Best Of 2018

Please share with me and others some of your highlights from the past year; use my headings or create your own. Publishing a post like this every year since 2012 has been a great way to remind myself how fortunate I am.

1.) Best discovery: Burlington, Vermont. If not for the potentially harsh winters, my wife and I could move to this very cool city - which neither had ever visited before this past summer - tomorrow.

2.) Best musical documentary: Still On The Run. Jeff Beck has been a favorite guitarist for as long as I can remember. This documentary, loaded with explosive performance footage demonstrating Beck's total command of his instrument, is a revelation.

3.) Best time away: Our two Road Scholars trips to Hawaii (in the winter) and the San Juan Islands (in the fall). Three more National Parks, indescribable natural beauty, exceptional companionship.

4.) Best concert:  Karrin Allyson at Birdland. An evening of musical magic. The highlight: Allyson's understated delivery of "Something Wonderful".

5.) Best surprise: Tickets to see King Hedley III at the River Theater in Red Bank. A wonderful birthday gift. Seeing all of August Wilson's Pittsburgh Cycle has been on my life list for quite some time. Eight more plays to go.

Happy new year!