Mandolin in the Keys

Last week I took the family to Islamorada in the Florida Keys for a little warm-weather getaway. We took similar vacations in '09 and '10 and enjoyed it very much both times.

When thinking of traveling now, I immediately think about bringing an instrument with me. I've brought my travel guitar with me on a number of trips, and even on a plane, and this time I was thinking I'd bring both a guitar and a mandolin. But I decided against the guitar at the last minute. Interpreted one way, its measurements would be just over the maximum allowable size for Southwest Airlines. They might have let it slide, but I wasn't willing to risk the chance of a $75 surcharge. The mandolin would be my carry-on bag - and that worked fine.

An observation about practice. When I was in the band and orchestra in school, I despised practice. I did it when absolutely necessary - or more often, when a parent mentioned pointedly that it had been a while since they'd heard the sound of a clarinet or a string bass. It was an obligation - *never* something I did for the enjoyment of it.

There were some very talented people in the high school orchestra, and I heard stories that they'd practice for four, five, or six hours at a time. That was always completely incomprehensible to me - why would you subject yourself to that if you had a choice?!?

I finally understand. I play scales and finger exercises on the mandolin every day - because I enjoy it. And Wednesday morning at the hotel in Islamorada, with my ladies sleeping late and getting ready for a day at the hotel pool and beach, I practiced for at least two hours in an isolated corner of the hotel beach, underneath palm trees, while looking out at the blue/green Caribbean. I played major and pentatonic scales in every key, probably for an hour. Chords, double-stops, tremolo practice. Then I played songs for probably another hour. I could have happily kept going for much longer, but my ladies were down and I wanted to join them.

The next day, we drove to Key West for the day - and there were eye rolls when I brought the mandolin along. But I thought why not bring it - if they wanted to shop or sun-bathe, I could find a quiet spot to play.

And that's exactly what happened - after an afternoon of walking, shopping, and hanging out, they wanted a little beach time. So I grabbed my mando and found a quiet spot to play. When it was time for a group pic, I tried to put it down, but they insisted I bring it into the pic.

Friday morning was more of the same at the hotel beach. And I loved it.

It was a shame we didn't have the travel guitar with us. Greta and I would both have liked having it with us. And it would have been very cool to play some songs with her. But playing on the beach under the palm trees was great.