Fri –6 Jan/17

Friday morning was a “do nothing” morning – or at least only do little.

A few items were transferred to the “Going Home” compartment outside. These are items that we will be taking home in the car when we return to renew our out-of-country insurance. After remaining 24 hours in our home province we receive another 95 days of coverage. The cost of returning home is much less than the cost of adding the additional coverage. The additional 95 days (after the 24 hr stay) is free compared to paying thousands for the same number of days of coverage. Besides, returning gives us a chance to visit family and friends. We are enjoying it here; but we do miss them.

Wally’s Garage (Tavares, FL) picked us up at the park just after lunch. Charlotte returned with me so that we could go from there to do a little shopping, go out for supper and then to the Herman’s Hermit concert in the Villages.

The car now has all new engine belts for the power steering, A/C and alternator. They were pretty well done even though they were only 22 years old and had only done over 500,000 km of service (grin).  It also has new rear brake pads and a engine tune-up. The motor always ran well. Now it has returned to being “as smooth as butter”. Wally did an excellent job!

First stop was Jo-Ann’s, also in Tavares. Charlotte picked up 4 pillow forms for an upcoming project she will be working on during craft days at the park.

I had an enjoyable conversation with Pershing. He noticed our Ontario license plate and asked where we lived. He lived for a period in Orillia, ON. I noticed he had a “Tuskegee Airmen” Patch on his jacket. This was the popular name of a group of African-American military pilots who fought as a unit in World War II. Today the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site is a U.S. National Park in Tuskegee, AL. It is on our list of places we want to visit.

Next, we were headed to “The Villages”. Usually, we take the “Back Way” from OMS; however since we were already in Tavares, we continued on Hwy 441. Naturally, we had the “Top Off” so we could enjoy the sunshine and great weather. We would have just enough time to have a meal before going to the 5 p.m. Herman’s Hermit’s show.

The Lady Lake section of “The Villages” has virtually every chain restaurant imaginable. We wanted a “Sit-Down” meal rather than “Fast Food”; however we also needed  quick service. I decided the “Cracker Barrel” that was fairly close to our concert destination would be the best choice.

After ordering, Charlotte went to the “Country Store” in case there was something there that she didn’t know she needed. There was – she found a neat “Ball Cap” that had a more feminine profile for wearing in the Del Sol when the top is off.

 

Meanwhile, I tried to solve the Triangle puzzle that is available at every Cracker Barrel table. Today I solved it on the first try! Usually I get it down to 2 pegs remaining and solve it occasionally. Of course, Charlotte was in the store at the time and didn’t get to see my masterful maneuvering.

 

We each enjoyed our meal and arrived at the Savannah Center in The Villages about 10 minutes before show time.  As usual, both shows (5 and 7pm) are sellouts each time it comes to The Villages.

 

 “Rocky and the Rollers” are the traditional “Front Group” for Herman’s Hermits when they play here. They are regulars at “The Villages” and have been entertaining at various venues for the last 18 years. They would be the “American Rock ‘n Roll” before the “British Invasion” part of the show. This eight man band played a variety of American classics. Their full sound was excellent, especially in their version of Chicago’s Megahit “25 or 6 to 4”.

Then it was “The British Invasion” led by lead singer Peter Noone. This multi-talent English singer-songwriter, guitarist, pianist and actor is best known as “Herman.” Originally, he gained this nickname because of his resemblance to  ”Sherman “of “Bullwinkle & Rocky” cartoon fame. The “S” was removed becoming “Herman and his Hermit’s” which again morphed into “Herman’s Hermits”, the #3 group (after The Beatles and the Rolling Stones) in the British Invasion of the ‘60’s. They sold over sixty million recordings, with fourteen gold singles and seven gold albums. The Hermits were twice named Cashbox's "Entertainer of the Year".  Noone studied voice and drama at the Manchester School of Music, where he won the Outstanding Young Musician Award. He has also played a number of acting roles on television, including that of Stanley Fairclough in the soap opera “Coronation Street”.

As Herman, Peter Noone also performed on hundreds of television programmes and appeared with Ed Sullivan, Jackie Gleason, Dean Martin and Danny Kaye. He starred in ABC's musical version of The Canterville Ghost, Hallmark Hall of Fame's presentation of the classic Pinocchio (in which he played the title role), and three feature films for M-G-M: Mrs. Brown, You've Got A Lovely Daughter, Hold On! and When The Boys Meet The Girls.

 His skill was certainly evident. What a fantastic show! The show was a seamless blend of many of their top hits coupled with humorous anecdotes. Peter was so natural and so funny this could easily have received equal billing as a comedy show. Of the hundreds of shows we have seen this concert has to rank right up there as one of the best – ever!

They sang many of their classic hits which included: "I'm into Something Good", "Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter", "I'm Henry the Eighth, I Am", "Silhouettes", "Can't You Hear My Heartbeat", "Just a Little Bit Better", "Wonderful World", "There's a Kind of Hush", "A Must to Avoid", "Listen People", "The End of the World", and "Dandy".

Several times the audience was encouraged to join in and sing parts of the song. "I'm Henry the Eighth, I Am" was virtually total audience participation.

Peter was even available immediately after the show for pictures and autographs.
Today Peter Noone is a naturalized, U.S. citizen and currently lives in Santa Barbera, CA.

The weather reports for the last few days have concentrated on the “Cold Front” coming in. Because of this I could not believe how nice it was outside after the show.  I removed the top for the ride back to OMS. The 6 lanes of HWY-441 are usually quite busy; however, it quiets down substantially in the evening. It is also very well lit. For these reasons we took this way back rather than “The Backroads”.

Our last stop was at our usual “Publix” for a few needed grocery items.  When we came out it was still quite warm; but it had begun raining lightly. This was to change substantially by bedtime. As the front came through we varied from light rain to downpours, rolling thunder and lightning that lit up the skies. It is easy to understand why Florida is the “Lightning” capital of the world.

This continued through until 8 a.m. Then it was “Tree Showers” (water falling from the leaves of the huge oaks)  for another hour or so.