Sweetest Day Remembered

Chuck wanted to surprise me for Sweetest day so we decided to take Friday and go to Shipshewana. The Bluegate Restaurant and Theater was having Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver, a bluegrass group we had heard on the Gaither Hour.

Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver
Left to Right: Jason Barie, fiddle; Jesse Baker, banjo; Doyle Lawson, mandolin;
Corey Hensley, bass guitar ; Mike Rogers, guitar; Carl White, snare drum; and Josh Swift, dobro

Blue Gate Restaurant and Theater in Shipshewana, pretty with lights glowing, even in the rain

Jesse Baker, on the Banjo playing,  Mountain View Missionary Baptist Church

We had not seen them in person, so decided to go. We arrived early so we could go to some shops. The Red Barn on main street had some unique shops. One of them is called Lotions and Potions. It is the only place Chuck could find shaving soap as he still uses a brush and soap. I looked around a bit and found some hand and body lotion. You could buy different fragrances and sparkles to layer in a bottle. I decided to get some so the granddaughters could enjoy it too. When I went up to the cashier I spotted a small container of, what she called, Fairy Dust. Well... Ava was trying to make fairy dust the other day out of paper, cutting up small pieces so she could scatter it. So I decided to get some of it. A little goes a long ways and sticks to your skin and SPARKLES!!!  That should be fun. Later we had dinner at the Bluegate, fried chicken and sweet potato casseroles with green beans and fruit. Plus our favorite apple butter for the home made bread. Chuck also had Amish peanut butter. (it has marshmallow melted and mixed in it.) What a treat for Sweetest Day! To top it all off, then, we went to the concert which is upstairs in the theater.

Doyle Lawson and Corey Hensley singing "The Teddy Bear Revival".

The group was so good. We loved all their songs. We even managed to get 2nd row center seats. We got a couple CD's and played them all the way home. It only took us an hour and a half coming home. It had been raining off and on during the day and when we went out to our car it had stopped. So we got in and started to drive away and something was very wrong.

Flat tire in Shipshewana, in the rain, after the concert

Yes, we had a flat tire, and then the rain came pouring down again. We went across the street and pulled into where Subway was, waited for the rain to let up and then got out and went in, got a cup of coffee and called the road service. Chuck had not changed a tire in probably 20 years. The guy at the Subway shop said he would do it, but we said we called the road service. About then the Bluegrass group, Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver, walked in to get a sandwich.We said, we don't always hang around this long after a concert, but we had a flat tire. They also offered to change the tire.  We told them if we knew they were going to be there, we would have waited to let them do it. We chatted with them and thanked them again for the fine concert they put on. I even asked them if I would have requested them to play "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" if they could have played it. They said "Oh sure." I wish I would have, it would have been a perfect ending to the concert. The flat tire didn't seem too bad, since we got to see  DLandQ again.

Road Service arrives

They came all the way from Sturgis in about 30 minutes

The road man came in about 30 minutes and had the tire changed in about 5 minutes.

Taking the flat tire off and putting spare on

They have great equipment. We made it home about 12 midnight. It was good to be back home safe and sound.

Today I got the house in a little better order as we had friends from South Bend coming. Josh and Rene Gulledge were on their way to see her brother in Dexter, who used to attend Spring Arbor. Also her parents and some of the other family were going to be there to visit. Chuck married Josh and Rene about 7 yrs. ago, when we were at Gospel Center Church in South Bend. They have two children, now, and we had not seen the baby.

Josh and Renee Gulledge and their 2 children; Levi, 2 and Selah, 2 months

It was so good to see them and re-connect. They are such good parents and we loved that they stopped by to see us for a few minutes. The baby was real good and Levi went on a curious journey around the house. He also loved watching Veggie Tales for a bit while we talked to his parents. It is always good to see good friends, even if it was only a short time.