Last Saturday, I attended the Barry Manilow concert at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. My memories of Barry go way back to the ’70s, when my mom would play his records while cleaning the house on Saturday mornings. I love playing his ballads on the piano, and I still remember the words to his greatest hits. I gleefully sang along with my fellow Fanilows to all the songs, which just kept coming all night—Mandy, Weekend in New England, Looks Like We Made It, American Bandstand, and many more, ending, of course, with the grand finale: Copacabana.
Throughout the evening, Barry—who is 82 years old, by the way—sang, played the piano, danced, changed costumes, and told stories about growing up as the child of a single mother in Brooklyn. In particular, he highlighted his special relationship with his grandfather, who encouraged Barry’s musical talent.
What a delight and inspiration to see this American treasure—a consummate professional—deliver such a joyful and entertaining concert packed with pizzazz, authenticity, musicality, warmth, gratitude, grace, energy, and compassion. For the hour and a half that he performed, we all forgot about what was going on outside the performance hall and enjoyed the “True Blue Spectacle” that is Barry Manilow.
In addition to his stellar performances, Barry’s legacy project is The Manilow Music Project, which, according to the website, “empowers underfunded school music programs to provide quality music education. By donating instruments and equipment and providing scholarships nationwide, the project gives disadvantaged young people the opportunity to experience community, passion, and creativity through the gift of music.” To date, the Manilow Music Project has given away approximately ten million dollars in instruments and scholarships.
At our Seattle concert, Barry honored Ethan Thomas, a music teacher at West Seattle High School. Barry had Ethan stand up and announced that he would be receiving $10,000 for the school’s music program! Bravo! In his tribute to Ethan, Barry commented, “Music will change a young person’s life.” Indeed!
Though we usually think of an intermezzo as a short piece of music, or a musical break between two acts, another definition according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary: a usually brief interlude or diversion. I just returned from a SwimTrek Vacation in Baja California Sur to the protected island sanctuary and Unesco World Heritage site of la Isla Espiritu Santo located about an hour’s boat ride from La Paz nestled in the Gulf of California. This was my first, of what I hope will be many trips with SwimTrek. My companions and newfound friends were 11 other swimmers from the U.S., Canada, The Netherlands, England, and Germany. We were accompanied by three swim guides, 2 boat captains, and 4 other staff members who cooked delicious food, and kept our camp sight beautiful and welcoming. The vacation included spectacular open water swimming (around 5 kilometers a day), a swim with sea lions, views of a magnificent frigatebird colony, diving brown pelicans, technicolor sunsets, delicious food, spectacular night skies and a beautiful beach and swimming cove literally a few yards away from our tents. Eat, Swim, Sleep, Rinse and Repeat!
A SWIMTREK DIARY
Day 1: I took a red eye flight from Seattle to La Paz (with a stop over in Guadalajara) with Volaris Airlines.
Approaching La Paz on Volaris Airlines Photo taken by Laura Dean
Day 2: Arrived midday at Hotel Catedral in La Paz after a short taxi ride from the airport. Explored the tranquil streets of La Paz on foot and ambled along the Melecon (a sidewalk that skirts the beach and coastline along the Gulf of California (also known as the Sea of Cortez).
A tranquil street in La Paz with a view of the water. Photo by Laura Dean
Day 3: Visited the Art Museum of La Paz and met my fellow swim trekkers and swim guides for an orientation and safety meeting in the late afternoon. Early to bed as the next day we will load our two pangas (small boats) and sail to the protected island of Espiritu Santo where our camp will be set up for us.
