Miss America Journey Part 2
Geez! I really didn't think it would take me this long to post the second half of this story, but time just got away from me and lots of stuff has happened.
Okay, so where was I? Yeah... right. I had just gotten to Atlantic City. Actually, my plane took me to Philly and I had to hitch a ride from there to AC because large airlines don't fly directly there. No worries, though. I got a ride with another Miss LA supporter and we arrived safely and without incident.
My roomie for the week was Christi Page Victor, Miss LA 1991. I was the one who placed the crown on her head. If you watch pageants, or did back then, you would remember her for her talent. She played and sang "Great Balls of Fire." It was very cool.
Anyway, here we are at the first night of the pageant.
This is a fried Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. Oh. My. STARS! This was divine. At this little corner pizza joint they would fry anything -- cinnamon rolls, Snickers, Oreos... you name it, they'd throw it in the grease. What made this particular plate of heaven so awesome involved a talent performance from the night before. Miss California performed a ballet to Swan Lake. So when they placed this in front of me, I immediately snapped a picture and sent this text to the Miss LA Pageant VP:
"Hey, you know how some people see Jesus in their mashed potatoes? Well, I just found Miss California in a fried Reese's!!!"
This is a few of the former Misses LA in attendance with our current Miss LA. From left to right, that's me, then Amanda Joseph May, Jaden Leach, Mette Boving Castor, and Christi Page Victor.
As you can tell by my hair, this was the night it rained. The cool part about this picture is that I'm standing right next to the famous Miss America runway. It is 50+ feet long and looks like black glass. The dream of thousands of girls every year is to walk that runway; it was fun to see it again after 23 years.
This picture makes me giggle. With the return of Miss A to Atlantic City, a commemorative statue was created and placed just outside Convention Hall. Christi and I decided to have a little fun and "fight for the crown."
Our Miss Louisiana did not make the top 15, but she did win a non-finalist talent award, which means out of all the contestants who did not make the cut, she scored the highest number of points in talent. I can tell you, I'm certain she outscored several of those who DID make the top 15 in talent points, too, but she just didn't have the points from all phases of competition to get her into the semi-finals. Regardless, we were all proud of her, and she is doing a great job serving our state. She will crown the next Miss LA in June 2014.
Okay, so where was I? Yeah... right. I had just gotten to Atlantic City. Actually, my plane took me to Philly and I had to hitch a ride from there to AC because large airlines don't fly directly there. No worries, though. I got a ride with another Miss LA supporter and we arrived safely and without incident.
My roomie for the week was Christi Page Victor, Miss LA 1991. I was the one who placed the crown on her head. If you watch pageants, or did back then, you would remember her for her talent. She played and sang "Great Balls of Fire." It was very cool.
Anyway, here we are at the first night of the pageant.
The Miss America Pageant is actually a four day event. There are three preliminary nights, during which each state contestant performs a certain phase(s) of competition - onstage question, evening gown, swimsuit, talent - and then the final night is what you see on national television, when the top 15 are announced and compete. I coached our Miss Louisiana in talent this year, which is why I decided to attend. I only attended the preliminary competitions, and went home to watch the finals on television with my daughter. (During the broadcast, my precious child tweeted "Miss America is like Super Bowl Sunday at our house." Ha!)
I had a lot of free time during the day while there, which was fun. The weather was beautiful except for one night, which dampened our hair but not our spirits. Here are a few pictures from the week.
This is the Atlantic City beach (obviously). What's neat about this picture is that last time I was there the beach might have been 10 feet in width. Basically there was NO beach. So this was a nice change, and had I known it ahead of time, I would've brought a swimsuit and enjoyed the sunshine for a day.
This is a fried Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. Oh. My. STARS! This was divine. At this little corner pizza joint they would fry anything -- cinnamon rolls, Snickers, Oreos... you name it, they'd throw it in the grease. What made this particular plate of heaven so awesome involved a talent performance from the night before. Miss California performed a ballet to Swan Lake. So when they placed this in front of me, I immediately snapped a picture and sent this text to the Miss LA Pageant VP:
"Hey, you know how some people see Jesus in their mashed potatoes? Well, I just found Miss California in a fried Reese's!!!"
With our current Miss LA, Jaden Leach.
Our Miss Louisiana did not make the top 15, but she did win a non-finalist talent award, which means out of all the contestants who did not make the cut, she scored the highest number of points in talent. I can tell you, I'm certain she outscored several of those who DID make the top 15 in talent points, too, but she just didn't have the points from all phases of competition to get her into the semi-finals. Regardless, we were all proud of her, and she is doing a great job serving our state. She will crown the next Miss LA in June 2014.
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