Sadly, I was not brave enough to use this as my opening greeting when I met Mr. DeVito.
I had an appointment to get my haircut this past Saturday at 11:30am, in preparation for both my Valentine's Day weekend dinner dates. Before I stepped out, I checked Twitter, as I generally do about a dozen times a day (sadly, it's probably more than that). I'm scrolling .... scrolling, when I see that Danny DeVito is on a plane leaving sunny California, bound for my hometown.
Thanks to trusty ole Google, I discover he's coming to sign bottles of Limoncello at a liquor store a mere 10 minutes away from me. With nothing do do immediately following my haircut, I figured, why not?
So I pull up to Joe Canal's, and discover I need to park at the Bed, Bath and Beyond down the road. I was surprised, because I honestly did not think that that may people would show up. Never underestimate the drawing power of Danny DeVito, I suppose.
The line outside the building was deceptively short, and fast-moving. But inside, after the straight shot to the back of the store, it started to weave, 4-5 rows deep. Eventually, the bottles autographed before 1 pm ran out. When DD himself came out to explain how the bottle signing in between photos/meet and greet process was going to go, the crowd wasn't really receptive to it, and the directions. The difficult crowd prompted this:
When it was finally my turn, I walked up and put out my hand. He shook it and said "Hello my dear!" We posed for the photo and did some quick small talk. I mentioned I was getting a bottle for my Dad's birthday (he loves Limoncello, apparently) and he said, "Rock on!" and gave me the letter Y hand gesture. I think he meant to throw the universal "Rock and Roll" sign instead, so that was awesome.
Other notes from my trip:
- I got carded twice, once at the door, and at the cash register. Sigh.
- I'm still waiting for my ~professional~ photo with the man himself. I can only imagine how hilarious it will be, since I am a head and a half taller than him (and I'm 5'2"!) and he was wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap.
- DD was enjoying his Limoncello the entire time. I admire that.
- Look at this fucking bus!
The man knows how to travel in style. And look! He's holding a lemon and a cello. Limoncello. AWESOME.
Edited to Add: OMG Dan Ackroyd is coming to Joe Canal's too! In March! I already have a bottle of his Crystal Head Vodka on my desk, though.
