There aren't many people worth traveling more than 1,000 miles for. Maybe the president of the United States, maybe your child you've never met, or maybe a resurrected John Lennon. But a former Bachelor contestant?
Carly Waddell, an Arlington native, who competed on Chris Soules' season of "The Bachelor," performed some original and cover songs and "told all" at an event at Alboca Italian Grill on Thursday night.
There were about 40 people there -- mostly white young women in the age group of 18 to 25 -- chowing down on a four-course meal enjoying the company of Carly, but there was one special group of women who claim to have traveled from Green Bay to see the reality star.
Green Bay. Green Bay. A quick Google search shows there's only one Green Bay and that would be the Wisconsin one. Carly was so taken aback by the grand gesture, she offered up a free T-shirt for the women -- a small token considering how far they had traveled.
Carly, a former cruise ship singer, treated the night like she might have any other cruise ship dinner. She began the night with a cover of Carole King's "I Feel The Earth Move" and sang other original songs, like "Cool" and even one with her brother Denton.
If Carly came off jaded or catty or bitter during the show, she tried her best to squash that reputation. Thursday night she was charming and endearing.
When she finished singing songs, she answered questions from the crowd with radio host Billy The Kidd emceeing. However, when a show like "The Bachelor" has been on for nearly 20 seasons, it's hard to say anything that shocks the diehard fans. And Carly didn't offer much insight into the show. After all, the event was called "Carly Tells All... Ish." The most revealing thing might have been that the ladies showered together in their swimsuits because of the lack of tubs and privacy. Other than that, she told us the usual: Producers don't make anyone drink, but the alcohol is there; Yes, that one girl really was that crazy; and of course, Carly regretted some of the things she said on air.
She also spoke about that one date with the love guru by telling the crowd that the most awkward thing is to have everyone you know watch you on TV "have sex with your clothes on." What everyone at home didn't see, however, was a man smoking a cigarette nearby and Chris muttering, "What the fuck is he doing smoking a cigarette here?" After that small icebreaker is when Carly decided stripping down on national television wasn't in her best interest.
After the meal, Carly signed autographs and met with fans on the back patio. While it may have been worth the extra dollars, it couldn't have been worth the thousands of miles driven.
