Comfest 2008

East coast adventure

Thursday, July 31 was Drew's birthday and as such I felt obligated to throw him at least a little bit of a party. My only problem that day is that we were both travelling to Boston for a performance with all my gear in tow. I'm a bit of a mess when it comes to travelling for a show. There are lots of details to keep track of, most of which I do a passable job at but add to that a birthday and the mix becomes just that much harder.

As it turns out, I really didn't need to worry. One of my best friends who lives in Salem had already gotten the party hats, cake and streamers for a little celebration before my show. So when she came around the corner singing a slightly convoluted version of "Happy Birthday" my pre-show stress disappeared. The rest of the time was completely enjoyable.

My show went off without a hitch and we had a good receptive crowd at the Gulu Gulu Cafe in Salem. I tried for the first time singing one of Tony Scherr's tunes "In My Hands." A beautiful song. We spent the next day running around the city including a gallery showing of one Alyssa's pieces at SOWA (South of Washington Ave), an area in South Boston that has historically housed artist workspaces until recently when building owners realized they could get far more cash by simply selling them for re-development as condo's for the very new rich. I was told that a 500 - 600 square foot space will fetch somewhere in the neighborhood of 450 or 500,000 dollars. Yikes.

Afterwards Alyssa took us to one of the new hot restaurants called Myers & Chang around the corner. The restaurant was packed and we found the menu interesting and full of fusiony but authentic Chinese flavors. We tried edamame and celery slaw, chive pancakes, pork and chive dumplings made with authentic Chinese pork. My personal favorite was the Beef and Broccoli Chow Fun, a coulotte steak, baby bok choy and fat noodles.

We caught a flight to Washington DC yesterday so that we could go on a limousine tour of the Northern Virginia's expansive wine country today. First stop was the tiny Swedenberg winery. There was only a single woman manning the tasting area and we found most of their wine unremarkable.

The second stop was the tiny village of Middleburg. Here we found an amazing food store called the Market Salamander. I took the opportunity pick up some homemade cheese and macaroni and bottle of some Framboise.

The last stop was the Chrysalis vineyard. Drew and I decided to try the special Reserve wine tasting and for nearly a full hour sampled more than 10 wines, often taking more than one taste of a single bottle. By the time we were finished, we were more than a little woozy. We stumbled back up the hill to the picnic area and finally had something to eat.

Dinner: BBQ Chicken and Rice
Listening: In Your Own Sweet Way - Wes Montgomery