Back in May I purchased twenty dollars worth of raffle tickets. As a result of this, and some luck, I found myself a couple of hours later standing on the main stage at the Doheny Blues Festival in Dana Point, California. I had just won the raffle put on by the Blues Foundation for a cabin on the 2011 Legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruise. I was thrilled. From my vantage point on that festival stage, which takes place at a California State Beach Park, I could see the Pacific Ocean and could scarcely imagine embarking on its endless horizon, in just a few short months.

The October day finally arrived and I headed south for the port of San Diego. It was just a two hour drive through the foothills and valleys of the coastal ranges of Southern California from my home in Los Angeles. I soon found myself in the long term cruise ship parking lot, in a very 1960’s looking Holiday Inn and directly across a busy four lane thoroughfare from the enormous M.S. Zaandam docked in the idyllic San Diego Harbor.

I couldn’t wait to board the huge vessel, but I did however have to make one quick stop. That was at the fast food emporium to get a bite to eat. I quickly scarfed two corn dogs and was on my way. It would be the last bad meal I would have in a week.

I then declined to take the $5.00, sixty second ride in a peddle cab and made the mad dash across four lanes of traffic without the benefit of the crosswalk, which I later discovered was only twenty feet to my right. It was almost as dangerous as eating two corn dogs for breakfast but I was in vacation mode and living on the edge.

Struggling with my luggage, I got to the terminal and showed my boarding pass and passport at least 3 or 4 times before I got onto the ship. Security was tight but that is the nature of travel in our post 9/11 world.  

At about 4:00 in the afternoon, everyone on the ship was directed to go to the promenade deck and find their lifeboat. There we were instructed what to do in case of the ship sinking. You must remember to put on your life vest taken from the closet in your cabin, which boat to go to, calmly proceed and so on. This is the nautical equivalent of the airline safety seminar before takeoff. I really liked the idea of using a lifeboat as a floatation device as opposed to say a seat cushion.

All the planning, preparation, anticipation and logistics that go into a trip like this became worth it for me the moment we left the harbor and were in the open sea and became surrounded by the deep blue waters of the Pacific. 

I have never been on a cruise, so I was pleasantly surprised with the size of my room and that the quarters even had an outside window. Not bad for twenty dollars worth raffle of tickets. I dropped my gear and took a stroll around the ship, found the appropriate deck and put cash on my ship account. Now I was faced with the prospect of nothing to do for a week except eat, drink, listen to great music, enjoy the company of like minded individuals and of course engage in one of my favorite activities, photography. I was in heaven.

I skipped the newcomer’s party since I had heard that Taj Majal was on board and was attending the ‘Returning Offenders Party.”What a wonderful way start to a great week.

After going to the “Returning Offenders” party in the Mondrian Lounge, I went to the Lido Deck at ship aft. Ruthie Foster was playing. She put on a wonderful performance. Looking at my schedule, I saw that there was another set I wanted to see. As I was walking away from the stage, Tanya Richardson, the phenomenal bassist in Ruthie’s band took a solo that literally stopped me in my tracks. I can’t remember ever having any plans altered by a bass solo. Tanya is a special player and it is the unexpected musical moments like these that we live for.

On the Lido Deck, I saw a roadie using wide black gaffer tape to cover the orange tie downs on the speakers at stage right. The tape wasn’t sticking to the nylon webbing. I gave him a hand. I asked why he was covering the straps. He said, He wanted to make the stage more visually appealing.  I was very impressed by that attention to detail. I don’t like the look of bright orange extension cords and straps in my stage shots. Maybe it is the little attention to details like this that make the Legendary Blues Cruise so special.

Tab Benoit was playing in the Mondrian Lounge.  It was the first time I have seen Tab. It hopefully will not be the last.  The bass player in Benoit’s band, Corey Duplechin, was fun to watch. His face expressed such joy. It was something I wanted to capture. It turned out to be a more difficult task than I anticipated. I finally got the shot I wanted a few days later when he was jamming on the back deck.

I then went to the Ocean Bar to enjoy the Cedric Burnside Project. Sitting on the floor next to a walkway wall was a lovely blond woman who was swaying and moving her hands like she was at a Grateful Dead show. It was a beautiful thing to see. People’s reaction to music varies in such interesting ways but it always serves as a reminder as to what a vital component music is to our humanity.

At one of the early shows on the Lido Deck, I went up to the top of the ship in an area that was posted for teens only. With only a couple of teenagers on board the area had been opened up to everyone. It turned out to be a marvelous vantage point from which to shoot. It is the same spot on the ship, from which I took pictures of Point Loma as the ship pulled out of the harbor in San Diego and into the open sea.

Eden Brent played an entertaining set of music. During her performance a group of women came and stood in front of the piano. They all had t-shirts saying, “Ain't got no Troubles” This is one of Eden’s songs that is a fan favorite and certainly described the general mood of these blues cruisers.

One of the festivities on board was the wig parade. Out on the Lido Deck, there were many people with all sorts of headgear. All colors, sizes, and shapes, including a couple of women with matching blow up Marie Antoinette style bouffants. Not having brought a wig of my own, I decided to let down my considerable mane and let the damp, salt water laden, sea breezes do their thing. It worked. I looked like Troy Polamalu without a football helmet. A few people even tugged at my tresses to see if they were real.  Needless to say, I did not win and in retrospect should have been disqualified. The next day, I lost lots of hair and about an hour trying to remove the knots from being in the wind the previous night. Thanks for the brush out. You know who you are.

For this trip, I made a 20 inch x30 inch, photo collage of the some of the artists that performed on the cruise. The collage included Michael Burks, Charlie Musselwhite, Curtis Salgado, Eden Brent, Cedric Burnside, Tommy Castro, Billy Branch, and Elvin Bishop. I have done this before at festivals. It is a great way to collect signatures. I decided to wait until the autograph sessions to avoid bothering the talent. I took with me a smaller version of the collage to give to give the musicians. I waited in the various lines and collected my autographs. When I saw Eden Brent, she was delighted to have the collage I had for her. She pointed at the photo of herself and asked me for a kiss. I was willing to play along and kissed the photo of her. She laughed and leaned out and gave me a big smooch. Sigh...all this for twenty dollars worth of raffle tickets.