Our big event for the weekend was a night out at Humphrey’s Backstage Live. Backstage Live is a restaurant and bar connected with Humphrey’s Half Moon Inn on Shelter Island. It’s a bar and restaurant that features live music – mostly by local bands. The property also has the Humphrey’s outdoor stage where Humphrey’s Concerts by the Bay performances occur. The outdoor venue has a large stage set in an intimate grassy outdoor garden next to the marina between the hotel and restaurant.
Humphrey’s Concerts by the Bay feature big-name artists. In 2017, performers like Sheryl Crow, The Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan, Willie Nelson, Chris Isaac and Steve Winwood, to name a few were there. We saw a local band called The Reflectors at the Backstage Live. It’s a comfortable place for live music. The band plugs directly into a mixing board so the sound level is completely controlled by an operator at the board – no amplifiers on on stage. This allows the music to maintain a reasonable sound level, but removes some control from the individual musicians. I found the lead guitar licks to be a little muddy and lost in the mix, but the band sounded good overall. They played a lot of 80s and 90s hits.
Our view out the window of Backstage Live.
A poorly exposed photo of the Reflectors performing
The Reflectors performed during Happy Hour from 5pm to 7pm. Another band was scheduled to perform beginning at 9pm. I like the opportunity to enjoy live music without staying up half the night. We found out about the show from our friend Hans Kohls. We met up with Hans and Lisa at the bar and enjoyed a couple of drinks and conversation at our shared table.
One thing they did at Backstage Live that was cool was they way they arranged the tables. We sat at the back of the room at a high-top table for four. The next tables and chairs in front of us were slightly lower. The tables and chairs in front of them were even lower. This went on all the way to front, giving everyone a chance to see the stage over the tables in front.
Sunday morning Donna went hiking with Hans and Lisa. They climbed Cowles Mountain in Mission Trails Regional Park on the east trail. This trail takes you to the Cowles Mountain summit – the highest point within the San Diego City limits at 1,592 feet above sea level. It was a little over five miles round trip.
I didn’t hike, I stayed back in the park. Over the Thanksgiving weekend, the park was nearly full with only a handful of open sites. The sites were filled by families spending the long weekend here by the bay. On Saturday afternoon the exodus began. Sunday morning, the weekend warriors were packing up and leaving in droves. By Sunday afternoon, the park had more open sites than ever.
Lots of empty sites
More empty sites
The weekend weather was great – highs in the upper 70s on Saturday and a cooler 70 degrees on Sunday. This morning is overcast, but the expected rain didn’t fall. We should reach the upper 60s here at Mission Bay RV Resort. The next few days will remain cool before the highs are expected to reach the low 70s again. Donna took a day off from her boot camp workout, so we’re off to pickleball this morning at the Ocean Beach Recreation Center.