American Travelling Morrice 2024

The 47th tour of the American Travelling Morrice is in the books. This year we were in Central New Jersey, with a few stands on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware River and a day in New York City.

It was a small tour. For the first few days we had, I think, twelve or thirteen dancers and no dedicated musician. There were a few more after the Wednesday off. Weather was uncomfortably warm, high temperatures mostly low 30s°C/high 80s°F all week.

We arrived and set up camp on Saturday. Sunday morning we had a surprise: The water heater for the shower was found to be on fire. It was put out (there was water available…), no damage to property or anything other than the heater, which was destroyed. Someone went on Amazon and ordered a new one to be delivered Tuesday. 20 years ago the ATM didn’t even have a hot shower, let alone two day Amazon delivery (or Internet).

Sunday’s touring started with the general store in Califon, NJ, smallish but good audience. Next we went to Long Valley, NJ, dancing at the bagel shop and at the brewpub where we had lunch.

Then Clinton, NJ, at the library (which was closed, so not surprising we had only about two people watching — but they stayed for the whole stand) and by the Red Mill (much more active, people left but more people came and watched).

Dinner in camp was nachos and tacos.

Monday started with practice: Bampton, Campden, and Fieldtown. I’ve sort of been on the edge of being able to do Fieldtown for 30 years, picking up a bit at Thornden practices and attempting a couple of times to do one of the easier dances on the ATM, generally not very successfully and I haven’t done any in a decade or more. We went pretty quickly through Dearest Dickie at practice. At the first stand, the fire station in Rocky Hill, about 1/3 of our dancers (and the sticks) were late because they were heading toward a different stand location that had fallen through. There was zero audience for much of it. I danced Dearest Dickie there. Not catastrophic but not pretty.

We went to Princeton, drank at Triumph Brewing. Zephyr’s father Christopher, former musician for Berkshire Morris who was an in-kit guest of ours for the first part of the week, got them to turn off the music and we sang. Then we had a very nice stand with large audience at Princeton Library. Back to camp for dinner, salmon and pesto.

Tuesday’s tour started at the Riegelsville (PA) Inn, a small place in a small town with nice old atmosphere and good craft beers. The audience consisted of Inn employees. Then we danced at Jimmy’s Ice Cream in Holland, NJ. We had a bagman’s lunch in a park. Next was Frenchtown, NJ, with a street blocked off for us. Good crowd.

Then we danced by the Lumberville (PA) General Store, in a sloping gravel lot so we did only two dances. Crossed the street to the Black Bass Hotel, a nice old building with a view of an interesting pedestrian bridge over the Delaware River, for a pub stop.

Finally we went to Lambertville, NJ to dance at the Lambertville House. We met up there with Handsome Molly.

Dancing was followed by a good singing session on the porch. Back to camp for a late dinner of burgers and chicken. The new shower heater arrived.

Wednesday morning the hot shower was working again. We had a meeting. Laundry was dropped off. I took a solo walk along the Delaware-Raritan Canal from camp to south of Kingston. Dinner was an eclectic mix including more salmon and beef.

Thursday was our day in New York. We took the train from Princeton Junction to New York Penn Station, then subway to Cooper Union for the first stand. On paper there were 17 of us that day. We went to McSorley’s for lunch. From there we went to Tompkins Squre Park where we danced at a Bad Luck Spot (said the chalk letters on the pavement) and sure enough, Rose’s melodeon strap broke in mid dance.

There was a pub stop at DBA, then we got on the subway to Brooklyn Bridge Park where we danced next to, but did not overload, a carousel.

Finally there was a long and meandering walk to Brooklyn Heights Promenade for our final stand. After that we walked to a middle eastern restaurant with a long wait for dinner, then took subway and train back to camp, arriving about midnight.

Dances that day included our first Ducklington Black Joke, and my second Dearest Dickie, this time with an audience.

Among those in the audences that day were at least three past ATM members and two… maybe future ones?

Friday we danced in Morristown, Peapack & Gladstone, and Somerville (all NJ). Pub stop was Revolution in Somerville. I had a blister on my right foot from all the walking the days before (and the dancing). Darvin made pork tenderloin for dinner, I broke my not hard and fast anyway rule about no beef or pork.

Saturday was the last day of the tour. We drove to Ringoes, NJ and most of us then took a train to Flemington, NJ. Scenery wasn’t much but the old rail car was nice. I was a little preoccupied because I’d left my camera at the station in Ringoes, but Elliot found it and I got it back in Flemington.

There we danced at Stangl Road near an arts space, on grass — really awful surface, but there were no twisted ankles. We went to the Lone Eagle Pub and had bagman’s lunch there, then there was a stand on Main Street. On to Readington (NJ) Brewery with a large crowd with lots of families many of which weren’t paying much attention as we danced on bad grass again. Finally we went to Hillbilly Hall in Hopewell, NJ, dancing in their parking lot. I danced Dearest Dickie again (still pretty clumsily), and in our one attempt at Bucknell Shanty Boys the hey fell apart but I’m glad we attempted it.

The feast was catered in camp. Chicken piccata and still more salmon.

Sunday we struck camp in record time, getting on the road before 1:00, and I arrived home about 6:00.

I had a great time. Zephyr had been panicking over things not coming together soon enough — the schedule on our brochure had to be supplemented with a QR code for the updated schedule, and the feast was pretty much last minute — but it all came together well.