We did it! The halfway point of the Letters From Home 50-States Tour.... Show #25 at the Park Square Theatre Andy Boss Thrust in St Paul, Minnesota! 

We had a great turnout of veterans, kids and friends at the show. The thrust stage had us adjusting the show to the sides, and was lots of fun! 

After the show, we had so many hugs with SO many friends! Our Minnesota "clan", Josh & Sam, Tom, Jolene and Mackey (his first show!), Mike and Molly, Kat and Adam (we missed them after the show!), Marina & Ian, Nancy, Mona, Paul, Colton and his entire family, plus SO many passengers and friends from the American Duchess including our riverlorian Kelli Rae Tubbs, AND Jack's entire family! 

There were also incredible Quilt of Valor volunteers who awarded the Minnesota quilt to Charles Burdette, a combat engineer from the United States Army who served in '68 & '69. The reenactors who came to the show were sharp and looked amazing! 

After we loaded out, the team took a frozen walk across the Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis, where Dan got an amazing shot (be sure to check it out on the Dan Beckmann Photography facebook page)!

After that, we went back to Dan's parents house where we all had a fireball shot in honor of our halfway point on tour. 

It feels surreal that we're at this point in our tour already. We're soaking it in and loving every minute. 

This morning we headed north and stopped at the Wisconsin Dells! We had brunch at BJ's, then Tyler and Grace went to the Mac and Cheese store, Dan, Erinn and Jack went to the Wisconsin Cheese store, and we all went to the Wild Fun Zone. 

We arrived in Minnesota where we stayed with Dan's parents! Jack is also from Minnesota, so he spent this stop in Minnesota with his family. 

Our day off included a breakneck game of CodeNames, getting our hair done, pedicures, Red Robin bottomless fries, a trip to the Mall of America for Myra and catching up with great friends (and doggies) from Minnesota. 

Tonight we had an epic show at the amazing Schauer Arts Center in Wisconsin! There were an incredible amount of people at the show and the staff at the theatre was outstanding.  

One of the most amazing moments of the show was when the entire audience started singing along and the rumble from their voices was so powerful! Sometimes in big theatres it's difficult to connect as personally with the audience, but we didn't feel that way at all because of the way the theatre was arranged and the energy of everyone who was there.

After the show we had several surprises! Erinn's voice teacher from when she was just 8 years old, Anne Richie was at the show! Also, Dan's great friend from Nebraska, fellow performer Alex Van Handel made it out with his family (his dad was also drug onto the stage during the show)! We had several friends that we met while they were passengers from American Queen Voyages as well. 

After the show, the Quilts of Valor presentation was so special, as always. They gave quilts to two veterans, one was Floyd who served in WWII, and the other was Franklyn, who served in Korea.

After the show, we went back to the beautiful Audubon Inn where we all talked and laughed late into the evening. This was one of our favorite performances, and we're so grateful to everyone who came out to have a good time tonight.  

Today, we crossed into the beautiful state of Wisconsin! 

Grace, who used to live in Wisconsin, showed us around an awesome city, Cedarburg! We ate lunch at an awesome restaurant called Stilt House, and enjoyed local Sprecher's Root Beer. Walking around the town was fun and included two different candy shops (for Jack and Dan). 

We walked around the town, and found a wonderful local shop-  the Java House which had a magical drink called "Moon Milk"... a soothing elixer made with ashwagandha and other amazing ingredients like dragon fruit, cinnamon, cocoa, maca, lavender and flower petals! The drinks and the people were magical! 

We drove to Mayville, Wisconsin, where we checked into our hotel and our official Wisconsin "home", the Audubon Inn! This gorgeous historic botique hotel has a lot of character and we are so thrilled to have them as our Wisconsin sponsor for the show! 

After a quick check in, we drove to catch sunset overlooking Holy Hill- a beautiful hidden gem of Wisconsin we found out about from our friend Vicky! We found the perfect vantage point for Dan to catch the sun, and through his lens and met new friends- Mike and Debbie- who let us photograph in their front yard! 

Above is a pic of Dan taking our shot, and below is the amazing shot he got.  (Be sure to follow Dan Beckmann Photography's facebook page for photos in all 50 states along this tour)!

After the sun was down, we drove to Holy Hill to see it up close, then went to get some good ol-fashioned Wisconsin cheese curds at Culvers before turning in for the night. 

Today started out at the American Legion for the POKER TOURNAMENT! We had a great time playing for the baseball team, and Dan actually came in second place in the tournament! 

We've been to Three Oaks many times over the course of Letters From Home's time, and one of our youngest friends & fans is Aiden, who as a young kid LOVED the show, and was very into WWII History. Now, he's a teenager! And just as sweet. This is his mom, Jessica and Erinn at the same wall, 5 years apart. 

