Marion NC - 8-12-15 Wednesday - 8-15-15 Saturday

Marion NC - 8-12-15 Wednesday We did our morning walk and then walked over to TJ's Cafe' at the service center for breakfast. We didn't do much the remainder of the day except for some housekeeping duties around the motor home until late in the day we rode our bicycles around the campground until we found some of the campers that were “picking and grinning”. We stayed and listen to them for awhile before calling it a day.

Marion NC – 8-13-15 Thursday We did our walk and had breakfast and then read until about Noon when it was time for the Bluegrass Festival to begin. The music started at 12 Noon and ended about 10PM with one 45 minute intermission to give people time to get something to eat. The Del McCoury Band was the closing act. This was our first time to hear them in person.

Marion NC – 8-14-15 Friday We did our walk and had breakfast, then Lena went into town to a small local grocery store to get some of their breakfast sausage. We discovered this sausage three years ago and try to get some of it when we are here. They prepare the sausage every Thursday. About noon we went to the pavilion for today's music.

There were lots of good musicians and singers again today like yesterday. Rhonda Vincent & The Rage is always a crowd favorite. Goldwing Express is a group made up of three brothers and their father. The boy's mother was a full blood Creek Indian. Near the end of their second show they called a 13 year old boy up on stage that had been hanging out at the stage door entrance playing a banjo. The boy has only been playing the banjo for a year and he was really good. He played one song with them and did really well.

The father always does some comedy routines while they are on stage. This year he did a good impersonation of Donald Trump.

Gene Watson & The Farewell Party Band closed the show. They are a country music band but have been coming here for the last three years and the crowd really likes them. Gene and Rhonda Vincent had recorded a few songs together so they have a connection to bluegrass and he always gets the fiddle player and the flattop guitar player from Rhonda's band to play with him on stage when they are here. The show ended about 11PM.

Marion NC – 8-15-15 Saturday We walked, had our juice and went to TJ's cafe' to get a country ham and egg biscuit for breakfast.

The singing started again at 12 noon and ended just before 11PM. The most well know groups today were Little Roy (of the Lewis family a well know gospel group that performed for many years) and Lizzy, Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver, Jimmy Fortune (who was with The Statlers Brothers for 21 years before they retired) and Dailey and Vincent.

There were lots of talented musicians and singers in all the groups that performed the last three days. Neither Lena or I can play any musical instruments so we call ourselves “Professional Listeners”.