was a priceless moment. Sort of payback for the time when, (at his first fest in years) Jonathan was the honored guest at a small reception. As the castmates reunited, they withdrew to a corner and all sat down. Kathryn Leigh Scott made a late entrance, and Jonathan invited her to sit on his knee, to which Lara very briefly turned into a snarling Angelique-complete with hands ready to strangle her adversary-but only for moment. If you didn't have your camera already poised, too late!)

The Bewitched Skit on Saturday was a hoot, and the Gala was fun as usual. I opted not to do my Angelique song again, and was content to watch the others when I got drafted at the last minute to be the emcee for Diane and Di's Jenny and Magda song. (So what do you MEAN Judy didn't DO anything this year???? Who was it who said, "Welcome to Karaoke Night at the Blue Whale! Our next act comes from a long ways away. A Gypsy Sister Act from 1897! That IS a long ways away!!!!"(Wocka wocka!)

Sunday night after the banquet: (Did I mention the food was actually edible?)
About eight of us got on the elevator when Jerry Lacy, without Julia Duffy, stepped in.   I MIGHT have suggested out loud, once the doors closed, that we all sneak out the side entrance of the elevator (with him). Ok, I didn't exactly say "somebody grab Jerry Lacy and let's go," but it was implied. I was against the back of the elevator and he was right at the doors and he did a 180 and looked at me (and with just a HINT of Trask in his voice) went, "Are those PIRATE ears?" "I said, "Yes. Captain Jack Sparrow?   It's my salute to Johnny Depp." He just kind of turned back around with...you know that expression that Lurch used to get when he sort of went, "Ohhhhhh...." Like that. I lost track of the times I had to EXPLAIN WHY I was wearing Ears. Several people called me Minnie Mouse or Mickey or Disneyland...HELLO! Salute to Johnny Depp? Can we say Dark Shadows Movie??? Good grief. And of course, once I started wearing them, I couldn't take them off. Can we say Hat Hair?

So, as I was saying, my Fest Report starts where Diane's leaves off. That first part was just the intro. You know...Intro--the first few lines before you get to the main body? Ok, so there are MORE than a few lines. Sue me.

My After-Fest Report aka Dark Shadows Road Trip Starring Yours Truly! Oh. And um...some other people.

Monday Morning, 9AM: NINE AM????? Are you kidding me???? NO ONE SLEEPS at the FEST and ESPECIALLY NOT AFTER THE BANQUET!!!! It's the LAST NIGHT for HEAVENSAKES!!!!! You want me to GET UP an GET GOING at 9AM?????

Well, Bobubas (Bob Issel) had put the whole trip together and no, he wasn't kidding. We had an 11AM (or 11:30) tour scheduled at the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion (where they filmed (correct me if I'm wrong) the Old House scenes for the movie, "House of Dark Shadows." So we were off!!! There were 5 or 6 different cars, and I figured we'd all convene in the parking lot, but the car I was in, Jeannie, Carol, and Toni, just left. Oh well. They know what they're doing. I was a sort of last minute addition to their car.

After we had been on the road for at least 15 or 20 minutes maybe (maybe less, who knows?) we got a call from one of the cars asking WHY we weren't in the parking lot ready to go. "Um...because we're already on our way?" We were informed of a last minute change in plans. We would delay the Mansion tour in favor of eating breakfast. AH. Eating breakfast is ALWAYS a good thing. We were now supposed to stop at the El Dorado in Tarrytown. YUM. I had eaten at the El Dorado Monday morning of the '07 Fest before saying good-bye to my Fest roomies & friends, and knew the food was good. AND, seeing as how we hadn't eaten yet, I was really looking forward to it.

When we reached the El Dorado, I believe it was me (maybe not, I may have just been delirious from hunger) who suggested contacting somebody else by phone and finding out if we were supposed to make reservations for the whole group, or if we should just go ahead and eat in shifts or what. CHANGE OF PLANS. We found out we couldn't delay our Mansion tour. So food would have to wait. (Good thing I still had a "meal in a bar" thingy in my backpack.) While waving good-bye to the El Dorado without even sniffing its coffee, seeing its fresh-baked goods by the cash register, or tasting those YUMMY pancakes, I consoled myself with my meal-in-a-bar, and tried to pretend I didn't feel like a pretzel in the back seat.

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After-Fest Report ~ The Lockwood-Mathews Mansion, Monday August 17

The Lockwood-Mathews Mansion in Norwalk, Connecticut was built in 1868 by LeGrand Lockwood. After Lockwood's death in 1872, the house was partially stripped piece by piece to pay back the mortgage, but was foreclosed on in 1874. Purchased in 1876 and restored by Charles D. Mathews and his wife Rebecca, it was owned by the Mathews family until 1941 when the entire estate was sold to the City of Norwalk. It was later threatened with demolition in the 1950s! but rescued and eventually turned into the museum that you can see today. It was used for several film projects, but the one we were interested in was "House of Dark Shadows." Here in Norwalk, we met Rosalie, our tour guide, who seemed as excited to see us and we were excited to be there.