After the post, we went to Journeyman's Distillery. Grace, Tyler & Jack got whisky flights and we all had amazing food. Journeymans maple factory floors are from the 1800s, and they've used wood from the family barn in central Indiana, wood that was once the flooring in an early 1900s schoolhouse! A complete and total gem of Michigan. 

We had an incredible time at the Acorn Theatre! Jon Schmidt and his team of reenactors came and added SO MUCH to the show! They brought a jeep that was set up outside the theatre, and a TON of amazing WWII and Vietnam displays. They even had a bazooka! 

The show was incredible, and house was full of rowdy energetic audience members!   There were several Vietnam Veterans in the audience. Folks who we met at the beach the day before came! Our good friend from the American Duchess, John came and surprised Dan when Erinn brought him onstage! 

After the show, a dear friend brought Erinn a sweet tribute to Pat, 3 shell casings from a 21-gun salute  with the Coast Guard logon on the inside! 

There were some incredibly fun kids at the show, and many friends, new and old. The Quilt of Valor presentation, given by the very own Doug Chapman. We had the honor of giving the quilt to our great friend from Three Oaks, Mike Shannon, a Vietnam Veteran who does SO MUCH for this beautiful community. We are so thrilled that our Michigan quilt went to such a deserving veteran and friend! 

After the show, we went back to the legion and had a great time. Levi Lamberjack, our good friend who we worked with on the American Duchess played at the Legion and was incredible! It was great to see him again, and meet his two friends who came to the show as well from Germany! 

We also played pool and shuffleboard and laughed... a lot. Three Oaks is a community like no other, and we're grateful to feel like extended family here. 

Happy St. Patrick's Day! 

March 17th was Pat Dearth, Erinn's father and the inspiration for Letters From Home's birthday. As many of you know by now, Dad's on tour with us- he's traveling for one last road trip with the tour, and he will be dropped off after our Colorado show at his final resting place. 

Today, we traveled outside of Chicago to a great little roadside diner in Gary, Indiana called the Great Lakes Cafe! Then we crossed the border into Michigan and arrived at Three Oaks, where we checked into a BEAUTIFUL new Air B&B (we HIGHLY recommend if you're ever in the area- CLICK HERE FOR THE LISTING)!

For sunset, Myra, Dan and Erinn went to the cold of the New Buffalo beach for an epic sunset along Lake Michigan through the sand dunes so Dan could take his official Michigan shot (be sure you're following his account for his state by state adventures in photography)!

After that, we went to our favorite place in Three Oaks, the American Legion, where we saw many of our friends. For dad's final birthday with us, we took his ashes inside and all ordered a bourbon and 7 tall for him! He hung out in the bar all night, playing pool, shuffleboard, and dancing to Abba with our friends! Jack, our documentarian, was the king of the dance floor. 

What a great birthday for Pat. 

Thanks to the Williamson Herald for this review on our official Tennessee stop, accompanied with some amazing awards that the DAR gave out that evening! 
Click HERE for the article!

Another full day of adventure in the Windy City! Tyler went to the Lincoln Park Zoo, and Grace took the rest of us to her favorite Ramen place, aptly named "Chicago Best Ramen". It was wonderful! 

After that, we had a very "sweet" afternoon, walking around Wicker Park, heading to two different ice cream shops- Jeni's Ice Cream where Ted Lasso has his own ice cream, and Eli's Ark- where they have the most delicious and ADORABLE ice cream EVER! The ice cream is shaped into animal heads, so Myra got a monkey and a unicorn, Erinn got a little bear, Dan got a piggy and Jack got a Koala! We LOVED their service and the ice cream was out of this world. A Chicago favorite for SURE from all of us! 

Then, we went to The Fudge Pot for Jack, our king of fudge! We all got some special treats there as well. 

That evening, Grace, Tyler and Jack went to go see a show at Columbia University, and Erinn and Dan had dinner with Lisa at The Whale - a great restaurant! Overall, Chicago was as great as all the songs, and we're all so grateful for our time in the city!

Today's show at the Greenhouse Theater Center in Chicago was fabulous! We loved having so many people there from so many different walks of life. 

Our Chicago "squad", Lisa, Lindsay, Alain & Brendt, some awesome Winston-Salem friends who now live in Chicago, Heather, Greissy and Anna, great friends from the American Duchess: passengers Dale and Debbie, amazing musician Chris Valillo, incredible singer and great friend Michaelyn Oby, AND some new amazing friends from VetTix and Tickets For Kids! 

After we loaded out, we went next door to see some friends and had a lovely time hanging out, catching up and meeting new folks. Dan, Tyler and Erinn also went on an adventure from 1:30am-3:30am finding the perfect shot in Chicago at night... check out Dan Beckmann Photography's page for the final shot of Calder's Flamingo!