Had a great night last night at Hyatt Place, Marathon , somewhere around 80 to 100 ppl in the bar and restaurant, and I kept the place rocking for three hours plus. The crowd didn't want me to stop, but I was running out of gas by 9:30 and was only supposed to play till 9:00 p.m..

The only mishap was when a very shapely young lady was shaking a lot of body parts close to the keyboard and holding her drink, which was sloshing around. Some splashed on the keys, and I quickly asked her to please move a bit farther away, which she did. I have a sign on the keyboard stand that clearly states "No food or drinks in this area - please" but as you would expect, no one ever seems to notice or respect the sign. Kinda like stop signs and red lights here - they're only a suggestion.

While this young lady appeared to be quite young, she was actually 28 years old and the town's veterinarian. She looked like she wasn't older than 16 at best. She asked if she could sing a song, and I told her only if she sat in my lap to sing it. She smiled and said "no, but thanks for the offer." Her boyfriend came in just five minutes later - could have been a bad scene. I, obviously, was just kidding around with her and would not have allowed her to sing or sit in my lap. Besides, Carol was just 10 feet away and would have shot me.

When I packed up to leave, the wait staff asked why I was leaving so soon. They wanted to know if I could play till closing time, which was 11 p.m.. Not a prayer - that would have been a 5 hour gig.

The tips were mediocre at best, and I guess that's typical in a place like this where everything is very expensive. I guess they all believe I make big bucks for the performance. And, while I among the highest paid entertainers on the island, the pay is no different than downtown Baltimore. Well, a little better than Baltimore, but not much.

Another fun evening in Paradise,

Gary