Back in New England…

Hi, All. On our way to Burlington, Vermont from upstate New York. Had a fun night last night playing at Boulder Coffee Co. Tiny place, but we rocked it and got to hang with some fine folks after the show.

We got a bit of a late start from Ohio and cut it super close, loading in about 5 minutes before we were supposed to play, so it was a scramble, but with Fred’s help we got up and running by 8:15pm. Saw some familiar faces from the last time we played Rochester (5 years ago!), nice to see people singing along to our original songs – that’s the magic that makes the long drives worth it. After the gig we went with some friends from the area to a bar up the street (the Dragonfly – highly recommended if you’re visiting) and enjoyed some late night wings, nachos, etc. We stayed at a nice hotel in downtown Rochester and planned on finally catching up on our sleep by sleeping in until 9am or so. Instead, we were jarred out of bed (Fred levitated) by a blaring siren at 7am and an automated voice saying sternly, “There is an emergency. Proceed out of the building using the stairs. Do not use any elevators. There is an emergency. Proceed out…” over and over. We were on the 8th floor, so we scrambled to get dressed and shoes on… and were about to go out the door when the voice suddenly stopped and was replaced with, “Attention – the emergency is concluded. You may return to your rooms.” Great. Heads barely hit the pillow and it was time to get up and roll again.

Backing up to a highlight from yesterday afternoon… en route out of Ohio we stopped at one of our favorite regular tour eateries, Cafe Europa, in Willoughby (outside Cleveland). John, the owner, welcomed us as he always does, pulling up a chair at our table and sitting to visit for a while. He’s from Germany and has a thick accent, so we have to pay attention to keep up, and we never know where the conversation will go. Always entertaining. Now to the important stuff: the food. John makes everything from scratch, homemade, authentic German and Eastern European goodies. I (Russ) had the goulash with perfectly-cooked beef and homemade toasted bread with butter. Mario had wienerschnitzel, and Anton and Fred had German sausage with potatoes and greens. For dessert we had German chocolate cake, German black forrest cake, Apple strudel, and tiramisu. He also gave the guys “the best beer from Germany,” and an orange juice for me. It was a fantastic lunch, as always.

We play tonight at Club Metronome in Burlington. We’ll be getting to town in time to have a nice relaxing dinner and then load in with plenty of time before we play. Nice schedule and so far pretty nice driving weather. More from Burlington later…