Day 2 – July 1  This was certainly a low-key day. Chorus practice started the day, at 7:30 AM. Lee went for a walk and then we joined up to explore the area south of the hotel. We especially wanted to check out the Embassy Suites, since a friend suggested that they are a great value. We liked what we saw and actually made a reservation there for July 14th (our last night). We’ll see about the value. We also checked out a recommended Italian restaurant, Buca di Beppo, but have not tried it yet.

     Next we had lunch at the nearby California Pizza Kitchen, a chain which we had never tried before. It was very good! After returning to the hotel area, we hopped the shuttle to the Honda Center to see some of the quartet competition. These guys are incredible! Later, we had supper at a Cheesecake Factory, knowing that they are consistently good. We finished our day by checking out the practices of two of our competitors, the Vocal Majority (from Texas — absolutely unbelievable!) and Ambassadors of Harmony (from St Louis — also excellent).