Mumford Gentlemen of the Road pt. 1

A few weekends ago I drove down to Bristol TN/VA (the town straddles the state border!) for the Mumford and Sons Gentlemen of the Road tour.  It was hands down the best weekend I’ve had all summer.  We left Friday morning and made our way down to the southwestern corner of Virginia.  Thanks to the advent of technology we found a road side BBQ place for lunch, which reminded me why I love the south so much.  It was so so good.

Due South does lunch right.

 

About 5 hours after leaving DC we pulled up to the farm house we had rented for the weekend.  A slightly more expensive option than a hotel, it was also one of the better decisions we made all weekend.  The time spent on the front porch was well worth it.  After dropping our bags and chatting with Clara, the lovely woman managing the property we drove into Bristol to look for food and a liquor store.  Obtaining our supplies we returned to the house and spent the remainder of the day sitting on the front porch sipping drinks, enjoying good conversation, and marveling at the peace and quiet of the country side.  It was good for a bunch of city girls to slow down the pace!

our farm house for the weekend

waking up to cows mooing outside of your bedroom window, a new experience!

Sunset on the farm, photo credit to MP

evening walks in the country do city girls hearts good.

The following morning we got up and made the short drive back up to Chilhowie, VA.  Gwen is from Chilhowie and had invited us to her Grandmother’s house for breakfast that morning before the show.  Her Grandmother lives in this amazing farm house stocked full of antiques, the house I believe has been in her husband’s family for many generations.  We enjoyed breakfast and coffee on the front porch while Grandmother regailed us with an oral history of the area and her family.  Perhaps it’s because I no longer have any grandparents alive, but I was in heaven.  Grandmother is a treasure and I could have spent all day just listening to her talk about her home and family, which she clearly loves dearly.   After a couple of hours we reluctantly left to head to the concert… which was so amazing- I will write it up later this week!

The girls with Grandmother and her beautiful barn quilt

I learned that there’s such a thing as Chilhowie brick…

life goal: have a front porch on which to spend long hours in good conversation.