///gas prices have been steadily falling, but when we saw $1.79 we were ecstatic. back in June we were paying $4.79 in California… incredible. been making a huge difference on this tour… granted, no one has any money, so we’re not making much…. but still… we’re excited about the savings.

just rolled in to Charlotte, NC. bathed ourselves in the Atlantic Ocean off the South Carolina coast yesterday… we’re officially headed West from here on out. only 9 shows left. 10 days of travel to go. wowzas. this stage of tour is always a bit strange. mixed emotions about the impending end…

last night was one for the record books. those of you that were there know damn well what i’m talking about… wow. i’ll see about tactfully communicating the incredible events, but first, rad show in Chapel Hill on wednesday…

11/12/08 Chapel Hill, NC

played at The Reservoir Bar with our tour buddies Where The Buffalo Roamed and new friends Gray Young. after a Trivia battle of epic proportions, the rock show ensued. go check out Gray Young right now. rad guys. really stellar post-rock trio. we all loved their set. there’s a video below that’ll give you a good taste.

Chapel Hill / Durham was a blast. ate BBQ. saw friends. enjoyed the architecture and the scenery. thanks to Marty for hosting us! thanks to John + Joe + Curtis from I Was Totally Destroying It for coming out! thanks to the Q Shack for some incredible pulled pork butt! thanks to Bill for the trivia schooling! here’s the video i promised:

GRAY YOUNG @ The Reservoir Bar in Chapel Hill, NC

11/13/08 Mt. Pleasant, SC

long rainy drive down to the South Carolina coast, but as we closed in on Charleston the skies cleared a bit and the rain subsided… awesome drive to the coast and our beach of choice near the Isle of Palms… several bridges over marshlands and channels and rivers… low flying clouds and fog and bursts of sunlight… ships and ports… fascinating landscape…

Cam and i succeeded in our mission of swimming in the Atlantic Ocean while Lisa combed the beach for shells to modest success. Cam swam in his underwear. i unleashed my fur coat. the water was warm. we combed the waves for sharks to no success. oh well.

show that night was at the infamous Village Tavern in Mt. Pleasant… home bar of Band Of Horses… and a place that’s seen a lot of great bands roll through it… we were excited to be there and were greeted by a rowdy happy hour crowd that helped us feel at home right off the bat. heckled us from the getgo. and bought merch before we even played. some buddies we’d gained from our stops at the 511 House in Florence, SC came out for the show… thanks Tony + Kelly!!!… we laughed all night with them. and then crashed at their cozy pad and got the full Charleston experience for brkfst. what a rad town. they also got to experience, with us, one of the greatest rock and roll disasters any of us had ever witnessed… they know. we know. if you were also there, you know. if you weren’t there and are impossibly curious… drop us a line and inquire and we’ll gladly tell the tale… like Lisa said, “the musical equivalent of the Hindenburg”. i thought i could tell it here, but i realized that i shouldn’t. it was that disastrous. luckily no one is hurt. they are lucky that they aren’t. seriously. it got that weird.

here are some more photos of the non-disasters in South Carolina… to further clarify, we were witnesses to said disaster, not involved, so don’t worry… we are fine… and since no one was hurt, still laughing and trying to make sense of it all…

this morning, outside of Tony + Kelly’s house in Charleston… Where The Buffalo Roamed (corbie + andy) and Kelly are pictured… we parted ways with WTBR today… they will be missed.

sail on young sailors! show tonight is at a pirate bar here in Charlotte, NC… Snug Harbor!!

///gilbert

After saying good-bye to my family we headed towards Beverly Mass via the NH seacoast (there’s only 18 miles of seacoast in NH). We stopped in Hampton Beach and had lunch at one of the restaurants along the beach. It was a little bit cold, and certainly still off season. Our waitress was nice enough to give the guys free coffee and Cam left with an extra bowl of chowder.

We got to Beverly and headed to Never Say Never Ink, an art store that we played at in the fall. The people who run it are super nice, and were excited to have us back. We had to hold the show off for a while due to a complaint from the business next door, but it gave the crowd a chance to fill out and in the end it was a good Monday night show. The opening band was an interesting instrumental (mostly) local high school band called And the Sea Was Ours. They’re creating some cool sounds as a young band.

The show ended fairly early, at least by our standards, and we decided to drive and find someplace to sleep. The guys wanted to head towards the ocean, and I was game for that. So, we headed to Newport RI. By the time we got there it was pretty late, and I as really tired. We did find a great spot right on the ocean to park and sleep, and since it was off season no one bothered us for parking there over night. It was beautiful to see the moonlight shining on the ocean, and hear the waves crashing all night. We were right next to an old fort/home/now park. It was once the summer home of a wealthy family, and then turned into a military point during the war, and then later returned to family who then allowed it to become a park area. It was amazing to think that it used to be the summer home of a family, and seemed like a very romantic place to spend the summers, between the ocean and a large acreage with paths through blackberry brambles and shrubs.

Here’s what it looked like in the morning:

definitely the best place we slept & woke up all of tour. maybe best ever. it was unbelievable. we took our time in the morning for sure. collected tons of shells and breathed the ocean air deeply.

reporting for all of us finn rigginses:
the simps + gilbert