Robben Ford Discussion

[BlueRunner]

A few questions have popped up on other threads (e.g., "where IS that place?") about the upcoming John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers dates with Robben. Info is at www.johnmayall.com, but what Mayall doesn't mention is just how great fall can be here in California. Give some thoughts to these stops on the tour:

9/21 Carmel: One of the prettiest little towns in the world. Clint Eastwood was once Mayor. Poet Robinson Jeffers' stone house overlooks the Pacific. Monterey (and its great Aquarium), Santa Cruz and Big Sur are all nearby. You can probably find accomodations in a little cabin in the redwoods in Big Sur, and enjoy some of the best restaurants in the world in Carmel.

9/22 Chico: Hey! This is where the Sierra Nevada Brewery is. What could top that? The concert isn't at the brewery (where the Ford Brothers appeared last year) but at Chico State College. It's a bit of a drive north from San Francisco, but well worth visiting.

9/23 Redding: Interesting old railroad town on the Sacramento River, now with maybe 150,000 people. Magnificent Mt. Shasta is only a 90-minute drive north on the freeway. Check out the blues at night, hike up a glacier the next day! (Or chill in a houseboad on Lake Shasta.)

9/24 Napa: North of San Francisco. This is where most of California's great wines come from. Get on board the Wine Train for a fabulous dinner and tour of the wineries.

9/25 San Luis Obispo: About 90 minutes north of Santa Barbara, just inland from the Moro Bay area. Spend the day up at Hearst Castle for some home improvement ideas. Great college town. (By the way, Chico, Redding and San Luis Obispo are all stops on Amtrak's coastal train from Seattle to Los Angeles. How about a Blues Train trip?)

9/27 Lancaster: Out in California's high desert, near Edwards Air Force Base, but an easy two-hour drive up out of L.A. Head off to Las Vegas or Death Valley afterwards.

9/29 San Diego: A great city to visit, with some fun local clubs. Some of the best live music is out at Lestat's, on Adams Avenue.

9/30 Long Beach: Home to the Queen Mary. It's actually a hotel now, so you can spend the night there and pretend you're on the Titanic.

After that, John, Robben and the gang take off for Arizona, Illinois, Texas, Wisconsin, and a lot of other places that I imagine are fine in their own right, but I can't think of a better way to spend a September than to follow the band around the California venues.
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- BlueRunner