Newport News

I love Virginia!  I don't think I've been to a city in the state that I don't like.

We stayed at a Hampton Inn (which are amazing) and right next door was a Crunch Gym that we got a free pass to.  Fantastic amenities!  

Don't forget your I.D. at a Crunch Gym; they make you do push-ups as collateral!  

Or, "forget" your I.D. and get fit! 

Oh, and I got my haircut here....Should have waited till Utica. 

I Forgot About Birmingham

Birmingham, AL round two was pretty awesome! 

I performed here a few years ago with the tour of SOUTH PACIFIC and there wasn't much around.

Although eating in the city was oddly very expensive, I had a nice time here.

There was a mixology bar/coffee shop there called Octane Coffee that I HIGHLY recommend.

The coffee is brewed fresh to order and they have at lest three varieties per day.

The people behind the bar are EXTREMELY knowledgeable about the coffee and the alcohol.  I had the best Old Fashioned at this bar.  I was also introduced to knew delicious classic cocktails such as the Cynar Flip and Corn N' Oil.

Making my Old Fashioned

My Old Fashioned

Opelika, Morganton, Pembroke

OPELIKA, AL:

This marks the second time I have had the pleasure of performing at this one-nighter.  The venue in this city is a high school.  Yep, a high school.  Some of the locals (crew that is hired by the venue to help with the behind-the-scenes stuff) were under the age of eighteen.  

A pretty cool experience for these young adults to work with the professionals. 

MORGANTON, NC:

Here, I took one of the most interesting and entertaining cab rides of my life.  We called for a cab to go watch the new "Anchorman" movie and a guy in an unmarked Buick LeSabre pulls up to our hotel to take us to the movie theater.  In the most intense North Carolinian accent, he asked where we were from.  I was the first to respond, "Florida."  He then continued this story involving meth, human trafficking, and other experiences of he and his friend's time in Florida.  I can't remember exactly what was said, but trust me, this was the most entertaining cab ride of my life.

PEMBROKE, NC:

I was able to walk to and from the venue here.  We were performing on the college campus of the University of North Carolina.  There was a Starbucks.  Yum!

Columbia, Athens

I know, it sounds like I've left the USA....Nope...

COLUMBA, SC:

I got to see more family here!  They saw the show and really enjoyed it!  

I even got to stay with them for my time there because we were there for more than one night!

ATHENS, GA:

Great little college town.  I was able to eat some of the local eats, but our hotel was miles from the downtown area so I wasn't able to enjoy it as much as I could if I stayed close by.  Oh well...

Apple, Oh Apple

I type this entry on the tiny keys on my iPhone. 

So I don't like to complain, but Apple has given me so many problems lately. It started with my MacBook Pro having an issue with the screen going black and making me log back into my computer.  Annoying, but I could still use the laptop so I waited until my break from tour to get the problem resolved. 

I get home from tour and go to the nearest Apple Store (50 miles away) and the "Genuis" says I had to send my laptop out for repair for this issue. Fine, but I didn't have my 750 Gig hard drive backed up and there was a chance they would have to wipe out my hard drive for the repair, so back home

I went to do that (50 miles away). I drive back to the Apple Store (in Egypt) and drop off my now fully-backed-up-to-time-machine laptop.  

I should get it back in 1-2 business days!  

Awesome, no?

No. Not. Awesome. I call the Apple Store four business days later to see what is happening with my repair. They have NO record of my MacBook Pro being there... Odd, I just dropped it off. Well, apparently it was put under another person's name..  Suffice it to say I eventually did get my laptop back about six days from the day I sent it out for repair with a brand new logic board and my hard drive completely wiped. No problem, I backed it up.  

Awesome, it's fixed, right? 

Wrong. 

I'm trying to restore my computer from the Time Machine Backup, but it wasn't working. The laptop wasn't even reading there was a backup on the external drive.  I call Apple Technical Support to help me. No sooner than I connect with the senior advisor does the same issue I sent it in for repair recur!  I tell the Apple guy that I was actually calling about my backup, but the problem I sent it in for just happened again!  

At this point, I'm four days away from going back out on tour.

Apple said they'd send a box to my house in 28-48 hours to send it out for repair...again. 

The box came four days later. I was already in Huntsville, AL. So, I had yet another box sent to meet me in Birmingham a few days later.  It made it!  I sent it out for repair....again.  I explained to Apple that I'm now back out on the road so I need to know right when the repair is completed in order to give an address of a hotel I'll be at for more than a night. They eventually agree to contact me to get a different address. 

I recently get an email that my repair is completed and wil be sent to the Birmingham address.  I get a phone call from the Apple person I spoke to about the address change and she said that the repair went through so fast that they had already sent it to the Birmingham hotel.  Perfect!  So she sent another FedEx label to the hotel to ship it to me in Utica, NY this coming Monday!  

I don't even want to calculate the time and energy that has been out into this problem. I just hope to get a fixed laptop back... 

We shall see.

Huntsville

We opened the tour in Huntsville, Alabama! The crowds seemed to enjoy the show, but they weren't overly vocal about it.  

There was a Guitar Center, gym, and Chipotle right across the street from us. Basically the best stop on the tour so far!

It was so disgustingly freezing cold outside, it was ridiculous. My Florida blood couldn't take it!  

Huntsville

We opened the tour in Huntsville, Alabama! The crowds seemed to enjoy the show, but they weren't overly vocal about it.  

There was a Guitar Center, gym, and Chipotle right across the street from us. Basically the best stop on the tour so far!

It was so disgustingly freezing cold outside, it was ridiculous. My Florida blood couldn't take it!  

Here I Am, On The Road Again

It's back to the grind here in frigid Huntsville, AL.

I came prepared with a hookah, coffee press, and slow cooker this time.

I'm also hitting the gym this half of tour!  I had to stop because of my wrist/shoulder injury.

Looking forward to playing this music again.

I've got a bit of maintenance to do to the kit before the show.