A lifetime ambition realised.

The morning of the 14th of August dawned (not that I saw the dawn obviously) and I treated myself to a decent breakfast in the Comfort Inn hotel where I was staying which is unusual as it is a meal I rarely take but it was very good.  There is a full review of the hotel on the previous entry here.  Showered, fed and watered I was ready to for the road again and I really did have to be on the road as I could only get that hotel for one night and that was the last room available.  Those that have read the first part of this journal will know that I was not even booked to play, had no clue where I was going to be staying or indeed anything else but this is the way I travel and I would not have it any other way.

I had completely lucked out the previous night whilst surfing the net in my hotel and had managed to score a room in the best hotel in Broadstairs (the Royal Albion and please see the attached review on this entry) which not only is a place I had long wanted to stay for reasons explained on the review but had the additional advantage of being absolutely central for any gigs I was likely to play so it was happy days.

  Obviously when I checked out of my Ramsgate hotel and jumped on the bus to Broadstairs I was still hours too early to check in to the Albion and so I headed off to the gig with my guitar bag on my back, dragging my tiny suitcase and looking for all the world like some sort of vagrant wandering minstrel.  A dear and very well-meaning friend even asked me had I slept on the beach the previous night.  OK, I know I look rough but that rough?  Before you ask, yes, I have slept on that beach before using my guitar as a pillow!
The lunchtime session in the George was a joy as I was playing with my dear friend Paul whom I have played with for over 20 years, the booked artist and a "cast of thousands" as the concept of the playaround is that anyone can turn up and play regardless of ability.   Yes, it leads to the odd rick and a very occasional complete disaster but we just keep blasting away until they get it.  For the overwhelming majority of the time it is a complete and absolute delight and there is something about a ten year old who only knows a couple of tunes on the fiddle / banjo / whistle or whatever at about half speed and accompanied by a bunch of pro and semi pro musicians that all play at their speed which would draw tears out of a stone, it is just magical and one of the very many reasons I love this festival so much.

The session over, Paul and I headed off to another pub for a bit of a jam and were almost inevitably joined by a few friends which turned into another bit of a lively one and soon enough it was time when I could check in at the Albion which I did in a rare fit of common sense.   Having accomplished that not too onerous task it was back out on the town and visit a few pubs of long previous acquaintance where again I was universally greeted as the returning "prodigal son".  Yes, I have been playing here for many years and have a lot of friends but there really is something extremely wonderful and welcoming about the place and it's inhabitants that makes me love it and it was a very relaxed and contented planxty that retired to his comfy bed in the best hotel in town that night.

Could it get any better?  Stay tuned and I'll tell you.