The mansion is gorgeous and Rosalie pointed out many of the breathtaking pieces of artwork, hand-carved and hand-sculpted, that were made by artisans who lived in tents on the property and paid what sounded like VERY little. The mansion is still in the process of being restored, but we got to see most of it. The upstairs bedrooms still look like what you might imagine Josette's room looked like before Barnabas started restoring it (or rather Willie...) Rosalie took us all around the house, played the huge (bigger than a bread-basket) music boxes, and answered all of our questions. As I volunteer in a local historic home (The Jack House built in the 1880s, which I refer to as "Collinwood-West"), I was particularly interested in some of the similar customs between the two houses.

In the mansion, there was a huge, round main hall (aptly named "the Rotunda) with second floor balconies all the way around. This is where Barnabas met his end in the movie. The Rotunda was also used in the remake of "The Stepford Wives" and the huge paintings that hang on the walls were provided for that movie and then gifted to the house. "House of Dark Shadows" aficionados (people who have seen the movie more than I have) kept pointing out places in the house where certain scenes were shot. "This is the staircase that Maggie walked down in her wedding dress," "this is where Jeff stood to shoot the crossbow," etc.

My favorite part of the house was the basement. Cool stone archways all along a wide main corridor which housed many different things: an ancient boiler, a wine cellar, the family vault, and an oddly bricked-up place. (Carol said, "Rev. Trask is in there!"). There was also a little grooved channel running longways along the floor. Rosalie told us it was a "ball return" for the one lane bowling alley that was down there! Sure enough, at the "top" of the long basement were individual markers as to where to reset the pins for the next set. The basement was so cool and smelled exactly like those underground crypts in cathedrals or even the old mine ride at Disneyland.

The docents (3 of them) just LOVED us and took a final picture of us all on the stairway. They said they were going to use it in their next newsletter! They were so nice and accommodating! If you ever get a chance to go to Norwalk, CT, call ahead and find out about visiting the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion. It was AWESOME!

Afterwards, we were directed to "The Brewery," a great local eatery as we were FAMISHED!!!!! At this point, once we had all ordered, we went around the looong table (and one booth) and introduced ourselves and told when we first ventured into the Dark Shadows. I sat next to Bobubas (whom I had first met in 2005 in Hollywood) and across from Angela (who I met just then). I had wanted to make "Dark Shadows Road Trip" buttons for everyone, but as usual, there just wasn't enough time to do all the stuff I wanted to do before the Fest, so instead, I went out to the car, and got my stash of buttons that had been left over from the Fest and passed them around saying that everyone was welcome to take one as a souvenir and remembrance of the day.

While we were waiting for our food, I got better acquainted with Angela. She was from Georgia and she liked Josette the best--but she was a good sport and said she'd wear one of my "Angelique Wins" buttons anyway, so I sang my Angelique song for her. After we were all full and happy (the food was GREAT! Yay, The Brewery!) we hit the road for Essex, Connecticut, the next stop on our Dark Shadows Road Trip.

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Our Dark Shadows Fest/Road Trip, Part 3

When we last left our Dark Shadows Road Trip Crew, we were wending our way towards Essex, Connecticut.

Now, a word of advice to anyone finding themselves on their way to Essex, Connecticut from Norwalk, Connecticut in the HEAT of MIDSUMMER: In your DREAMS!!!!!

And now, a word of caution, in case you insist: PLEASE make sure that if you are riding the back seat of a car that a) there�s enough leg room so you don�t feel like a sardine b) that the air conditioning system is, indeed, functional and DOES manage to cool off the BACK seat area of the car as well as the front c) that all the vents are not pointed towards the DRIVER and d) just for good measure, make SURE that your window is functional. Perhaps �d� should be the most important, because if nothing else works, at least you can roll down your window and either vent your frustrations or attempt an escape. Mapquest says that it takes only ONE hour and 19 minutes. My personal experience says it is more like NINETEEN HOURS and ONE minute.

Now. Where was I? Oh yes. Essex, Connecticut. This is a charming little town. Sort of looks like what you might think Mayberry looks like (only without Andy, or Barney, or Goober, etc.) I must remember to look up Essex on a map. It�s not on an island, but everywhere you look, there seems to be water. You leave the water and drive away and cross a few streets, go into another neighborhood and there it is again!

So. There we were in Essex, Connecticut. We had turned on to what seemed like one of the main streets and we all began to look for parking (because the lead car was parking) so we figured this was our next stop (we were perceptive like that). We followed the crowd of all of us getting out of our respective cars (after a short tirade from a certain person about �there HAS to be room in somebody ELSE�s CAR. I�m DYING here� to which everyone responded by admiring the buildings and taking photographs and pointing out things of interest).

