My 65th Birthday Present - Blue Grass

**UPDATE**
I forgot to tell you about the card my wife gave me. It said:
"Through the years we've shared so mcuh together.
Tears, and even drama.
An althought we've been through so many changes,
you still manage to turn me on."

OPEN THE CARD

"Happy Birthday From The TV."

So True!

***

Okay, as I said in the post before this, I found out how to post some of the pictures.

You can see the clouds in the mountains that are part of the Application chain - and the rain.

This is the court house on the square in Blairsville. You can see that it has been raining, and just before the deluge.

The lady mandolin player in the light blue sweater had a unique way of playing the instrimunt and all I could thing of was, 'Man, I bet she could give an awesome hand job.' But the whole group had some good tunes and songs.

This is Sunday morning. What a difference a day makes.

The grandkids decorated the car for my birthday.


The kids gave me my favorite car - a '57 Chevrolet hardtop.

I won't boar you with all the people and bands we heard, but I will show you the BEST damn even of the whole weekend.


This is a tent set up outside the Hole In The Wall Cafe and it is just for jamming. Anyone with an instrument could pull up a chair and start playing. There were 4 fiddles, 3 banjo's, 5 guitars, and a base. They all played in perfect harmony like they had been playing together for years. There ranged from a 90 somehting man on the banjo to a 14 year old on the fiddle.

Then I heard the sound of an instrument that I didnt' see. I looked around and there he was.

The man was playing the strange Dobro Guitar. Love that sound. And there is the little old lady sitting there playing the spoons.

I tell ya, folks. That was the best music I have ever heard. Just a bunch of good old boys picking and a grinning.

There are many more pictures of the festival, and the trip we made to Bardstown Bald, the highest point in Georgia at 4,874 feet. Now I know that is the equivalent of a morning tent-pole hard compared to other mountains, but it has some great views. You can see NC, SC, TN and on a real clear day, KY. You can’t see the little dotted lines that separates the states because the are in the valley. The temp never gets above the mid-eighties in the summer and can go down to 24 degrees below in the winter. I can show you those pictures sometime.

But for now, I had a great birthday even though I wasn’t in it emotionally. Except for the music. You can’t not tap you foot and feel the rhythm when the banjos are rolling and the guitars are a picking and the mandolins are a strumming. The only American made music we have. Got to love it.

Rainy Day In Blairsville

 
It started raining as we left home for the drive to Blairsville and the Bluegrass Festival. It only got heavier as we drove North. It stopped for about 30 minutes as we were checking into the motel. By the way, if any of your need surgery, or a home built or a car engine rebuilt, just call on me because we are staying in a Holiday Inn Express.

Then the thunder and the deluge started. All the tents set up for the country crafts and the scattered bands, were empty. The court house on the square had bands playing all day, the civic center had some playing most of the day as did the Historical Society. But Blairsville is a small town built around a square and very little parking. All the places were taken up mostly by the bands. I had to let Judy and the grandkids out and go park a few blocks away and walk back in the rain.

I wasn’t in the best of moods, either. The weather seem to put a damper (no pun intended) on my spirits. But Sunday is suppose to be sunny and in the high 60’s. Maybe it will be better then.

One highlight, other than hearing some damn good music, was where we ate lunch. Sgt. Charlie, who was raised in these parts and live here until moving full time to Florida earlier this year, suggested we eat at a place called The Comfort Inn. We tried, but it was closed. Seems there was a new birth in the family and the new addition was more important than the festival. So we went across the square to The Hole In The Wall Café. The food wasn’t great, but the decor was cute. The walls were covered with plaques and signs with all these sayings.

So in keeping with my continuing education of you peeps, I give you some sayings to help guide your life. I couldn't copy them all down because the other customers were getting mad with me for leaning over them to write the sayins down. Some people can be so pickey over their food and eating arrangemtns.

But here are a few of the ones I could get:

1. Every time I say I’m dieting…I wash my mouth with Chocolate.

2. You can’t scare me, I teach 5th grade.

3. Friends don’t let friends eat chocolate alone.

4. A closed mouth gathers no feet.

5. Coffee is hot water with an attitude.

6. Angles do exist…sometimes they have no wings and are called friends.

7. Irish Diplomacy is the ability to tell someone to go to hell so that he looks forward to the trip.

8. My wife things a fishing rod is a pole with a jerk on both ends.

9. Sing at MeMaw and PawPaw’s house: Kids Spoiled Here.

10. If you want the best seat in the house you are going to have to move the dog.

11. Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.

12. Mothers of teenagers know why some animals eat their young.

13. Ice Tea - Wine Of The South.

Your welcome!

Pictures and more to follow. Stop yawning! STOP IT!

Gone To The Mountains

A Thailand Bar Sign

So not to be confused as to where I will be this weekend, it woan't be in Thailand.


I'll be in the North Georgia Mountains at a Blue Grass Festival and mountain craft shopping in Blairsville, GA. YEE HAAA