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Author Topic: Dianne Austin: Raleigh, LA, Clay and Jay  (Read 2233 times)
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« on: November 11, 2004, 11:08:35 PM »

Raleigh, L.A., Clay and Jay

by Dianne Austin

On my last trip to Raleigh, NC I really got into the feeling of southern, country living, since I happened to be running around there, staying with locals, and experiencing Clay's last concerts within the environs of the North Carolina State Fair.

But prior to my first visit in July, I was a little unsteady about, and perhaps a tad skeptical of how I'd actually fit in down there. After all, I'm basically a city girl; born in Manhattan and then transplanted into the Orange County/Los Angeles metropolitan area during my last year of high school.

You know, you've heard the saying before about the country boy or girl. And I can tell you, it pretty much stands for the city too: "You can take the girl out of the city but you can't take. . . " well, you know how it goes. And that's what I was worried about as I headed towards the southeast United States the first time around.

Sure, I like the outdoors--for a few minutes, especially if it's cold outside--but I'd rather be sitting inside by the fire. And I love trees and forests and lakes and hiking and all that stuff, if I'm sure that the next day I will find some really great spa close by where I can soak in a therapy pool and be able to get a massage. I'll eat peanut butter sandwiches and pizza a couple of times a year, but I much prefer continental cuisine. Just give me those museums, theaters and concert halls, a place where I can easily hail a taxi, and some sparkly lights dressing up the night sky, and I'm happy.

Obviously, I love living near the city, and I didn't know how I'd feel if Raleigh had turned out to be a huge example of one of America's true "hick" towns. Of course, as you know, I was very pleasantly surprised.

Because Clay's home town definitely has that pure country feel to it, with so many trees and little wooded areas everywhere, pretty white churches with storybook steeples, small country roads sprouting old fashioned mailboxes and beautiful brick houses that look like they're from another time.

But. . . it also has LOTS of shopping centers, a downtown civic center (after all, it is the capital of NC) with museums, state municipal and judicial buildings, and many offices. Raleigh has a university, the RBC Center, the state fairgrounds, good restaurants and of course, a Krispy Kreme!! It is clean and sprawling--old fashioned residential charm balanced with modern buildings and a sense of the cosmopolitan. How perfect is that? I was delighted by it all and felt very comfortable there.

Then, there were the people of Raleigh, and after getting a sense of them, my love affair with the place intensified.

Yes indeed, I do love some of the people there, and I think, if I'm not being too presumptuous at this point in time, I can say that some of them love me too. So, when I visited this last time, I had a little secret tucked away in the back of my mind. And the tiny seed of my idea just sat there, like a sweet sensation amidst everything else, as I paraded around the fair and had the experience of seeing Clay Aiken in person on stage TWICE in one day. (Can you imagine? Definitely a guilty pleasure, fulfilled!)

And what was this secret that I was harboring the whole time I visited Charlotte and Raleigh, you may ask? What little surprise was I about to spring on some unsuspecting Raleigh soul sister a little later on? Well. . . you're about to find out!

The knowledge I had then was that I and a group of my L.A. friends, were already assured of going to see Clay on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" on December 6th, which at the time, was only about two months away. The sprinkles on the ice cream, though, that kept calling out to me to taste them, was the knowledge that there was an excellent chance I had two extra tickets to share, which I had already decided would have to go to two Raleigh ladies I had come to know and love over the last five months. While I was there, I mentioned to a few of them that I'd be going to the show on the sixth, whereupon they looked at me with huge eyes and sighed. I could not tell them at that time that I had extra tickets.

Because I had to find out if we really did or not. And that would be discovered when I got home.

When I left California, my friend Rita had just procured VIP passes for the show, and there were certain people going, and others that maybe couldn't go, etc. You know how it is with these things. I had to go home to make sure who was going before inviting anyone else.

