THE DAILY GRIST…”On the road again; Just can’t wait to get on the road again; The life I love is making music with my friends.”–Willie Nelson
Some of you may remember a great columnist who wrote for the San Francisco Chronicle back in the day (1950-80’s?). He was Herb Caen. Direct and to the point, a man of few words, he covered the highlights of living in the city with short snippets of interesting information. The topics were all over the map, but it was fun reading. For the last eight years, Mike & I have taken our annual six week road trip across America with one destination being World of Bluegrass at various locations back east. Today, I’m hoping to cover some of our 2016 road trip in the Herb Caen style.
2016 Road Trip Part 1
Mike & I and friends Kit & Mary caravanned on the first part of our trip left San Diego Sept. 6th. Next day we were visiting family in Las Cruces where we also has our second jam and BBQ with them dobro player Jerry Szostak. Jerry attended Grass Valley fest for many years and moved to Las Cruces about seven years ago….Sept 9th saw us having dinner with Richard and Sandy Beesley in Oklahoma City. They were thrilled at how well the Banjo Museum awards dinner that went the night before where both JD Crowe and John Hickman were inducted into their Hall of Fame. JD was there in a tuxedo. Classy! The Beesley’s are currently part of the board managing Byron Berline’s Oklahoma International Bluegrass Festival that happens the weekend of World of Bluegrass. Beesley’s moved to Oklahoma about eight years ago from the San Diego area where they were a big part of assisting with Summergrass…Next stop was Branson, MO, where we rode the 1960 diesel train and checked out the town. Silver Dollar City was closed but we still had fun. Loved our dinner at Lamberts. “Home of Thrown Rolls.”… Motored on up to Auburn, IN to the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum. Outstanding place and a testament to American automotive “engine-uity. A must see, if you can get up there…Continuing northward, we stopped at Shipshewana, an Amish/Mennonite community of 60,000. Learned much about their lifestyle and culture when we went on an authentic Amish buggy ride around town and out in the country…Crossed the stateline into Michigan where we stayed at the Elks Lodge in Sturgis, MI. Beautiful hunting lodge. Nice folks and had a jam at camp that night…. Detroit was the next stop for a couple days as we connected with more family and Mike’s childhood home. Visited Greenfield Village and toured the Ford Rouge River Plant. Both worthwhile tours. Good times….With Detroit in our rearview, Cleveland was the next stop where we spent the afternoon at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. What a marvelous place and we were happy to see Bill Monroe honored there! Lots of musicians revere him as the musical path cutter he was…..Heading south, we stayed one night in Charleston, WVA. Such beautiful country, but folks there are still trying to get over the devastating floods from last June. Met for coffee with a colleague who teaches there and she talked about how she incorporates bluegrass into her lessons. She also hosts before and after school bluegrass jams where local senior citizens and school children jam together. Kudos for the inspiring work, Tracy….Driving on, we are getting closer to our WOB destination in Raleigh, NC and stopped in Mt. Airy, NC. Timing was great as we were able to take in some of Mayberry Days celebration in full swing there. Nice weather and good crowds. Great food. Impersonators walked among us – Barney Fife, Floyd the Barber, Goober, and Otis Campbell were just a few we ran into. And they were always in character. Mayberry lives!…(Next month 2016 Road Trip Part 2)…More on our fun 2016 road trip in November’s column…
