Strange History

We have played several times for the October Pumpkin Party in Grahamsville, NY, which is in Sullivan County in the Catskills.

The town of Neversink, near there, had to be moved when the original town was covered by the rising waters of the Neversink Reservoir. I find that ironic.

I just got a message from our friend, Paul Lounsbury, about a Fiddle Fest in Neversink (the above water part) on April 26. It sounds like a good time! If you are living or traveling in the Catskills check it out.

Home at Last (Again!)

We were only home for two days when we struck out for a couple of concerts in The County. Aroostook County is the largest in Maine and is separate from the rest of the state by 60 or more miles of forest wilderness. From where we live it is farther for us to get to Fort Kent than to Mystic, CT!

We stayed at the Northern Door Inn, which is located at the bitter end of US 1. As you can see in the photo, there is still a bit of snow up there.





We had some time on Saturday so we drove out to Allagash (which is beyond US 1). Allagash is interesting in that the heritage of the town is mostly Irish and Scottish, whereas the other towns in the St John Valley are mostly Acadian French who speak a form of late Middle French.



The upper reaches of the St John River are just starting to have ice out.








Sign Humor
Does anybody else think this sign is funny?








An Architectural Puzzle

In Fort Kent is a remarkable church steeple. It is made of cast aluminum and is like open lace. We asked around and found that the original design called for cast iron, but it was too heavy for the church foundation. In the 1940's the aluminum panels were made to the design of the original. We were told that the architect was from Florida, where many of the churches are built on sandy soil. Has anybody seen any steeples like this in Florida?

Home at Last

After our week at Flagler Beach we went back up to St Augustine for some more sights and also a concert with the Jacksonville Symphony featuring Paul Galbraith and his 8-string classic guitar.

A new feature in the town is an exact copy of Michelangelo's David, cut from the same quarry as the original. It is in a small garden outside the Ripley Museum. He should really be on a higher pedestal, but the good folk in Florida prefer that he preserve his modesty behind a hedge. All you can see from the street is his head and shoulders.

A Fruitful Enterprise

How could we pass up the chance to pick some oranges? This orchard is north of Deland - not too far from the Cabbage Patch.

We picked two small bags of juicy temple oranges. We ate or gave away half of them on the way north. We'll remember the sunny day when we have our juice.

We did have a concert in Jacksonville and also a live radio show where we met Liberty Pike, an exciting bluegrass band from Nashville. They backed us up on one of our songs, Changes. It was way cool to play with such great musicians.


We spent a few days in White Springs with our friends Walter and Merri. Walter took us out to the only class 3 rapids in Florida, which are on the Suwannee River. The water was down due to the drought. They can be pretty exciting when the river is full.





There were lots of flowers in bloom. The wisteria was full out in White Springs when we were there and these white lillies were along the roads.




While we were in town we helped Walter & Merri get ready for the Wild Azalea Festival. Here is Merri with the purebred wild underbiters in their hippie sweaters.

This was a great little festival with live music, a falconry demonstration and LOTS of barbeque.



We finished up our tour with concerts in Richmond, VA, Pearl River, NY, and Plymouth, MA. As usual we met lots of wonderful people. It's good to be home, but it sure was nice to visit some warm weather!

As we were leaving Richmond we saw the ultimate sign for coffee lovers - $1.99/Gallon for espresso! Eat your heart out, Starbucks!