And yet, Thursday afternoon, I decided to throw all that to the wind. I knew I should spend the weekend reading criticism and starting to outline papers, but I just couldn't bear to. I texted Sam to see what she was doing this weekend; she responded that she had her play. My next question was "So if I were to show up in your part of the world could I see your play?" and with that, I had a new weekend plan. Well, sort of. I still didn't have a ticket, nor did I know when I was heading up to North Carolina; all I knew is that I was going. Let me reiterate here: I don't do this. Spontaneity is not really part of my vocabulary (although it might be working its way in!). Sam and I texted again later that night, so I knew at 11:45 pm that I needed to leave in time to be up there at 1:30--still no idea how long it would take me, which was easily found with Google Maps.
So yesterday morning, I got up, packed a small bag, filled up my car and plugged Sam's address into my GPS. And I just went. I called Mom from the road just so she'd know where I was; she told me to drive safe and have fun, which I knew I would. The drive up was pretty uneventful, other than a brief stop at a McDonald's in rural SC where some construction guys "helped" me back up with lots of hand signals (I told Sam I must give off the "helpless little girl" vibe because, really, it was just a normal parking space. Nothing weird about it at all. But the sentiment was kind and therefore appreciated, if still amusing).
Slightly less than 4 hours after leaving my apartment, I pulled up at Sam's. After lots of hugging, I brought my bag (note the singular. Sam was impressed) inside and we had lunch, then I went to work with her. We adventured around downtown Winston for a while and had coffee and sandwiches before her 6:30 call; I sat in her car like a creeper and read until the house opened at 7:30 :)
The play was Stephen Sondheim's musical Assassins, which was wickedly funny. I did forget at one point that I was watching a play, though. The theatre was small and I was in the second row, so when the actor who played Giuseppe Zangara (attempted assassin of FDR) looked out at the audience, he was able to make eye contact with me. He looked so convincingly evil that for several minutes, I couldn't break that eye contact because I thought he was an actual killer. In reality, Sam says the actor, Neil, is a really nice guy, so she found the story hilarious.
After the show, we went out for beer and food, then came back to Sam's house and went to bed. We slept late and had a lazy morning that turned into an afternoon. We talked about everything and nothing and, just like always, I remember how fortunate I am to have a friend like Sam. We've known each other now for 5 years; in some ways, it doesn't seem that long and in other ways, it seems longer. Our friendship is one of those beautiful, indescribable things that doesn't happen very often, but you know it's a good thing when you've got it.
Thank you, dear friend, for making my first spontaneous adventure successful! Can't wait to see you again soon!
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