When we last left you, we were heading for Collingwood to visit my cousin's Andrew and Barb. After a few brief mishaps with directions, we rolled up to their house for a wonderful barbecue and lots of catching up. That night, we went downtown to a bar an caught a set by two guys with acoustic guitars and had some pints. The guys were good singers, but what impressed me the most was the Traveling Wilburys song they played. Until two years ago, I hadn't seen Andrew or Barb since I was maybe 4 years old, so it was nice to spend some time with them.
I got to see alot of extended family on this trip and got to introduce them to nicole; that has probably been one of the best parts of this adventure.
The next day we drove to Burlington where I rented a guitar, and then went to Hamilton to visit my great Aunt Doll. She's a great lady, and is super spry and lively for an 84-year-old woman. We had a good chat, she made us supper and insisted we spend the night in the guest room downstairs.
That evening, Nicole and I went out to Stone Creek (not even 5 minutes outside Hamilton) to a bar called The Old Powerhouse where I was playing a show with my friends Pneumatic Transit. My set was OK, its always hard to be a dude with a guitar playing to a bunch of people in a bar, but I had fun. I played a Chore song ("General Warning") and Adrian caught a Chore reference in one of my new songs. Good to be in Hamilton...
Pneumatic Transit's set was great. I really like their dueling Telecaster, pop-rocking, riff driven tunes. They're going to be in Halifax just as we are getting home, so I'm psyched about that.
After breakfast and coffee with Aunt Doll, we hit the road for Bayfield, Ontario.
Bayfield is a beautiful town just outside of Stratford, and is absolutely gorgeous in the summer. We spent the day reading in a park and throwing rocks in the water at the beach. Good day.
Around supper time, we went to the Black Dog - a great bar in "downtown" Bayfield - where I was to be playing a couple sets that night. Let me preempt anything to come by saying that we always have an amazing time in Bayfield for one reason: Peter Meades. Peter is a king among men, and always treats the people who stop in to play like fellow royalty. We're talking food, a place to stay, booze. There are not enough people - let alone promoters - like Peter in the world.
Needless to say, it was great to see him again, and we proceeded to have an amazing night. Nicole and I had a nice dinner outside. It was probably the best date we've been on since we've been gone (although we've just spent 2 months together, but I don't consider riding in a car for hours on time a date per say).
As entertainment for the night, I was competing against Game 7 of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals. Yikes. I ended up playing intermission sets, and then a set after the Penguins won the Cup (ol' Crosby bringin' it home). However, after the hockey game, a lot of people left the bar so I ended up just playing a set of mostly covers for my own amusement. I broke out the usual covers: Hungry Eyes by Eric Carmen, Amen by pre-me Sleepless Nights, and - as per the night before - General Warning by Chore. But I tried a couple newish and oldish things too. I played Co. by Brian Borcherdt, California by Alan Benjamin, Blood Bank by Bon Iver and I even whipped up a version of Breathe Deep Tornado by Sleepless Nights. It was a fun little set.
Once the set was over (and the bar was closed), however, the debauchery began. Drinks were flying, the iPod was cranked, the girls - Nicole and the two bartenders - were dancing. Me and the cook were talking about pickle and cheese sandwiches again.
Like I said, Bayfield is always a good time.
Sometimes, too good.
I tend not to get sick (read drunk sick or hangover sick) very often. We're talking once, maybe twice a year. Well after the night in Bayfield, it looks like I'm not scheduled to get sick till 2010. It was rough.
The next day, we left for Toronto and both of us were feeling the hurt, though Nicole less noticeably than I.
When we go to the T-Dot, we went to my cousin Malizza's house and literally watched TV and laid on her couch all day. It's about all we could. Malizza and her husband had went to a Major League Soccer game that night, so we stayed in and watched the Yes Man and Sweeney Todd. Sleep and rest were the key ingredients for our stay in Toronto. Yes indeed, and quite necessary.
Sunday morning, we went out for brunch with the cousins before we scooted down to St. Catherine's.
This was a day I'd been looking forward to since we re-vamped our travel schedule and decided not to go to Newfoundland. Today, I would get to see my boyfriends (read: my band) for the first time in almost two months.
It just so happened that a tour was scheduled for Sleepless Nights smack in the middle of our trip, so the boys had to find a fill-in bass player during my absence. St. Catherine's was their first show of the tour, so we went to see them.
We were camping about five minutes outside of St. Cat's - and the boys came over for some BBQ. It was great to see them all again, and it made me a little sad to not be going on tour.
We went down to the bar later in evening to catch their set, which was pretty surreal in and of itself. Not many people can say they get the chance to sit back and watch their own band play a set. So that was pretty cool.
I got up and sang "Got Caught" with them, and Phil ended up playing an entire verse while perched on my shoulders. Who says you can't have fun on a Sunday night?
Sleepless Nights are touring with a band from Regina, SK called Rah Rah and they played a pretty great set. The boys told me it was kind of subdued, and they played a lot of new songs - but I really liked it. I was a big fan of their gang vocals.
After some late-night pizza, and a round of hugs and high-fives, we said goodbye to the guys and made our way back to our tent.
Monday, we drove up to Ottawa and stayed with our good buddy Kandace again. Nicole was excited because she finally got to meet Kandace's fiance, Matt. Great guy. It was a pretty relaxed evening, just some supper (thanks Kandace!) and some TV and then bed.
Yesterday, we drove to to Montreal and came over to Karley and Aaron's (and Beta's) place. We took a drive out to Mt. Tremblant in the afternoon and saw what a ski-resort village looks like in the summer. Tourist season wasn't in full effect yet, so there wasn't a lot of people there, and that was great. We got to walk around pretty leisurely and take in the sights, etc.
After that excursion, we came back to Karley's and made a sweet pasta supper - just like we used to in the old days (minus the box of red wine that used to accompany our suppers on Vernon Street). We also watched Supermarket Sweet - best. gameshow. ever. Somebody's gotta help me finance its come-back.
In the evening, we took the Metro (subway) down to Old Montreal where we saw the Notre Dame Cathedral, city hall, etc. We had some micro-brew beers on a patio, and came back to Karley's to call it a night.
We literally only have two and a half more days left on this trip.
Today we are driving to Quebec City to spend the day there and camp. Then tomorrow we are driving to Fredericton. Friday - after stopping in Sackville, NB for lunch with my cousin Suzy - we'll be on our way back to Halifax.
Hard to believe this is almost over.
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