Late start to the morning yesterday. Partied a little too hard, and now we we're paying for it. A little rushed, cos we wanted to make it to Charleston with enough time to relax. The trip itself was only supposed to be 4½ hours, by we made a few (much needed) stops. Drinking gallons of water does that.

Along the way we stopped at South of the Border. It is truly the strangest place on Earth; nothing about it makes any sense. We dicked around for half an hour taking photos. Jon was that close to buying a giant novelty Mexican hat, but sadly did not. The place is total WTF.

One gas station we stopped at was like entering some sort of black hole. Upon entering, I was immediately approached by some guy who looked methed out, asking me if we were headed to Charleston. I said no, but he pressed on... something about being stuck there. I ignored him and went on my way. I felt a little bad— I wouldn't want to get stuck there myself— but I didn't feel like getting stabbed, either. Not more than two minutes later, someone else (equally sketchy looking) asked me if I was headed north. Again, feeling zero inclination to have my midsection penetrated by a dull instrument of some sort, said no. This was also not a conversation I'd like to have in a public bathroom.

Another place we stopped at: walked in on a guy taking a shit. I didn't need to see that. Why don't people lock the door? Regardless, knocking will be standard operating procedure from here on out.

The hotel we arrived at was much nicer than we'd anticipated— the type of place with an indoor pool. Didn't have time to do much, since we were running behind.

Venue is in a strip mall, which instantly reminded me of some of the places in Miami that Jen and I used to try and play at. Village Tavern was an alright place. Great sound and they treated us well. Stage backdrop was a giant painting of the Kool-Aid man busting through the wall. Anyway, they took care of our meal and a few drinks. We didn't play for many people, which sucks. But the ones that were there bought us drinks (Ryan's aunt Ruth was in town and also bought us drinks). This is where all the trouble started. Two days of drinking in a row— not good. Seemed like a good idea at the time.

Next: Driving day and Orlando.

Henry

(Click thumbnails to enlarge pictures)

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