Platinum travels again - what, this doesn't sound right! We just went up to Nags Head, you say. Yes, we did, and now for a reception down South. I really didn't want to drive myself and couldn't seem to find anybody who wanted to ride with me (sniff, sniff). Benjamin wanted to carpool, but on his terms. His terms weren't so great - he wanted to drive down and then come straight back after the gig, but he needed to sleep on the way back and I would drive. Well, after exhausting all of my possibilities, I took him up on the offer. We changed it up by going down Friday night and spending the night in a cheap ol' Motel 6. Had dinner along the way at a Locos Deli & Pub (yummy big burger, naturally, with a side salad and then after-thought seasoned fries - they looked too good to give up). Met up with V, Di, and Jason once we got to Brunswick. Jason shared his vodka so we made it a party until 2:30 am or so. Thank you Jason! Didn't really sleep too well, but then I never seem to on the road.
The next morning, Benjamin was on a mission to find a particular coffee shop. I felt this was a good thing. He had spent a bunch of time in St. Simons, so that's where we ended up after checking out of the Motel 6. It was the Wake Up Coffee Co. located in fashionable Redfern Village at the southern end of the island. The coffee was very good - ironically, we both ordered the same drink, an ice latte with 2 extra shots. I generally don't go for lattes, as they have too much milk in them. I prefer shots over ice and then add a bit of whole milk to the concoction. That's my Starbucks drink of choice. It was at least 90 degrees and just all out hot. We drove over to the public beach and I wandered around for a few minutes. It was just so hot. Unbelievable. I stood in the water and it felt like 80 degrees on my feet, easily.
Time had run out and we had to get over to the gig site for load-in and soundcheck. A filet-o-fish kept me going. We drove up to the digs and I realized that we had played here before. It was the Crane Cottage (great info page here, read all about it). It was built in 1917, so it's coming up on a big birthday. One different thing this time - yes, our worst fear - we were in a tent this evening. Not a tent like in Nags Head with air conditioning and all of those comforts. This was an open air tent - really, just a roof over our heads to keep bird droppings from disgracing our pedalboards. Outside and we're wearing tuxedos? Okay. I guess.
I had my Genz-Benz combo once again. Not much clean volume in an outdoor setting. Jason pumped me through the PA and it did sound quite luscious I must say. We had some easy, typical dances to review and edit: What a Wonderful World, Unforgettable, Happy (to introduce the bridal party and groomsmen). Over the Rainbow was the uke version, played from an iPad. I now want one of those sweet little ukes that they sell in Guitar Sinner that have the pick up built in and pre-amp controls. Even a cutaway for upper access. A mere $269 or so and it's mine. I'd like to be able to play that song, at least. Or Hey Soul Sister.
With the a.c. tent, we ate a chicken sandwich. With this hot air set up, we sat inside the Crane Cottage and feasted on a delicious meal of salad (a big one too), dinner roll with butter, a hot meal with zesty 'n moist chicken, veggies, potatoes, some weird peach-flavored sweet tea, and then later on, they hunted us down to give us key lime pie. I'll take the heat and the good food, come to think about it. It was awesome. I ate a second salad and part of Mike's chicken. Oink! Another bit of good news was that we didn't have to wear our jackets.
The gig went well. No equipment snafus and a generally fun crowd. I'll tell you one thing, they had all been drinking since who knows when. The groom came out as we were starting our jazz mini-set and I kept expecting him to fall face down and just start heaving. He didn't; I guess he was just feeling very good. He and his groomsmen were wild, taking off their shirts and acting like it was a frat party on homecoming weekend. Is it any wonder that we were summoned to play an extra hour of overtime. That was fine, but it made our departure even later and we ended up getting back to Atlanta a bit late for Ben's church soundcheck and rehearsal. He wasn't too pleased, which I understand. We had Mike Stone riding back with us (he drove a good chunk of the trip, so that was good), so we had to drop him off first. I drove the final stretch, from Macon on. Ugh. I always say, never again, on those long rides back after the gig. Maybe next time I'll remember that motto.
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| I like this one - you can see V taking a pic as well |
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