Page 98 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL SUMMER 2024 LIMA

Twenty-six bands played that day,
many overlapping. I couldn’t see them all
in one day, but most played three times
during the week, so I had other chances to
hear them. At the other pool deck, the Nick
Moss Band featuring harmonica player,
Dennis Gruenling, was ripping it up. Gruen‐
llng, the best jump blues player in America,
blew his heart out and I hollered until I was
hoarse. And there was still more. Rick Es‐
trin & the Nightcats, my all-time favorite
blues band, played at the opposite end of
the 975-foot-long ship. I hobbled across
and found a seat. Estrin, a brilliant show‐
man as well as the world’s most entertain‐
ing harpist/ singer/ songwriter/front man
sang:
I should have known better
Cuz just look where I met her
On the Blues Cruise.
His band was flawless, fearless, and
bursting with unfathomable energy. The
joy was infectious. Everybody (except me,
of course) was on their feet.
When the show ended, I was hungry but
didn’t want to waste time in the dining
room ordering dinner, so instead I chose
the buffet, which I would choose most of
the week. There was everything from hand-
carved meats, chicken fish, and salads to
international dishes, home-made breads
and enough desserts to sink the ship. I
wasn’t the only person alone. I sat down
next to a woman from Florida who was on
her fourth blues cruise. Here, no one asked
where you were from. They just wanted to
know how many blues cruises you’d been on.

Nick Moss Band featuring harmonica
player, Dennis Gruenling, was ripping it up.

98 WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE SUMMER 2024