Once we had all congregated, we discovered that we were in front of the Collinsport Sheriff�s Office (also called Collinsport Jail on occasion). So, as Sophia would say, �Picture it: beautiful downtown Essex, Connecticut. A group of locals (which most certainly includes at least several young peasant girls) are casually spending the afternoon at a local tavern when a crowd amasses in front of the post office across the street and begins taking pictures of the building, and then pictures of each other individually, and then as a group. They even managed to get the local postmaster to take a picture of them all.�

We must have been a sight! I don�t know if the postmaster ever told them later what was going on, but we were certainly a source of entertainment. You can imagine what was going on inside the tavern: �Look at those people out there taking pictures of the post office! Have you ever seen anything like it?� �Oh, don�t look now, they�re looking in!� �Now they�re all posing for a group picture. What is this? A low-budget vacation? Let�s tour all the Post Offices in Connecticut!� LOL!

Bobubas (Bob Issel, our fearless leader) struck up a conversation with the local PostMaster who had come outside to see what was going on and told him all about the show and how they used outside location shots. The PostMaster guy said he had no idea that the post office was used for that. He pointed down the street to where the local Historical Society had an office (unfortunately, it was closed) and said, �I wonder if they know about this!� I quickly inducted him into the Collinsport Historical Society by giving him a button and said, �Well, now you can tell them!� After that, we all took all the pictures there were to take. �Great shot!� �Oh good, now use MY camera!� �Mine next!� �Now use mine!� �Here�s mine!� �Hey, nobody move! I had to put a battery in mine! Ok, smile! Ok, wait. One more just to make sure!�

While Bob went off to the Evans cottage to see if Maggie and Sam were home (don�t worry about that pesky part of the show where Sam died, come on! This is Dark Shadows!!!!) we moved on to Important Things like finding some WATER or some other COLD liquids and snacky type foods. (Remember, THIS is a road trip. You eat whenever and whatever you can because you never know how long you will once again be sandwiched IN the car.) We sat outside the 7/11 in a shade area trying to ignore the heat and waited for Bob to return. He came back soon with news that the folks who owned the house weren�t home, and since it was on a dead end street, we�d have to be careful and respectful as to things like how many cars went down the street at once and how there wasn�t really any parking and that we didn�t want to disturb the neighbors.

Only a few streets away, we found an inn or restaurant or some big building with a large parking lot so a few of us parked there while others found parking near by. We figured it was more neighborhood friendly to have a dozen or more people walk down the street than have a motor parade circling and all contriving to make a U turn at the dead end. We walked down a slight incline to the end of the street (there was water beyond the dead end) and there was the Evans cottage! Well, no, Maggie and Sam weren�t home, but they had some very nice neighbors�and one crabby one who came out of her house on Bob�s last pilgrimage. Bob pointed to her house and a neighbor laughed and said, �Yes, she still lives there� so we avoided going up and ringing her doorbell to say, �We�re BAAAACK!!!!� Truthfully, we did a good job being very low key. Well, as low key as a bunch of people can be who are excitedly taking picture after picture of a certain house on the end of the street.

After that, it was down to the local marina (more water!). This was where the outside scene was shot where Roger walks to his office at the cannery and gives a wave to someone on one of the boats. And last, but not least, we went back up the hill to The Griswold Inn (aka Collinsport Inn/Diner) for dinner. It�s much bigger than it looks! We took tons of pictures of the outside. I claimed the street post on the corner as MY corner (cause I still had to make enough money to get home, LOL!) and there are pictures to prove it (that I claimed the corner, not in the actual exchange of monies). Unfortunately, Carol and Valerie did a much better job of looking sexy on MY corner. Oh well. It�s not ALL in the packaging, is it?

Dinner at the Diner! Or the Inn. Sometimes people ate at the INN and sometimes they ate at the DINER. Go figure. We had one big long table in a back room (notice they put us in the BACK ROOM...enough said). I looked at the menu (which was a bit pricey by MY standards. Heck, by my standards, the 99cent two taco deal at Jack in the Box is pricey!) Anyway, I looked at the sandwich menu first, but didn�t want to make a scene sniffing my sandwich to see if the mayonnaise was fresh, so I opted for a couple of side dishes. I had green beans, mashed potatoes, and mushrooms. And also some DELICIOUS Boston brown steamed bread. Or Boston steamed brown bread. Either way, it was WONDERFUL. They left little bread baskets for every few people with white and brown bread and I tactfully waited til everybody had a piece before I dived in for seconds. And thirds. And...well, once Carol was talking on her phone and I asked Jeannie to trade our empty basket for Carol�s half-full one and she didn�t seem to notice, so yay, more bread! I didn�t actually go around the entire table and take inventory of each bread baskets, but it was very tempting. I didn�t want to leave any of that yummy brown bread behind.