As soon as the bags hit the ground, I went to bed exhausted. The next morning, on the phone with Rita, I found out that we indeed had two extra tickets to deal with. Rita and I both felt they should go to two women from Raleigh; that is, if they could justify booking the flight at that time of the year, kissing hubby/and or children on the cheek and waving goodbye for 4-5 days to fly across the country and come to the OC to stay with me. They'd ultimately drive with us into L.A. and sit in a TV studio to watch Clay Aiken do a live taping of "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno.

Would you do it if you had the opportunity? Of course you would!

Now, I won't go into how and why and where and what happened to determine who the two ladies would be to make the trip out to sunny California. Suffice it to say that it was quite a process, and two ladies emerged. I just wished that I had enough tickets to fill the entire studio with Raleigh Claymates (although I think we would have had some upset Los Angeles area Claymates on our hands if that happened!).

Becky and Dora are two beautiful friends of mine who will hop a plane at Raleigh/Durham airport on December 3rd and jet out here to SNA/John Wayne Airport to spend a long weekend of fun , where I will run them around until they drop from exhaustion to experience the sights and sounds in my neck of the woods: sunny, crazy, beautiful, crowded, mountainous, coastal, brash and bold southern California! Now, it'll be my turn to play tour guide!

We will visit the coastal California towns of Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Dana Point and San Juan Capistrano, where the picturesque and historical mission still stands and the swallows return every year. We'll watch the surfers at Doheny, look for the greeter in Laguna (a third-generation descendant I believe of the old man with the walking stick and the long beard. He stands on Pacific Coast Hwy and waves to everyone as they drive by! Weird, I know, but that's Laguna Beach for you), mill around with the shoppers at Fashion Island, check out their Farmers Market while we're there and take a ferry ride across the Newport Harbor from the peninsula to Balboa Island if it's a sunny day.

If we had more time, we'd go to Disneyland, California Adventure, Knotts Berry Farm and Downtown Disney, all in the OC. But we'll just have to do those things the next time they come.

On the day of the show in LA we'll go to the downtown area and see some sights, and oh are there some sights to see! Los Angeles proper has a lot going on.

Remember, this is Clay's second home now. If I'm not mistaken, he just purchased a house in LA--or leased it, or some such thing as that. Yes, it's his home now, but I don't think he loves it here too much. It's really too bad, because I think he doesn't know much about this new big old state of his. He ought to have someone drive him around and show him what he's missing. California is a beautiful place to live.

In fact, I wonder if Clay has ever wandered out of the confines of LA to experience other parts of California. Because although Los Angeles is fun, it can be pretty one dimensional. Clay should see places like San Diego, San Luis Obispo, San Francisco and the gorgeous wine country of the Napa and Sonoma Valleys.

But back to when Raleigh meets LA.

There will be a couple of holiday parties to go to and some hangin' around our patio by the pool just visiting, just as long as there is no rain at that time. Because here in CA, when it does rain, it really pours!

On Monday, December 6, 2004, Becky and Dora from Raleigh will mix it up with the LA set in downtown Los Angeles and then sit in that studio audience of Jay's when Clay does his talk show thing that he does so well (and believe me, he does it well--I've seen him do this kind of format three times in person). They will also be there to cheer for him when he performs a song or two afterward which is always very interesting to watch, because, in my opinion, he delivers it in a completely different way than he does on his own concert stage--not in any way worse, and not better--just different!

And when the cheers and yells go up after the final note on the last song he sings for Jay's audience, will he feel a special vibe or signal from the people in those seats? Will he know a little part of Raleigh is there watching him?

Well, we'll just have to wait and see. The girls won't be holding up any signs in that audience--none are allowed. But maybe when they yell out "We love you Clay!" he'll be able to relate to that certain little southern twang his ear is so attuned to that comes from that place where he left his heart.

And we all know--it ain't San Francisco!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Editor: Michelle Arce
E-Mail Dianne deedaustin@yahoo.com

Copyright 2004 by Dianne Austin.  Printed with the permission of the writer.
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