4/24: Near Death on the Road and San Gregorio General Store Gig
Well, if you read the previous post from 4/23, you’ll know that I didn’t do myself any favors on the drive back up from LA to San Gregorio, CA. Yeah, it was a scary night that, after pretty much almost ending up like so many bugs on my windshield, ended with a few hours of “sleep” at a gas station parking lot somewhere off of 101 North along the Central Coast in some small town. Yeah…
A grey morning on 101 North. Not much to look at, but so happy I made it through the night to see it!
At about 7:00am, I motivated myself to pull the driver’s seat upright and hit the road one last time to cover the final stretch of pavement from wherever the heck I was up to San Gregorio, CA. Fortunately, I found a McDonald’s along the way an re-fueled with several LARGE Cokes and a little breakfast meal… thank you McDonald’s! You saved me once again.
Farther along the way at about 9:00am, I caught a second and even third wind on CA-1 while cruising the coast just past Santa Cruz. Nothing like a crisp sea breeze to keep you awake and the spirits high(er).
Awesome wildflowers with some surf and the Pigeon Point lighthouse in the distance. I love California.
Finally, at a little after 9:15am, I arrived at the San Gregorio General Store. Honestly, I didn’t really know what to expect, but it ended up being one of the coolest gigs I’ve ever played. This place was part provisions, part restaurant, part tourist trap, and mostly a killer saloon with a nice little spot for live music on the weekends. It was a sunny morning, the views from the venue were awesome, and I honestly couldn’t think of a nicer way to wrap things up after being on the road for 15 performances and 11 days.
The San Gregorio General Store: part store, part tourist trap, part saloon, all cool.
We had full-on cowboys and ranch hands in the audience, hog-ridin’ bikers, aggressive road cyclists, surfers, hikers, day trippers from the city (SF) and just about everything in between there during our set. It was a lot fun and the country hospitality was genuinely appreciated after such a rough night on the road from LA earlier in the night/morning.
While it was a little odd playing in front of a Lee and Levi's point of sale display, the high ceilings and wood floors made for outstanding acoustics and the audience ate it up.
After we finished up at the San Gregorio General Store, we mingled with the local crew, ate some killer egg sandwiches, and sampled some of the SG Store’s world famous bloody mary mix. Yeah, after all that time on the road, it felt good to let loose a little bit. Jesse the percussionist was really glad to be done with the tour and kind of went a little nuts in the “spiffy hats” section of the store:
Percussionist Jesse Weber showing his "mean" face after the gig at San Gregorio General Store. Hilarious...
After eating our fill and enjoying a few beverages, we wrapped things up, packed up the truck, soaked in some sun, and (you guessed it), proceeded to have one last meal of fish tacos in Half Moon Bay! Ooh! Yeah, these were really good and tasted oh so much sweeter given that we were so close to home and done with our road trip. Afterwards, I climbed back into the truck and teetered back to San Francisco, just in time to unload the gear to the studio, make it back to my apartment, and crash out. Zzzz…