Once we had eaten, we went outside and took MORE pictures. It was getting sort of dark by now, but I had NO IDEA what time it was. BACK into the car! On to Rhode Island!!!!

It was crazy getting there. All I remember is this narrow highway where they were doing road construction in the dark. Flares, weird lights and cars driving the wrong way on the road. Very Entertaining. At least it served to keep Jeannie (the driver) awake! Another ENDLESS DRIVE (I think we crossed the International Date Line at least once, if not SEVERAL portals into parallel time). FINALLY we reached our destination!!!! There it was!!!! Right there on the Highway!!!!!

Oh. No. Not Collinwood. Motel 6!!! Seems like it took forever and a day to check in, and our rooms were all scattered. Some people went upstairs and we got downstairs. It almost seemed like anybody who had a BIG SUITCASE to lug got �upstairs.� And no elevators. Darn! And I got used to operating the elevator in the hotel at the fest. It was fun. There was this one girl who ALWAYS got on when I was already in the elevator. About the 4th time she saw me, she laughed. �You�re ALWAYS on here!� I said, �That�s my job! I didn�t come for the Fest, I�m here to ride the elevator!!!� As people got off, I always told them, �Thanks for riding with us!� and once the elevator started down, I�d go, �Thanks for riding Otis Elevators! If we begin to plunge to our deaths, please feel free to throw yourself spread-eagled on the floor to brace for impact.� Too bad it wasn�t a longer way down. I usually never got my whole speech out. Anyway, Motel 6 had no elevators. So no speech. Again.

Well, by now it was 12:30 am. That�s right. Half-past the witching hour. So you�d THINK we would have collapsed in our beds, right? WRONG!!!! Because NOW it was the time to count heads and round up the Collinwood Virgins (which included yours truly) and go on a short drive to the grounds of Collinwood.

Next time! The Collinwood Virgin Ceremony (well, not the ACTUAL ceremony, THAT is secret) and COLLINWOOD by night in all her glory!!!!!! And in the daytime, too!

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The Continuing Saga of the Afterfest Road Trip, or "At long last...the missing manuscript has been recovered!"

From last time:

On to Rhode Island!!!!

It was crazy getting there. All I remember is this narrow highway where they were doing road construction in the dark. Flares, weird lights and cars driving the wrong way on the road. Very Entertaining. At least it served to keep Jeannie (the driver) awake! Another ENDLESS DRIVE (I think we crossed the International Date Line at least once, if not SEVERAL portals into parallel time). FINALLY we reached our destination!!!! There it was!!!! Right there on the Highway!!!!!

Oh. No. Not Collinwood. Motel 6!!! Seems like it took forever and a day to check in, and our rooms were all scattered. Some people went upstairs and we got downstairs. It almost seemed like anybody who had a BIG SUITCASE to lug got 'upstairs.' And no elevators. Darn! And I got used to operating the elevator in the hotel at the fest. It was fun. There was this one girl who ALWAYS got on when I was already in the elevator. About the 4th time she saw me, she laughed. "You're ALWAYS on here!" I said, "That's my job! I didn't come for the Fest, I'm here to ride the elevator!!!" As people got off, I always told them, "Thanks for riding with us!" and once the elevator started down, I'd go, "Thanks for riding Otis Elevators! If we begin to plunge to our deaths, please feel free to throw yourself spread-eagled on the floor to brace for impact." Too bad it wasn't a longer way down. I usually never got my whole speech out. Anyway, Motel 6 had no elevators. So no speech. Again.

Well, by now it was 12:30 am. That's right. Half-past the witching hour. So you'd THINK we would have collapsed in our beds, right? WRONG!!!! Because NOW it was the time to count heads and round up the Collinwood Virgins (which included yours truly) and go on a short drive to the grounds of Collinwood.

Next time! The Collinwood Virgin Ceremony (well, not the ACTUAL ceremony, THAT is secret) and COLLINWOOD by night in all her glory!!!!!! And in the daytime, too!

Here, unfortunately, the manuscript breaks off and seems to take a journey into parallel time where there's talk of "losing a notebook." Sort of like that scene in Journey to the Center of the Earth where they get near the magnetic center and everything starts flying away, wedding rings, gold teeth and...the entire log of the journey. After that, there's talk of mice and Hastily Dumping Everything Into a Veritable Plethora of Plastic Containers. Some time after that, the Celebrated Notebook was Discovered, lost again, and then Re-Discovered. (My notebook, not Professor Lindenbrook's.)

So, to continue...

