TOUR DIARY #4

After waking up late and eating breakfast at Cracker Barrel, we made the rest of our drive to College Park, Maryland. It was short and sweet, and we had time before the show to check out a piano store and a used CD warehouse. The no-name CDs we purchased turned out to royally suck, but it was fun to hope.

College Perk coffee house reminded me a lot of 37 Main in Buford, GA - a haven for thirty-somethings still young at heart. We watched a lineup of acoustic acts pour their hearts out about relationships, politics, and pop songs. During the course of the evening we met a lot of really energetic people. This place was packed with music lovers, thats for sure. We got to play a long set, and I was able to invite Patrick up on stage to play one of his songs as a duet with me. The crowd seemed to love everything!

Afterwards, the three of us ordered the s'mores platter: a miniature flaming grill with marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate. We even shared it with some Australians who'd never seen anything like it. Awesome. Next thing we knew, it was time to pack up and hit the road again.

We drove as far as we could that night, sleeping half the way and somehow landing at a Motel 6 in God-knows where and sharing a king sized bed. It wasn't half bad.

When morning hit, we took to the highway once again, passing through the beautiful rolling hills of Virginia on our way to Graffiti Music Hall in Arden, NC. We finally arrived, barely sane, and were allowed to play first! This was awesome 'cause Arden is only 3 hours from my home, which meant we'd be able to make it back to Flowery Branch that night.

After IHOP with our new friend Chris and his mom, we headed out on the home stretch of our journey. Conversations revolved around the supernatural, and we scared ourselves back into our home state. We were welcomed home by my pajama-clad mom, who fed us some croissants and sent us off to bed.

Despite the amount of time we'd spent on the road, the three of us stayed up till 5 AM watching scary videos on YouTube and reminiscing.

And here I am now, sitting in my bedroom. Patrick's dad came and got him a few hours ago and we said our goodbyes, as we always have and always must.

Post-Tour Anxiety/Depression Syndrome is a bitch, but I think I'll get over it.

So here's to long drives, eating Airborne like candy, IHOP in Hickory, "going to Nashville and cutting a record", 24, Mike Doyle, the impossible shower, whitecaps on the ocean, freezing cold, huge boots, layering, raspy voices, finally "seeing Connecticut," the G train, the A train, the L train, the million Starbucks in times square, video taping in the subways, walking 15 miles, playing for the bartender, Union Square, "regular slices", BAYSTON, losing our GPS, finding the best view of New York, laughing at everything, secrets, swank hotels, Cracker Barrel, granola, "huge fucking beds", being a princess, the sun in the appalachians, 0 meilen bis leer, The Art of Warfare in the Age of Napoleon, cursing in Christian venues, orange juice parties, ghosts, love, and music.