The Piano Man in Woodstock, IL

Our last trip for the 2017 season was to see The Piano Man at the Woodstock Opera House in Woodstock, IL.

The Piano Man is a tribute to Billy Joel and Elton John. I had seen the two touring together several times and was looking forward to see how this tribute could provide a similar experience. We were not disappointed! Hitting all the favorites, the band performed with obvious appreciation of the original performers and provided commentary on these legends.

Our original plan was to keep it cheap and stay at the Crystal Lake Motel. However, poor planning on my part and the assumption we would find a room without a reservation, resulted in a last minute search for alternative accommodations.

We were glad it worked out this way! A call to Sherry at the Victorian Rose Garden Bed and Breakfast in Algonquin, IL was greeted with a very pleasant reception and an assurance she could work something out at the last minute. This does not normally happen at a B&B! Especially when we would only be staying one night.

Expecting the place to be only marginal, since they were so flexible, we were very surprised to find the house was exactly as shown on their webpage. Our room was very nice and breakfast was even better. This is now our favorite Bed and Breakfast and we plan to use it as a first night stay when leaving work late on a Friday for a weekend trip to Wisconsin or Northern Illinois.

After settling in to our room, we rode to Woodstock and had dinner at BBQ King. Great food and service and very close to the opera house.

Following the show, we rode back to the B&B. It was a little cool and my new AGV Veloce Soleluna was fogging. I did not expect this with a pinlock insert and had to compensate by riding with the visor unlocked. This helmet does not have detents like a typical model. The options were locked down tight, open with a slight crack of about one eighth of an inch, or unlocked. The cracked position was not letting in enough air while still in town and moving slow. Out on highway the cracked position was fine and the helmet has great ventilation. I will need to investigate the fogging issue and also the weak Sprint headlights, mentioned previously.