We were greeted warmly in each town, with a certain ceremony and solicitousness that I found charming, and every night the audience gave us a standing ovation that made all our efforts seem worthwhile.
We know about the young man who met the love of his life at a dinner party, ditching his plans to go to bed early and instead talking with the brilliant and charming Laura Welch late into the night.
Who else but Byron, the self-appointed proprietor of Curmudgeonly Arms, could paint this charming picture of "Chainsaw Al" Dunlop's first marriage on a slow night?
For all the doubts about their presidential candidate's ability to connect and for all the audible sighs in the Fleet Centre on Wednesday night, the Democrats are lucky that they have the dour Mr Kerry, rather than the charming Mr Edwards, at the top of the ticket.