It's a Neil Diamond Kinda Day
May. 25th, 2008 09:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
captain_philThe New Neil Diamond CD was playing at Starbucks this morning, so I had "Sweet Caroline" stuck in my head most of the morning, thankfully ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
yourbasketbuddy didn't kick my ass for singing it this morning before heading to Charleston for the Vandalia Gathering. It looked like one of the best turnouts in quite a few years. After grabbing some food from the concession area (Ramps for me, a BBQ sandwich for Paula), we wandered over in time to see Robin Kessinger backing his brother Dan during the Flatpick guitar contest (Dan took fourth place, and was the oldest winner by probably 35 years over the rest of the winners). We wandered through the vendors and got some yummie food items (sweet hot pickles, pickled hot peppers, and cherry preserves), and went to check out the birdies that the good folks at Three Rivers Avian Center brought to talk about including the Golden Eagle. We also saw the guys I refer to as the "Under the Tree gang", several groups of pickers who stake out areas under trees and spend the whole weekend picking and singing. It's neat how people wander up and join in singing. I heard "I wonder where you are tonight", and "Man of Constant Sorrow" from this collection of venerable pickers (and a few young whippersnappers). I was looking for pictures online and found a good article about a mandolin player who has been a fixture under the trees for 25 years and was in a nursing home recovering from a stroke yesterday morning prior to going to the festival. Some top notch funnel cakes were consumed and it was back to KY.
After the festival it was running some errands and a trip to Walmart where some kids were talking about... Neil Diamond
At least nobody at Vandalia was playing a Neil Diamond song...
yourbasketbuddy didn't kick my ass for singing it this morning before heading to Charleston for the Vandalia Gathering. It looked like one of the best turnouts in quite a few years. After grabbing some food from the concession area (Ramps for me, a BBQ sandwich for Paula), we wandered over in time to see Robin Kessinger backing his brother Dan during the Flatpick guitar contest (Dan took fourth place, and was the oldest winner by probably 35 years over the rest of the winners). We wandered through the vendors and got some yummie food items (sweet hot pickles, pickled hot peppers, and cherry preserves), and went to check out the birdies that the good folks at Three Rivers Avian Center brought to talk about including the Golden Eagle. We also saw the guys I refer to as the "Under the Tree gang", several groups of pickers who stake out areas under trees and spend the whole weekend picking and singing. It's neat how people wander up and join in singing. I heard "I wonder where you are tonight", and "Man of Constant Sorrow" from this collection of venerable pickers (and a few young whippersnappers). I was looking for pictures online and found a good article about a mandolin player who has been a fixture under the trees for 25 years and was in a nursing home recovering from a stroke yesterday morning prior to going to the festival. Some top notch funnel cakes were consumed and it was back to KY.After the festival it was running some errands and a trip to Walmart where some kids were talking about... Neil Diamond
At least nobody at Vandalia was playing a Neil Diamond song...
