I turned into Portsmouth, New Hampshire as the afternoon was turning to the evening. Portsmouth is an old town and that is readily evident in downtown. I parked my car and walked around for a bit, getting a sense of the history of the place. A huge tree caught my eye from behind a fence. I stopped to take a picture when I noticed a plaque that told me the tree was a horse chestnut and was planted by William Whipple after returning home from signing the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Wow. That’s pretty cool. I have no idea who William Whipple is but he seems to have had a green thumb.
With the arboreal part of my day finished, I headed to the Portsmouth Brewery to imbibe the local brews. I saddled up at the bar and ordered what the couple next to me had, a flight of beers. The best way to get a taste of the local beers is to sample them all! The Portsmouth Brewery beers were joined by a few from Smuttynose Brewery, which is also located in Portsmouth, and their one revolving guest tap that currently was Celebration ale from Sierra Nevada. I felt a little out of place because it was a little more upscale than I’m used to. Looking around at the locals, I imagined them coming from old money (or being old ship captains). I kept to myself as I worked my way down the plank of beers. A guy walked in and sat down a few stools away and looked like a guy I could talk to. He had a big beard and looked like a guy I’d see at one of the music festivals I go to.
Eventually, another guy sat down between us with long gray hair, someone else I could talk to. The two of them knew each other and started talking when I overheard the first guy say “Cornmeal.” My ears perked up and eyes grew wide as I turned and asked if he happened to be referring to the bluegrass band Cornmeal out of Chicago. He affirmed that it was and that they were playing up in Portland, Maine that night. Holy Cow! They are my favorite band and I thought I had checked their schedule before I left on my trip, but I must have missed them. I was sort of planning on ending up in Portland that night so this couldn’t have been any more perfect.
Beer Flight!
The first guy, Matt, was heading up to the show and had me follow because I didn’t know where I was going. I said I was probably going to sleep in my car and he warned me about the strict parking restrictions in downtown Portland. One time he was sleeping in his van after a show and woke up to a tow truck trying to tow his van away. I followed him to the park and ride which is a great place to sleep in your car. We called a cab and headed to the show. Hot Buttered Rum and Cornmeal were on tour together and had been alternating who closed. I was hoping Cornmeal closed because I’m not the biggest fan of Hot Buttered Rum. My hopes were true as Hot Buttered Rum took the stage. They were OK, but sounded more alt-country than bluegrass, not my cup of tea. The highlight of their set was when they played the Beatles “I’ve just Seen a Face.” That’s one of my favorite Beatles songs and hearing it today was made more special because it was the anniversary of John Lennon’s death.
In-between sets, Matt left me alone and went to talk to some friends. I wandered around and checked out the merch table before settling back in front of the stage with a fresh PBR tall boy when I noticed a girl snaking her way through the crowd towards me. Of course she wanted to talk to me. I found out her name was Jess, was just learning the fiddle and had never heard of Cornmeal before (perhaps I won’t be sleeping my car tonight). I told her to prepare herself to be embarrassed by the fiddling prowess of Allie from Cornmeal who wields a fiddle like Van Gough used a paintbrush and Sergey Bubka commanded a pole vault pole. We talked about road trips and how it’s interesting how the geology changes as you drive from place to place. Cornmeal started and effectively ended any conversation with their amped up bluegrass. Jess was impressed with Allie (who isn’t?), but half way through the show said she had to head out. Well, I guess my car it is. Oh well. We said goodbye and I immersed myself into the music once more.
Cornmeal played a killer cover of the Doors “When the Music’s Over.” The show ended with Hot Buttered Rum coming back on stage to help Cornmeal close the show with the classics “Little Maggie” and “Friend of the Devil.” It was an awesome Cornmeal show and if you ever want to see a band bring the house down, check them out sometime. Here is Cornmeal playing a Paul Simon cover. Matt and I got a cab back to the park and ride and we exchanged info. Turns out exchanging phone numbers would come in handy the following week. It would not be the last time I saw Matt or talked to Jess.
What an unbelievable day. I started in New York, saw the Dan Patrick Show studio, reflected at Walden Pond, sampled beer in Portsmouth, met Matt who brought me to a Cornmeal concert in Portland and ended the day by sleeping in my car at a park and ride. I could get used to this road trip thing. The next leg of my journey brought me to Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor, Maine with more stories to boot.
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