When we last left our crazy crowd of...I mean, our brave and adventurous travelers, it was time to round up the Virgins and prepare for the Collinwood Virgin Ceremony. Bobubas and Guy Haines (who videos parts of the Fest) were in charge and have helped many Collinwood Virgins over the years to "cross over" to the land of the initiated. (A Collinwood Virgin is someone who has NOT SEEN Collinwood aka Seaview/The Carey Mansion in all its glory, not...well, you get my drift.)

We felt like we had been travelling all day and it was now even later than 12:30AM (or earlier, depending on how you want to look at it). We were given the option of going straight to our rooms instead and waiting until the next day after breakfast, but I, and several others, said "No Way." If somebody (or somebodies: Bob and Guy) were going to go to the trouble to make this moment incredibly memorable (as if seeing Collinwood itself wasn't enough...) I was CERTAINLY NOT going to miss it.

So we straggled BACK OUT of our motel, and got into several vehicles and proceeded off in the dark of night. Once through town, we turned off of a main street and quite suddenly there were mansions on both sides of the road. Sort of like we had stumbled on to Wisteria Lane, only everybody was a Vanderbilt. Or Rockefeller. It was on this road that the first of the preparations for the Collinwood Virgin Ceremony took place as I was told to close my eyes. We drove on for what seemed like a few minutes and the car slowed and then came to a stop. I was told that I could open my eyes to see my way out of the car, but ONLY if I stared at the ground, and then to shut them again. We had to wait for a minute or two because only one virgin at a time could be escorted...somewhere...through something. "Watch your step." "Be careful." "Hold on to me."

I shall not disclose the actual contents of the ceremony, but quite suddenly a familiar piece of music caught my ear and plaintive narrative about weary travelers began. Then it happened.

"Virgins, open your eyes!"

And there it was. Right in front of me. Collinwood. In all her glory. Standing against the darkness, yet part of the darkness, some of the same old familiar windows glowing with light despite the late hour. It was actually there. And it was real. After years of looking at the same familar silhouette with its various architectural flourishes, I was now standing only a short distance across the lawn from Collinwood-OUR Collinwood. At that moment, it was difficult to put my feelings into words. It was as if Collinwood had just materialized in front of me like Brigadoon...or like one of those tantalizing desert mirages just out of reach.

Those of you who don't know me should know I'm a very emotional person. For a moment, I had no words. I'd say "I couldn't believe it" after all those years of seeing the house on the show, not really thinking about the fact that it was an actual house and not just a large set on a sound stage, but there it was right in front of me, defying disbelief. Bob and Guy's "ceremony" set the stage and Collinwood was the star of the show. It was so incredible. I felt like I was going to cry, but, as I was with a small group of people, most of whom I'd only met that day, (and not wanting them to think I was a dweeb) didn't say anything and just stood there. My new friend Angela (the one who likes Josette best, but wore my Angie Wins button anyway) said, "I think I'm going to cry!" I said, "Really? I thought it was just me." So we hugged each other and sniffed and grinned and Bob said we could walk over to the house as long as we were quiet because the Careys might be home and the students might be back in the dorms (the mansion had served as a dormitory for the last 34 years) and we didn't want to disturb anyone. But we did want to get a closer look. And feel. How could you be that close and not want to touch it? Just to make sure it wasn't going to vanish in thin air...

So we did. The grass was very thick-and wet-but nobody cared. The first thing I touched was the wall below "Vicki's" stairs and then the wall beneath the solarium windows. WOW. As in, "I'm here. I'm really here." (In retrospect, I probably looked like Spock trying to mind meld with the building.)

Reluctantly, we eventually drifted back to our respective cars, and went back to the motel. By the time we wound down from our eventful day and emotional night, it was nearly 3:30AM and, upon hearing the hour, we collapsed on our respective beds.

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"We Visit Collinwood by Day...and are Invited Inside..."

The day started out in a sort of "hurry up and wait" mode. I forget what time we were supposed to assemble to go to a well-known local establishment, "The Creamery," but it was one of those times when Other People did not realize that, "Be ready by 10, MEANT that 10 was really the time we were shooting for. Not 10:30 or 10:45... (At least I think it was 10. I don't remember. I was operating on Very Little Sleep, as were my roommates, and probably most everybody else). Well, FINALLY everybody wandered into the parking lot and we headed off for The Creamery.

Don't know about everybody else, but I was anticipating a HUGE breakfast. Not that I'm a food hog, but it's a lesson well-learned at the Fest (which has NO FOOD BREAKS), so you go OUT to breakfast if you can manage it, and eat EVERYTHING, because you never know when you'll eat again! So, as I knew we were going to "Collinwood" (aka The Carey Mansion), I was hoping we would stay for a LONG visit and not run off after an hour or so because we needed lunch.

