favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite

...After Our Heroes Excursion In Lobster Land And With More Than A Few Diversions On The Way. We Find Him Entering New York City On The First Night Of A Three Night Run In The Backseat Of A '68 Mustang With A Hole In The Muffler Preparing Him For The Toxic Atmosphere He Was About To Encounter Within The City Limits. A Clunk And A Bang Found My Companions And I Broke Down In A Bus Pull Off Not Far From The "Garden." Upon Finding The Muffler In Question Several Hundred Feet Behind Us. We Retrieved It And Began Hasty Repairs. Luckily Several Clothes Hangers Were Found Discarded Near A Trash Can And The Driver Began His Attempts At Reattachment. I Took The Oppurtunity To Dispose Of Some Trash Accumulated On The Trip. Putting It Into The Already Overloaded Trashcan. I Was Horrified To See It Explode In An Eruption Of Rats, Who Ran Down A Small Hill Just Beyond A Guardrail. After Several Minutes The Brazen Rodents Crept Up The Hill And Towards Their Trashcan. The Driver On His Back Frantically Tieing Off The Muffler, Me Waving A Large Piece Of Cardboard To Fend Them Off. Mission Accomplished We Leapt Into The Car And Were Off. Wishing We Had Not Taken Our Doses, Despite Our Lateness Until We Arrived At Our Destination. Yet Fortune Was With Us And We Made It On Time And Settled In For The First Show. It Seemed The Band Had Done The Same. The Show Was Good But Not As Strong As Rochester Or Augusta. We Were Put Up The Next Day By Kind Folk In Connecticut. Who Allowed Us To Park,Sleep And Even Use The Family Pool. ( Put In Mind Of The Mothers "Let's Make The Water Turn Black," As A Dozen Road Weary Dead Heads Took Advantage Of The Facilities To Wash Away Five Days Worth Of Road Dust. We Took The Train Into The City And The Famous Sucrets Box (See 2 Prior Date Reviews) Made Sure It Was An Electric Ride. The Show Of The 5th Was Far Better. Growing Stronger All The While And Finishing With A Fine Second Set. That Night On Our Return We Found We Had Warn Out Our Welcome In CT., As The Neighbors Had Summoned The Authorities. We Were Soon Hunkered Down In A Rest Stop. Three People In The Mustang. I Eventually Went Into The Nearby HOJO's Where I Learned We Were In The Throes Of The Remnants Of The Mighty Hurricane "David". I Sat And Watched The Little Mustang Rocked By The Wind And Lashed By Driving Sheets Of Rain. The Manager Of The Howard Johnson's Had Us All Move To The Far Side Of The Building In Case The Large Glass Windows Shattered. We Could Literally See Them Bend With Each Gust. I Was Fortunate Enough To Meet Good People And Coffee And Stale Donuts Were Provided Free Of Charge. It Was There I Met An Elder "Hobo' Who Called Himself "Turnpike Tom." Whether He Was The Subject Of Steve Goodman's Song Or No, I Know Not, But A Fascinating Character He Was. Dawn Broke On The 6th And My Road Companions Had No Idea What Had Taken Place. Just That The Back Window And Seat Were Soaked And The Parking Lot Was Full Of Debris. We Reentered The City Early And Found A Small Radio And T.V. Store Near The Garden Where Our Driver Spent All Our Collected Gas Money For Blank Tapes And Batteries. (Lesson Do Not Buy These Items In Manhattan) We Were Left Broke Due To His Belief We All Still Had Some Money Left For Our Homeward Trip To Virginia. Not So. Anyway Our Spirits Were Brightened By This Amazing Finale To The Three Night Stand. Road Hard And Put Up Wet. We Settled Into Seats Behind The Stage. Too Wore Out To Wrestle The Crowd. Who Pushed To The Stage All Night Long. After The Start Of The Second Set We Observed Three Or Four Individuals Behind The Amps Gathered Together In A Ritualistic Celebration. Binoculars Showed That They Were Indeed Building A Small Fire, Which They Danced And Chanted Around. A Older Head Sitting Next To Us Said He Thought One Was Ken Babbs And Another Dr. Richard Albert (Baba Ram Dass.) And A White Hared Gentleman Was Said To Be Mr. Leary Hisself. The True Identification Of This Group I Never Learned But We Watched As The Fire They Built Grew To A Good Size Campfire Like Blaze Before Being Broken Up And Extinguished By Members Of The Road Crew. Much To The Displeasure Of Said Pranksters. Likewise,The Second Set Was Particularly Hot. The China Cat-> Rider Opener Setting The Tone And Making Up For The One On The 4th. The Ramble On Rose Sent The New York Crowd Crazy. With The "Just Like New York City" Line The Push To The Front Looked Like A Wave From Behind The Stage. A Quick Warning To Move Back Was Ignored By One Group Of Extra Exuberant Fans. Who Pushing Forward Just In Front Of Phil And Presented Him With A Large Box Turtle. Phil Pushed Past Security, Gently Took The Turtle, Raised Him Up And Presented It To The Crowd. The Turtle Madly Moving It's Little Legs All The While,Then Gave Him To A Crew Member Who Carried It Backstage. The Beginning Chords Of Terrapin Were Struck And The Show Kicked In In Earnest. Finishing Finally With A Tumultuous Sugar Mag And The Strongest Johnny B. Goode I've Heard Live Or On Tape Since The Fall Of '77. Jerry Pulling An Extended Solo Away From Weir As He Attempted To Start The Second Verse. Then Culminating In A Crescendo Of Garcia's Best Chuck Berry Jamming As A Roll Of Toilet Paper Thrown From Deep On The Floor, Arched Gracefully Over The Crowd, Unfurling All The Way To Land At His Feet As He Brought The Show And The Mini Tour To A Crashing End. ...Somehow We Were Able To Get Gas Money And As We Road Blissfully Back To The Old Dominion. We Were Lulled With Carbon Monoxide Visions Of That Fantastic Finale. For Always Grateful, To The Band, The Crew And All Of You. The Peoples Who Made Up Our Phenomenal Phamily.

- November 11, 2017TURTLE TRIBE !!!