Gallivanters

Got a little downtime before the next set of gigs. Spending a little time out on Walden Ridge…

Had the first Asheville show in nearly a month. It’s great seeing all the familiar faces…

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The man who we now think of as Cap’n Pat (Pat Pulaski), and who basically hooked up our Pensacola/Alabama gigs, graciously hosted us at his amazing home in Perdido Key. He’s a successful furniture repair man by day and an adept woodworker, designer, music lover and musician by life. The house he took us to was designed by himself and was as Nikki put it, “not exactly a house, but not exactly a boat and not exactly a houseboat that isn’t exactly a boathouse”. I wanted to take some pictures, but I think the website does better justice. 

We spent half of the day in one of his actual boats while he shepherded us around to a small island nearby, then to a local restaurant for some cuban sandwiches. 

He’s someone that Nikki had met at a music festival in Flat Rock, NC a few years back and is yet another example of the kind of person that lovers of music tend to be.

A very long day comes to an end. We had an afternoon house concert in Pensacola followed by a 4-hour gig at Lillians Cafe in Alabama. A great violin player we met at Magfest joined us on stage for a few numbers.

We got to play a gig in Alabama with Malcolm Holcombe and Grayson Capps. The Frog Pond is basically someone’s back yard on a farm. Amazing…

After playing at Satchel’s in Gainesville, yet another Magfest attendee who had seen Nikki play let us stay at their home. It turned out to be on a 25 acre farm 30 minutes to the north. Our place for the night was their RV that was practically bigger than our apartment in Asheville. Wine, beer snacks and an electrical fireplace were all set up for us when we arrived. Makings for breakfast were also set out, which we utilized this morning. After some pics with the horses, we set out for St. Augustine.

I’m convinced that the people who go to the Magnolia Festival are some of the best folks on earth.

A lifesaver when it comes to making coffee on the road. The single serve drip coffee maker…

We spent the night in the van behind the Dandelion last night and were awakened by what seemed like an army of garbage trucks, leaf blowers and weed wackers early this morning.

After some coffee and a walk around a local park, we made the drive up to Gainesville for the gig at Satchel’s Pizza. This turned out to be one of the more interesting stops thus far. The gig was actually behind the restaurant in what they called the Lightning Salvage, which featured a cornucopia of junk and kitschy retro memorobilia. The parking lot featured hubcap wind chimes and a junk museum. We loved it…

After the gig in Tampa last night, the owner of the coffee shop was good enough to let us park the van in her driveway and sleep.  The next morning, we took her up on the offer to use the shower, and were off to Orlando to do the gig at Dandelion. This begins the trek back to the north…

Another day off yesterday. Did a little booking at the local Tampa Starbucks then headed to Doug’s (a Magfest family member and a chef) for some home-cooked chicken marsala! 

We found a new favorite venue to play last night at The Ale and the Witch in St. Petersburg. Lots of folks who we had met from our Magfest camping adventures came out and helped raise the roof!