When we got to The Creamery, we found we had overshot breakfast. And it's one of those places that does NOT serve breakfast AFTER lunch starts. Strangely enough...you could STILL get a waffle. And a scrambled egg on the side. But you couldn't get a side of bacon. But you COULD get a hamburger with a fried egg AND bacon in the middle. So if you wanted bacon, unless you were willing to pay for a burger and then tell them, "Hold everything except the bacon," you were out of luck. So, after much adieu (not to mention MUCH picture-taking) we figured out the menu and everybody was full and happy.

At some point, Bob left to check and see if the Careys were home. When he came back, he reported that he had talked to the handy man, whom he knew from previous visits. The good news was that the Careys were in town, but the bad news was that they weren't home right now, thus the possibility that we might not be able to actually go INSIDE. The handy man offered that while he couldn't let us inside without the Careys being home, that he knew their daughter Denise was on the grounds somewhere, and if he saw her, he'd tell her that we were here. Before we left The Creamery, Bob reminded us that we might not get to go inside the house once we got there. I don't think anybody minded. "At least we can still see the OUTSIDE. THAT is Collinwood. And that's what we came to see." There was also the Cliff Walk where you could walk along to Widow's Hill (which is actually about 5 feet high) and the beach and the grounds. The drivers all got directions (because not everyone had been the night before, and some of us had gone with our eyes closed, so could not be relied upon for flawless navigation) and we were on our way.

Down the aforementioned "upscale Wisteria Lane," and soon we were pulling into a small parking lot that was next to The House. We assembled at the front doors-just like the double doors on the show-that were under the porte cochere (fancy name for covered drive). This was where they actually filmed a scene or two with Roger talking to the sheriff/getting out of the car. After the show went "color," all of our cool outdoor shots were not used again and never again did we see the "front" side of the house.

It wasn't until a few years ago when I saw someone else's pictures of their visit to Collinwood that I found out the familiar view of the house is really the BACK side. I had just imagined that the big double doors were in there somewhere, and had no clue, because I didn't see those early episodes. So you MAY notice (if you read my story) that MY Collinwood has the back view as the FRONT side of the house. I did consult a layout that Bobubas had posted online, (but it didn't indicate which was the front) and figured out I would probably have to fudge here and there to make the interior shots of the house coincide with the REAL outside view, but once I found out, I decided just to leave it using the view everyone knows. I don't know if they ever shot any actual scenes from the show inside the house (one of our Trivia Captains could probably tell you that) but I do know that they did a promotional shot in the music room with Victoria and David and Roger.

I'm sure I don't have to say that by now, as we were at the front door, that everyone's cameras were out and we were talking group pictures and buddy pictures and best friends pictures and individual pictures of EVERYONE at the front door. By the time the picture-taking frenzy at the front door had wound down, we began looking at the front side of the house. Once again, at some point, Bob vanished and we began to suspect he had discovered a portal to parallel time. Someone offered that perhaps he had gone off to find the handy man or to see if there was any sign yet of the Careys or Denise.

Suddenly, the big front doors opened, and a pretty blonde told us, "Welcome! Come on in, everyone!" Standing right next to her, and grinning for all he was worth, was our own Bobubas.

"Some greeting, huh?" he said excitedly. "There you are, standing at the front door, not knowing if you're going to get to go in, and suddenly the door opens, and you're all invited inside! How cool is THAT???" We all just sort of nodded eagerly, but we didn't say much because it was all just a little surreal. I do remember saying "hi" to Denise and "thank you," but for a few minutes nobody said much. In retrospect, we must have looked like kids in a candy store, walking in, looking all around and ooh-ing and ah-ing at every turn.

Somebody asked if the college kids were back from summer vacation and that's when Denise told us that the college's lease was up and that the students would not be back, "So feel free to go exploring. Take as long as you like. Enjoy yourselves!"

Wow. OK. FIRST we SEE Collinwood. THEN, we get INVITED INSIDE. NOW, we get to WANDER AROUND on our OWN???? Amazing.

"OK, that's it," Toni (one of my roommates) teased. "I can now die happy."

....................

The Last Part of the AfterFest Road Trip, In Which Judy & Sunny's Collinwood Buttons Are a Hit, We Go Exploring, We Unsuccessfully Look for a Pen on The Beach, Everyone is Invited Back to Party That Same Night, and Judy Makes An Announcement."

Earlier that morning (while waiting for the stray Road Trippers to assemble for breakfast) I had given Bob one of my "Collinwood" buttons to thank him for the "Virgin Ceremony" of the previous night and for organizing the trip. If you haven't seen the button, it's is a picture of Collinwood, taken by Sunny, with the words "Be It Ever So Humble" around the top and "There's No Place Like Home" on the bottom. Bob said he hoped the Careys were home because "they would just love this." I was running out of my buttons, but I managed to find one more. When we first went inside the house, he showed his button to Denise and she really liked it, so I gave her the one I had. She was really sweet and thanked me, and said that's how she felt about the house.

