Row Me Home

No that is not indicative of the shape Gypsies is in but the name of the new CD our good friend Scott Kirby just released - it is by far his best yet and if you haven't checked out his music before, now is your chance - visit www.scottkirby.com. This CD which was produced by Russ Kunkel who played drums with James Taylor for many years and produced the last 6 Jimmy Buffett CDs is an unbelievable collection of new tunes and will just blow you away (Scott originally wanted the title of the CD to be Blow Me Down from the song Blow Me Down to Cayo Hueso which is a tune about Scott's family roots but he quickly changed his mind when Russ told him in very explicit terms that he was not producing a CD that had the words Blow Me in the title - as Scott has said, he's the sickest person he knows and he never even thought of that - sometimes its good to have a producer!!)

We spent last night listening to another rocking performance by Scott and Dave Edmisten in Annapolis, Maryland (man can he make a guitar sing - we love Country Dave!!) and heard many of the new tunes on the CD. Not hearing enough music for one night, we later came back to Gypsies at 1:00 in the morning and listened to the whole CD again...yes it was another ugly/crazy/funfilled evening with the Key West boys!!!

Scott Kirby, Dave Edmisten on his Right and Gary Green on his Left

It started out when we ran into JR and Rick, two guys we had met at one of Scott's gigs earlier in the summer at Solomons Island - we proceeded with them to a really cool little local joint they knew of (they live not far from Annapolis) called Davis' Pub for several pre-concert beverages - it was like being in Key West or the Caribbean where people just flowed outside and into the street with their cocktails (unlike Key West however we got chastised for trying to walk down the streets with our beers - what, they were in plastic cups???)

Doug, Tammy and JR at Davis Pub

We also ran into Lisa (a good friend of JR's and another great Kirby fan that we had spent time with at and after the Solomons gig) and then all made our way over to the Annapolis Maritime Museum which is where the guys were playing.

The Guys (Doug, Rock and JR) Have Beers at the Concert

Of course we then proceeded to run into tons more Kirby fans that we have gotten to know over the course of the past several years - how funny it is that we have all gotten to be friends this way - I guess cool people just gravitate to Scotty!! Dave was lucky to make the gig as he got delayed all day in the Charlotte, NC airport waiting on mechanical airplane problems and he wasn't the only one with plane issues - Danny Lombardo, his sister and her husband were all coming down from Manchester, NH to stay with his brother Tom and wife Diane - all hard core Kirby fans and good friends!!! Glad you guys could make it - we had a ball!!!

The Lombardo Clan

A typical wonderful music, friend-filled evening with Scotty and Dave - but the surprise of the evening came when we saw Scott's wife, Michelle, who doesn't normally "tour" with him. I'm not sure who was more surprised - us to see her, or her to see the "boat people" as she affectionately (we would like to believe??) calls us!! Little does she know that Scott invited us to spend Christmas with them again in Key West.....we're back Michelle (actually I think she grimaced a little when we mentioned that we were planning on spending the whole winter in Marathon not more than a stone's throw from Key West - I think she thinks we're a bad influence on her husband...now why would she think that???) Will we wind up in jail or in AA or both...odds are being laid as we speak!!!

Actually we think we are having a party on Gypsies this afternoon with the Lombardos - things got a little fuzzy as the evening progressed and we all migrated to the Boatyard, another great local haunt in Eastport (also known as the Maritime Republic of Eastport since it seceded from Annapolis - reminiscent of Key West's secession from the US!!) You'll notice that no pictures are shown (or were taken for that matter) once we got to the Boatyard in large part to protect the not so innocent and besides who could focus at that point!!! Plans were loosely made but it remains to be seen whether in Scott's words, it was just a grand bar scheme!

After a quick morning steam from Rock Hall that was windy and choppy but not too bad (at least until we got into the Severn River and met the naval armada coming out to greet us!!!),

The Naval Academy Armada Approaches

The US Naval Academy

Spa Creek

The Spa Creek Bridge

we spent yesterday walking around Annapolis which is a fun place largely dominated by the sailing culture that permeates the town and the Naval Academy (in fact I awoke this morning to the Naval Academy's band practicing for their big game today - no, it was not just the drums pounding in my head!!) We walked across the bridge spanning Spa Creek where we are docked and walked among cobblestones to window shop (that's all we do anymore!), had a frosty Kalik (a la the Bahamas) at a cool joint called Buddy's Crabs and Ribs

Kaliks at Buddy's Crabs and Ribs

and then strolled ego alley (so named because it is a small waterway right downtown where boats can parade in, turn around and parade out while all the tourists on the docks gawk - being boaters we just laugh when someone tries this without knowing what they are doing!!)

Ego Alley in Annapolis

When we passed an ice cream/candy store and saw a couple penguins in the window having floats, we thought of our boat buddies/ice cream afficionados from September Song - Stephanie and Bob - hope you guys are having fun!!!

The Ice Cream Shop in Annapolis

We left Rock Hall after four very productive days working on the boat - we finally have a watermaker that works (or so the folks at Spectra claim - guess we'll find out for sure when we hit the Bahamas the next time! ) But we (the royal we of course) also figured out the engine problem we had the other day when our engines both conked out in the Eastern Bay when we were heading out of St. Michaels - there seemed to be a loose connection between the fuel line and the tank which allowed air to get in the lines. Hank our friendly mechanic at Haven Harbor not only sealed up the connection on the port fuel tank but checked all the other tank connections. Hank also filed down a dent in the flywheel on the crankshaft which had been causing belt dust to accumulate when the port engine ran. Finally he took off three of our motor mounts to file them down so they don't sit as close to the stringers and also to weld on some support to the back joint - we've already had two snap (one when we were in the Bahamas where there was no convenient welder - of course!!!) So long and short of it is that Gypsies is ready to kick up her heels and get back out there on the waterways! After a final happy hour/wing night at the Harbor Shack, we headed out early yesterday morning - the guys at Haven Harbor were wonderful to us as always but it was definitely time to leave!!!

Wing Night at the Harbor Shack

Lawn Art in Front of Haven Harbour Marina

We plan on hanging out in the Annapolis area through Monday and then we'll head up to Baltimore where we start our emergency first responder first aid course on Tuesday evening!! Vicki we'll make sure to take notes of any cool things (like field tracheotomies or the use of large safety pins in emergencies!!) and pass them along when we catch up with all you guys down south!!