Tour Diary: Bellingham & Seattle, WA

Mount Rainier in the snow, a night with a dear old friend, and a pair of big disappointments marked my time in the greater Seattle region.

My trusty Buick Encore, who shall heretofore be known as Aretha, and I pulled into Bellingham, WA on a late Thursday afternoon. I made a beeline for my home for the night, Schweinhauss Biergarten, an outdoor German beer bar with a stage, fire pit, and outdoor kitchen. It was a hodge-podge of styles and design ethics, but the place had a solid atmosphere.

I introduced myself to the young lady at the bar as the performer for the evening, but did so with a very worried tone in my voice. I had arrived to the venue to see that someone else’s name was on the bill. Schweinhauss has a regular Thursday night open mic, which they had offered to have me play a featured set after the first hour or so of open mic performances. Now, someone else was in the featured spot. I became very worried.

The young lady tending bar was unaware of the booking situation but assured me that the booker would arrive soon. I headed out for a long walk to hope things might work out. I strolled for more than an hour, s…