A few of us got into a conversation with Denise about what they were going to do with the house now that the students weren't there. Denise said that they were going to start renovating bit by bit and someone came up with the idea that Johnny Depp might want to know the house was available as a location for the new movie. One of our group said they were going to see about contacting him and then we started talking about "wouldn't this be a great place for a party? Or weekend event? Denise said she thought her father and mother would be up for something like that and our ideas just sort of took off. We also spent a little bit of time getting to know one of the family dogs. His name was Rudolfo and he was a mastiff-a HUGE breed, but he was a big slobbery teddy bear. He was a hit with everybody.

Mr. and Mrs. Carey showed up about then. They were a great couple. He was fun and she was really sweet like her daughter. They were thrilled about the buttons and I managed to find two more so now they each had one. I told Mr. Carey about Mike's picture of the house and how it was outlined with lights. Unfortunately, I didn't have any of the new buttons left, but I explained what it looked like and I told him that I'd get another one made and send it to him. They talked to us a little while and assured us that it was fine to just go exploring in the house and to have a good time. I thought that was an excellent suggestion and I set off in search of the solarium.

While I'm off on my own exploring (we'll get back to me in a minute), let me now tell you just a little about the structure of the house as opposed to "our" house. The Carey Mansion does have Collinwood's big double doors, and the doors are on the very right most corner of the house under the covered drive, but inside is where the differences begin. There's a whole entry room once you come in the doors that's separated from the foyer by a wrought iron gate, then there's the foyer with several hallways leading off to the left. Most of the house has been converted to dormitory rooms with the entryway and foyer leading to the HUGE expanse of the drawing room. The college used the drawing room for concerts and recitals so there were many, many chairs and music stands still scattered all about. The lease was actually up at the end of August 2009, so when we were there, the college still had about two weeks left to get all of their stuff out.

One thing that's definitely not the same as on the show is the HUGE drawing room. If you look at the actual picture of the house, EVERYTHING past the tower is one big huge room. With TWO HUGE fireplaces opposite each other. The "terrace" (without a fountain) runs along most of the backside of the house, and the big windows with the rounded tops on the right hand side of the familiar picture of the house is the solarium. On the second floor above the solarium is sort of a suite by itself (not a kitchen or anything, but several rooms together. There is even an outside patio on the second floor that you can't see from the picture.

The tower room on the second floor was interesting in that it had this weird second door. If you were going down the hall (in the direction of the drawing room) you'd see this doorway with a few steps going UP into the tower room. Once inside the tower room, if you turn to your left and look over your shoulder, there's another door. But don't think that's JUST another door. If you open it, you will find that you are now standing about four feet ABOVE the hallway. It looks just like a loading dock when the door is open. I have NO IDEA why it was built that way or what purpose it served.

It seemed like we were in the house for hours and hours, but I didn't want to leave. But there were other things to see. I did want to go down to Widow's Hill and the Cliff Walk. As I said earlier, Widow's Hill is really only about 5 or 6 feet down, and I managed to find a foothold here and there as I made my way down to the beach. The water was surprisingly warm-well, not really warm, but not cold. Then again, it WAS August. There were a few of us, milling about in different places. Once I called out, "Hey! Has anybody seen my PEN? I lost a pen down here and can't find it!" LOL! Everybody laughed. (Never did find that silly pen.)

It was easier going down than coming back up, but I managed and got back on the path. I thought about going down the Cliff Walk, a scenic pathway along the backside of several different houses along the cliffs, but Collinwood was calling me, so I went back down the narrow road, and in through the break in the hedge and saw the familiar sight once again. If you're standing on the grounds looking at the house in that same vantage point (the usual one), to your left there's a HUGE oak tree that gives a wonderful amount of shade (and a good place to rest if you're not in the best shape and have just traversed Widow's Hill and come back up the path).

After resting for a few minutes, I had to see the house once again. I had no idea when we would be leaving, and I really hadn't even seen the front side since we were at the big double doors. So I took Jeannie's camera with me and added to the kazillion shots she had already taken and then, around to the backside again where I met up with a few others of our group. By now it was probably some time in the afternoon, and it was probably time to go grab a late lunch, but nobody wanted to leave. We did leave eventually, and had dinner at The Black Pearl (that served as the outside for the Blue Whale) but really don't even remember leaving the house in the afternoon,. By the time we left, I was REALLY hungry, but I was also on Cloud 9. I had just found out that we had been invited back to party in the Drawing Room after dinner!!! WOO HOO!!!! Party at COLLINWOOD!!!! Does it get any better?????

