This weekend my wife and I slipped off to spend a little time with friends of ours who have built a wonderful home just off the Blue Ridge Parkway near Sparta, NC. The quilt is just one of about a hundred that were on display at the Quilt Festival. I loved the colors –reminded me of one of my favorite artists, Vincent Van Gogh. From the displays of quilts we pushed on to a craft fair where we purchased a piece of pottery we particularly liked. My wife was familiar with the potter’s work and had admired one of his larger pieces at an earlier show but its size and cost were prohibitive.
We finished off our evening at the Blue Ridge Music Center on Parkway Mile Post 213. 
This wasn’t our first time picniking in the open air of the Blue Ridge and enjoying the music provided through out the summer. The first group came from nearby Galax (BRMC is actually in Virginia) while the second act, Linda and Robin Williams had to travel a bit farther from near Staunton (that’s pronounced STANTON for those who are wise in the way of Virginia phonetics). The Williams’ are frequent guest musicians on A Prairie Home Companion and were actually in the movie too, and performed one of their original songs. I would have expected a bigger crowd considering the quality of the perform
ers. The sky threatened rain earlier in the day but not a drop fell to dampen the spirits of those in attendance.
Mile Post 213 represents a completely different view of the National Park System, and, one worth experiencing.
