Keith in Dana Point -- Sat/Sun, 09/10July2016

I decided to try some different times, to see when the best time to play is. So I went from 9-11:30 and also in the evening 6:30-10:30. Neither was great, but both were OK.

In the morning, the Harbor Patrol/Sheriff/Fire boat came and docked right next to where I was playing. I thought, "Oh boy; here we go.", but decided to just keep playing and let them interrupt if they thought they had a reason to shake me down. I have my Permit, and am following (most of) the Rules laid down, so I should be OK. So I just kept playing, and playing, and they never even came by. Must have just come for some coffee.

And then on Saturday night, another heavily belt-accessorized guy came tromping up the Promenade towards me in his mil-spec boots, but he cut across the patio and never even approached me, either. Now, I'm glad nobody's called me out (yet), but why did I go to all the trouble to get that Permit if nobody's gonna check it?!?

(I actually think that I'm doing it so brazenly, and sounding completely professional, that they just have to assume I'm legit, so they don't hassle me. Which it great, I guess.)

I decided that I had to try Saturday night, just as a place to play when it's not Our Turn in Laguna. But it was kind of tough to gather an audience, because the patio space is owned by the coffee/ice cream shop, and they take the chairs away in the evening (even though they're still open!), which seems kind of mean.

But I can still play to the people strolling (and jogging, and dog-walking) by, and I had a pair of moms come by with their two bestie daughters. After I roped the girls in with my picture-menu Kids' request list, they just plopped down to listen. Some college girls came by and decided that they could do that, too, and we had us a great little concert there for a while.

A family came by who had recently relocated here from Pennsylvania, so they wanted all the "California" songs: the one about the hotel, and "Ventura Highway", and then they mercifully branched out into other types of songs. They stayed for at least an hour, and while I was playing for them, I looked over and there was a little dinghy docked over the railing, and the people were just chilling and listening to me like they had front row concert tickets. Apparently they could hear just fine from over there, although I'm theoretically not supposed to send any sound out over the water.

A 12-year-old kid came up to me and asked if I knew "Peaceful Easy Feeling". I do, and after he had sternly instructed his dad to take pictures and video, I played it, and he stood next to me and acted out the words in gestures -- I don't think he was even singing. Not sure what that was about. After the song, as he was walking away, he stopped and asked, "Can we order you for, like, a party?" I suppose so, kid, but I'm not a pizza...

On Sunday, I went down again in the morning, though it was already too hot. A nice old lady was up at the tables and she waved, then blew me a kiss, and stayed the whole time I was there, reading her book and clapping loudly between songs. Sweet.

I've been putting business cards down next to the tip jar, and lots of them disappear when I play down there. I hope something eventually comes of that...