When we came back to the house that night, it was around 9 or so I think. Or maybe 10. And we had to be quiet, because any noise outside and Rudolfo would do his impression of the Hound of the Baskervilles. So can you imagine my dilemma? You are INVITED to COLLINWOOD and CAN'T make ANY noise upon arrival????? WHAT do you DO? You should have seen me! OK, imagine me doing my Marcel Marceau impression demonstrating extreme excitement by gesturing wildly to the building, to the stained glass windows we were passing, to the covered drive, to the double doors without making a sound. I was about to do an encore when the doors opened (again) and we were ushered inside.

We spent the next few hours just hanging out, drinking water, soda pop and beer (it was a very impromptu party) and talking with each other, and with Denise and her boyfriend Chris, all the while marvelling WHERE we WERE.

At one point, I borrowed someone's cell phone, and called an old high school friend, Stephanie, who was my Dark Shadows Companion throughout the duration of the show even to the very last day. We used to watch the show every day (at our respective homes) and then get on the phone and talk for the next hour and half ABOUT what we had just seen. We only had ONE phone, too. Looking back, I'm amazed I wasn't told to GET OFF THE PHONE. LOL!

Anyway, I dialed Stephanie's number (It was late, Diane. You were in bed by then). When she answered, I said excitedly, "YOU WILL NEVER GUESS WHERE I'M CALLING FROM!!!! IN A MILLION YEARS, you will never guess where I'm calling from...ok, MAYBE in a million years, you might come up with it, but..." And she (obviously used to dealing with me) deadpanned into the phone. "All right. I'll never guess. Where ARE you calling from?"

"The DRAWING ROOM of COLLINWOOD!!!!"

To which she replied, "Oh, you ARE NOT!!!!!"

"I SO AM!!!!!!" I told her. "SERIOUSLY!!!" Then I thrust the phone at Toni (whose cell phone it was) and Carol and said, "TELL HER WHERE WE ARE!!!!" Then I proceeded to explain to her WHERE in relation to the familiar view I was. "OK, you know, if you were here, and you'd walk all the way to the left side of the house and then disappear around the corner, and walk down a ways, you would see me standing in the window. Look! I'm waving at you now!" OK, she was suitably impressed, and did believe us.

We spent the rest of the time (we left by about 1AM or so) getting to know each other and talking about Our Plans. We had gone from wanting to contact Johnny Depp about filming the movie in "our" house to using the house for some kind of fundraiser and what shape was the fundraiser going to take? Somebody mentioned that fans would totally be interested in visiting the house. We mentioned tours, events, and somebody, maybe it was Bob, said, "Oh, Halloween DEFINITELY. Can you imagine a Halloween Party at Collinwood? Oh, we've got to plan this! Hey! A Halloween SLEEPOVER!!!! YEAH!!!!" And everybody joined in.

"Oh, that would be soooo incredibly cool!"

"Yeah, but there's not enough time to do it right."

"We'd have to advertise and present the idea at the Festival. We'd need to give people plenty of time to make plans!"

"But we could totally DO this!!!!"

"Hey! How about this! There isn't time to REALLY organize, but we're all here. We're interested! Why don't WE have a party THIS Halloween? To kick off the whole thing, you know? There's not that many of us. We'd be like a trial run!"

"We really couldn't advertise, and we'd probably have to keep it sort of quiet for now, because we are really limited numbers-wise."

"But we could still charge, well, enough to make it worthwhile for the Careys, and...we could also have a planning meeting at the same time for future events!"

"Well, Denise, what do you think?"

"I think it's a great idea! I'll talk to my folks, but I know they'll be interested!"

"Hey! No fair," I said. " What about me? I live in California! All you guys live here, or at least closer. I barely got my plane fare for the FEST. I can't get ANOTHER round trip ticket by October."

"Oh, really? Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I'm sure. Oh well. I can't complain. This day has been incredible!"

"But you're still part of "our committee. And you can plan for next year."

"Yeah, that's right."

The next morning (early) I got on a bus that took me away from Newport, away from my beloved Collinwood, and on to my genealogy buds in North Attleboro and New York. I didn't go home for another week, and while I knew that coming back in only a few months time was a completely ridiculous and absurd idea, there was a little spark inside of me that said, "Hmm...maybe."

I don't know when I decided that I WAS going. I mean, come on. FIRST SLEEPOVER at COLLINWOOD? FOR HALLOWEEN?? DARK SHADOWS HISTORY IN THE MAKING??? And I didn't just HEAR about it. I was THERE when we decided on it. I HAD A COVETED SPOT. I started thinking about it as a possibility and the more it seemed possible, the more possible it got.

Sooooo, ladies and gentlemen, to make a long story short (which I usually avoid at all costs) that is WHY I will not be at the costume chat next Friday. I LOVE the costume chat. And I will miss you all. But I'm going to a Halloween Party and a Sleepover. At Collinwood.

Judy