Nantucket and beyond

     Our next stop took us the Island of Nantucket. This is our 3rd time at the old Chicken Box. The venue used to be an eating and watering hole for seasonal workers on the island. Unfortunately, there is no more chicken at the box only beer, booze and music. The Box holds about 400 people and has no a/c. It is legendary among the islanders for good times and good music. The venue has a band house/hostel attached to it which has not been renovated since it was built who knows when. It is scary what may be growing underneath that joint. The band house has a few a bedrooms and a gross non-working kitchen and a mold ridden bathroom but there is laundry! So it is best to sleep in your dirty clothes then wash them in the morning. 
     The whole journey to get to the island is quite an experience. The only way to the island is by ferry or by plane. Since our private jet was in the shop, we opted to board the ferry. Unfortunately our tour bus can't fit on the ferry so we had to cross load our gear and personal items on the ferry. Not fun! The ferry ride is about an hour long and actually very pleasant. After cramming 9 of us plus gear and dirty laundry into the Chicken Box van we headed through the quaint little town that looks like it was out a Hemingway novel. Rustic houses sprinkled in with cool little eating spots and watering holes line the narrow cobblestone streets.  Tourist as well as locals travel the cobblestone roads on scooters and bikes from bar to bar. It is such a neat place with a lot of history and mystique. 
     The crew dumped off our stuff and headed straight to the beach for a surf. The waves were  waist high and the water was brisk but crystal clear. Once again, it is always a great feeling to cleanse the body after being shoved around from place to place in cars, buses and in this case ferries. The surf instructors at the surf camp were dumbfounded as we blitzed their camp and took all their rentals. Good times! 
     The second day the band jumped on a 23 foot center console fishing boat and went out to catch some dinner. We caught a lot of fish as well as 6-8 foot seas. It was so worth it! We ran up on a school of blues and could not pull them in fast enough. We all had some good fights with some very playful fish. Four hours later we took our sea legs back to the hostel for some R&R before the show. 
     Both shows were sold out plus people were sneaking in through the side doors. It was a fire marshall's nightmare! As long as I am on stage the tightness does not bother me but in the crowd it would be a totally different situation. The shows were great and I swear I lost 5 pounds of water weight from sweating. Those floks were amped and ready to party. There were so many loyal fans who have been to all the shows in years past. 

     After the second show, we were invited to go up to the Maria Mitchell Observatory to see Jupiter. Oh my, this was one of the greatest parts of the whole tour. There were two scopes set up in two observatories. One was from the 1800s and the other was brand new. I think I spotted ET and the rings around Uranus....