I met a lovely woman while busking in a small market town in Suffolk, UK. She took me to the island of Nevis in the Caribbean, hosted and fed me for a month, while I performed in her beautiful restaurant, Bananas Bistro. The next three months were spent hitchhiking all through the Caribbean on sailboats, arriving eventually in the Northeast USA to visit old friends I’d made when living there in 2013. This led to an adventure through the Deep South & up the Mississippi river, regions often missed out on American travel itineraries.
Summoning the clouds, Miami FL
Police station, Charlestown, Nevis.
New River Sugar Plantation ruins
Nevis Peak. An extinct volcano
Caribbean adventures by bike pt. 1
Caribbean adventures by bike pt. 2
Caribbean adventures by bike pt. 3
My friend Wade is reconstructing an old plantation house. In the archaeological excavations of the estate the original keystone of the doorway was discovered, with the date 1692 etched into it.
Wade, outside the property he is working on
The boys. I found myself having breakfast with these fine gentlemen frequently, in Lupi’s (left) gorgeous former plantation hotel. Monkeys would be found roaming the garden every day!
Montravers Estate
Setting sail
Port Zante Marina, Basseterre, St Kitts
Approaching Saba, Dutch Antilles
The captain, Damian, and 1st mate, Jas, of my first boat
Shipwrecks, St Thomas, US Virgin Islands
Lit up like a Christmas tree – a cruise ship docks for the night
Charlotte Amalie
99 steps to Blackbeard’s Castle
St John, USVIs. Another tour highlight. 2/3 of the island is a national park
Overlooking Hawksnest Beach
Annaberg Sugar Plantation. The British Virgin Islands in the distance
We shipwrecked! Snarled up on some low lying rocks while approaching Fajardo marina, Puerto Rico
Castillo San Felipe del Morro, San Juan
Missing something? Condado, San Juan
The beach scene.
Plaza de Armas. One of my favourite busking pitches in the world, nestled in San Juan’s old town. I was made to feel very at home by the locals, the other performers, and particularly the coffee kiosk opposite who gave me a coffee and a snack each time I performed.
Each statue encircling this fountain represents a season – this is Winter
Hanging out in the hostel I worked in for a couple of weeks
A blurry sunset, back on St John in the USVIs after finally finding another boat
Jost Van Dyke, BVIs
I stopped in Jost to help out with the hurricane relief work taking place
Exploring Sint Maarten with my latest travel companions, Travis & Leela
Playing to the waves in Anguilla
St Barth
Gustavia, St Barth
Maho Beach, Sint Maarten. These planes fly right over your head here
The road to the French side of the island
Recording in paradise. Willoughby Bay, Antigua
Making music with my hosts, the Rainey bros
I channelled this bird painting for the recording of Bach’s “Gavotte en Rondeau” recorded here
More tunes
Nelson’s Dockyard
Sailing on the Columbia during the Antigua classics
Sails are set
Colonialism at its most brazen. Siboney Beach
A mad trip out to Montserrat to visit modern day Pompeii. Managed to sneak into the exclusion zone and explore the ruins of the old town before it was destroyed by the erupting volcano
Call me Cap’n Dan
Bequia, St Vincent & The Grenadines
Carnash Bay, Mayreau
Reunion with my old Mariachi band in Chinatown in Washington, DC
The White House
Capitol Building
The sweet irony
Bordentown, NJ. Struck by the beauty of these small suburban towns
traffic & time
Philadelphia City Hall, PA
and again
Had to stop for coffee
Looking down Market St
Crossing the Verrazzano Bridge
A day out with the boys from my old a cappella group, The YellowJackets
Quick pose
Lingering on Fire Island, NY
Heading somewhere, in Brooklyn
West 32nd St, NY, NY
Bleecker St, The Village
Greenwich Village
The view from my mate’s rooftop, looking towards Manhattan
Oh, the architectural diversity of this city
The Memorial Arch in Washington Square Park. My favourite busking pitch in America
The Friends Building
A trip to my alma mater, the University of Rochester, in Upstate NY. Overlooking Morey Hall from the Rush Rhees Library
Kodak’s world headquarters, in Rochester, NY
High Falls, in central Rochester, NY
Back in New York – the Brooklyn Bridge
Bryant Park during lunch break
Beaufort, SC.
Charleston, SC
Talmadge Memorial Bridge. Savannah, GA
Container ship sailing the Savannah River
Busking on River St
The light at the end of the tunnel
A successful hitchhike to Atlanta, GA
Lake Pontchartrain, LA
New Orleans, LA. My Mecca. Hopped a freight train from Alabama to get there!
The Gateway Arch, St Louis MO
Looking towards the Old Courthouse
Chicago, IL.
The famous Bean in Millenium Park
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