Spring Festivals and Friends

While we unfortunately don't have any great photos to share, this weekend was spent partaking in some fantastic Winston-Salem festivals and hanging out with friends. Friday night started with the Celtic Festival and Highland Games held at Bethabara Park. Chris was completely bummed that they didn't start the competitive athletic events until Saturday morning. I know he was tempted to try throwing one of the huge cabers (telephone-pole-looking items) that were on the field for the next morning. It was a perfect evening to sit on a blanket at the park with a group of friends and listen to the Celtic band. However, when the "Irish dancers" (who were more like little old ladies square dancing) came on, we decided to find the Irish mood with some fish and chips (and Guiness for some) at good old Finnegan's Wake.

Then, Saturday afternoon was the Salute! North Carolina Wine Festival. Thirty-two wineries from the state set up tents up and down the streets of downtown for an afternoon of absolute fun! I have some new favorites for sure - including this amazing Dark Shadow that tastes like chocolate and Sandy Cross, this great organic muscadine wine. Good thing Illinois doesn't have a ban against shipping alcohol across their state lines!

We missed the post-party fun because we had been invited to the North Davidson High School athletic banquet (the high school that Chris covered in the fall for football). He became quite close with one of the families after sewing up their son's face in the locker room one night, so it was heart-warming to find a framed photo of the player including a needle addressed to "Dr. Stitch" waiting for us at our table. While it was a rather long five-hour affair (as it was for ALL of the sports), it was worth the wait to find out that this particular player won MVP of both basketball and football, and was named the school's Athlete of the Year. And, as another interesting side note, their girls' softball team is ranked in the USA Today's Top 25 teams!

We finished the night off with a quick stop at the wedding reception on the roof for some friends who live here, and then enjoyed a much-needed good night's sleep.

On Sunday, Chris and Suzi played tennis while I lounged on the side of the court planning our trip to the Outer Banks next week. And, then we spent the rest of the afternoon at the W-S Dash's, (the minor league baseball team here) doubleheader. (Their mascot is "Bolt, the Bleacher Creature"...there's not much you can do with a dash - ....) Disappointingly their new, multi-million dollar stadium, which was supposed to be ready for the opening pitch of this season, is being stalled by the ugly divorce dealings of one of the co-owners apparently. Still fun, just back at their old stadium (which they had already sold to Wake Forest - I bet it's not fun paying rent back for something you used to own...)

Anyway - pray for good weather as we are camping all along the Outer Banks this next week! If it keeps raining like this, it may make for some interesting sleeping arrangements I'm afraid!