Saturday, January 30, 2010

Hanging In Lexington, VA

I'm down in Lexington, VA for a couple of days while my wife and her dance partner (Arachne Aerial Arts) performing at William and Lee University. While I've been here I haven't had much time to explore - with a big snow fall and all - but, I was disappointed with two places we went to earlier today.

Adelais and I went to see the performance today at the Lenfest Hall and during intermission we went to change her diaper. Unfortunately we found that none of the mens' rooms had a changing tables. The arts center isn't the newest building, but there is certainly plenty of room to add a changing table in any of the bathrooms we checked out. A big disappointment.

After the performance we went out to eat to The Southern Inn, a local landmark for the last couple of decades - someone mentioned that their mother went there on her first date in 1938. It was good to very good southern cooking. Of course, the bathrooms haven't been updated since the 1970s or so...hence, no changing tables and even no room to lay her on a changing pad on the floor. Excellent time, disappointed in the bathrooms.

1 comment:

  1. (posted by Mary Lane for her mother, Nancy Saylor)

    HI Daniel,

    Nancy Saylor here--Lexington, VA dancer and Lenfest Center for the Arts user. First of all, it's Washington and Lee University (perhaps you were getting confused with William and Mary University in Williamsburg, VA?). Secondly, I saw your wife's performance and it was lovely. It's great to have had you both in town.

    Regarding your reference to the fact that The Lenfest Center didn't provide you with a changing table in the men's room, I'm not sure why that would ever be something to expect in a performing arts center unless the center was specifically geared toward providing entertainment events for non toilet trained infants/toddlers and their parents. I'm ALL for changing tables in men's public rest rooms in the market place in general and I love the spirit of your complaint. But I'm very much against babes in arms being brought to theaters. I have a pet peeve about crying babies or inattentive toddlers interrupting a performance and parents who seem oblivious to the fact that they are doing so. Of course, this is being spoken by a woman who hauled her own children along to every rehearsal and never used a changing table in my life--I just changed them wherever I could find a flat surface that they wouldn't fall off of. Also, I had my babies before those types of things were provided in public rest rooms--men's or women's--and now that I have grandchildren, I don't trust using the tables provided because of concern about cleanliness.

    So anyway--in defense of our beloved Lenfest Center and to offer another point of contention--I thought I'd just mention the fact that changing tables in theater rest rooms are probably not there for a reason...the architects didn't imagine that the theater would be providing that service to theater goers for the simple fact that they weren't expecting parents to bring infants to performances. Wait--is there a changing table in the women's room in The Lenfest Center? Have I been missing that the whole time?

    As for the Southern Inn--well--that place isn't about the bathrooms. I'll never forget the first piece of pecan pie I had there in 1993. You don't go to the Southern Inn to go to the bathroom, you go there to get a really good meal and have a great drink or two from the bar.

    Have you been to any third world countries lately? If you're going to start a bathroom review, I should warn you...


    Nancy Saylor--Lexington, VA

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