Mural in the La Paz Art Museum depicting the history of the region. Photo taken by Laura Dean
Day 4: Adios La Paz. After breakfast at the hotel, we load the boats along with our duffle bags and head toward our camp on Espiritu Santo. We stop along the way for our first swim. I’m blown away by the abundant undersea life including colorful tropical fish and beautiful coral reefs. We are separated into our swim groups and given colorful swim caps so the swim guides can easily identify our groups. I am in the pink group which we nickname the Barbies! On our very first swim, we encounter jelly fish and sea lice which are invisible baby jelly fish that sting like crazy. From then on, I decide to wear my wet suit. Luckily, I threw it into my duffle bag at the last minute. We all have a great time getting to know each other during our boat commute. After our first big swim, we head to our campsite for lunch and to unpack our belongings in our tents. The staff has thought of everything, including cozy tent accommodations, an impressive pair of compostable toilets, hand washing stations, a solar shower, a solar powered charging station for cameras and phones (there is no wifi on the island), a dining area, and a kitchen where the staff churns out one delicious meal after another. In the afternoon, after a short siesta, we head out into the bay for a shorter swim before happy hour and dinner.
My swim group before boarding the boats for our ride to Espiritu Santo.
Day 5: Slept like a rock on the first night at the campsite. Breakfast, then we load up the pongas for zipping off to a new swim site. Swim. Back to the campsite for lunch and siesta followed by more swimming. We have the usual happy hour accompanied by spectacular sunset viewing followed by dinner, and most of us are in bed by 8:00 which is called the Baja Midnight. As there is no electricity on the beach and in our campsite, we experience a peaceful early bedtime. I read for an hour before drifting off to sleep while the waves gently roll onto the beach outside of the tent. I am in swimming heaven!
Day 6: Breakfast, trip to swim with sea lions, lunch, siesta, more swimming, dinner, and we entertain ourselves with improv games. A favorite was the three-headed guru! We stay awake past 8:00 pm so that Said, our trusty swim guide, who resides in La Paz, can give us an astronomy lecture. He outlines the twinkling constellations with his powerful laser pointer, and tells us stories about Orion and Cassiopeia. After the star lecture, we head back to our tents for a night of celestial sleep. I hear a scratch at my tent thinking that something is scraping the nylon walls from the outside, but then the scratching becomes more persistent and louder and after turning on my headlamp, I realize a ring tailed cat, known in the Baja as babisuri, is peering at me from a corner of my tent, looking very cute, but very wild. Scott and Said, two of the swim guides, are nearby and help me usher the visitor out of my tent. A couple hours later, Hannah and Jules have two babisuris in their tent which they manage to get out on their own with a lot of giggling!
Babisuri from analisisbcs.com
Our camp staff along with Said. They put their heart and soul into the cooking, driving the boats, and taking care of the camp site!
Day 7: Thanksgiving. After breakfast and our morning swim meeting, our trusty head swim guide, Jamie, informs us that rather than running a Turkey Trot (as we’re swimmers, not runners), we will be swimming a 5k. Ok! sounds good to us, we load up the pangas and head to a beautiful series of coves where we swim in, out and around and eventually make our way back to camp via the water highway. Our guides coax us on from their kayaks with water breaks and giving us some gummy bear candies along the way. In the evening, we share our final meal, and we recognize the amazing staff for all of their hard work!
Brown Pelican diving for fish at sunset, video taken by Laura Dean
Day 8: Sadly, we pack up our duffle bags, eat breakfast and head out on the pangas. We make our way back to La Paz with two swims along the way. Back in La Paz, we have ice cream and head back to the hotel where we have our first shower in several days. We meet up in the evening for a family style meal at a lovely restaurant in La Paz. We say our good byes and head back to our hotel. Good bye friends!
Day 9: I fly from La Paz to Guadalajara to Seattle. Home sweet home. I’m already dreaming of my next SwimTrek Vacation which I hope will be an annual event.
It’s June, the garden looks fabulous, and exciting music projects are in the works. Just a quick note to let you know I’ve revamped my wedding and special event offerings page. I’m available, that is, musically speaking! Check out my new page here!
Laura playing Sunday Kind of Love by Louis Prima:
I want a Sunday kind of love A love to last past Saturday night I’d like to know it’s more than love at first sight I want a Sunday kind of love
