Headed Down South

 to the land of the pines

And I'm thumbin' my way into North Caroline
Starin' up the road
Pray to God I see headlights

I made it down the coast in seventeen hours
Pickin' me a bouquet of dogwood flowers
And I'm a hopin' for Raleigh
I can see my baby tonight ( Ketch Secor - Bob Dylan)

I had a very difficult few days in the Garden State.......highs and lows.......Track was an amazing reunion/celebration day.......perfect weather, great turnout and cold beer.....it was the highlight of my trip.........sadly my days in the office were marred by NJ Transit........a total nightmare...and i won't bore you.........Amtrak was a disaster both going and coming.....and i was so rattled and frazzled that i left  a day earlier than planned.....skipped Alexandria and rode the train for 14 straight hours to Raleigh.......I had to get on the right side of the Mason Dixon.....spent the night in a hotel downtown, went out for a few drinks in Wolfpack Territory and tried to unwind.......the following day at sunrise i found myself in a $300 uber desperately trying to reach home base at Capt Archies before they opened at 11:00 a.m. ....one the way out of town the above song came on the stereo.....i had no idea that Bob Dylan wrote the chorus for Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid soundtrack and received a co writing credit........the version by Old Crow Medicine Show is both beautiful and haunting and it summed up my trip........it remined me of the time i was leaving  Dublin in 92....and Dirty Old town came on the radio......it was defining moment for me.....the my life was in flux and a state of change....the haunting sound of Shane McGowan was powerful.....a song that has stayed with me to this day.......but i digress.........as i rolled out of Raleigh i embraced the fact that I am a Southerner Now....this is my home....my safe space...the place i want to be.....and i love it......i take it all in and i am enjoying myself........BayRidge and Little Silver were great to me....and i loved my time there.....but this now is what i am all about....and i am grateful to be livin the dream......I will be back to Raleigh someday soon.

2+3= GRITTS

And I gotta get a move on before the sun
I hear my baby callin' my name
And I know that she's the only one
And if I die in Raleigh
At least I will die free

So rock me mama like a wagon wheel
Rock me mama anyway you feel
Hey mama rock me
Rock me mama like the wind and the rain
Rock me mama like a south-bound train

Hey mama rock me