September 5, -19 2009
We traveled from Edmond back toward the campground that is quickly becoming our second home, the Arbuckle Mountain Campground that is near Davis, OK. We had a few minor jobs scheduled for the area and were hoping to expand that long enough to stay and enjoy their fall Blue Grass Festival. We weren’t sure how we’d do it, but we were determined to soak up as much blue grass music as possible.
It was raining as we pulled in and continued to rain for several days while we were there. Not really heavy but constant. That didn’t deter the campers. Each day saw more and more campers pulling in. Soon the campground would be near capacity. From the very first day there were jams going on all day long and into the late evening hours.
For the early bird arrivals like us there were tours of the Field’s Pie Factory and a local Artbuckle Wedding Chapel. Workshops . An ice cream social was also on the schedule. Not to mention special meals that were supplied by local businesses.
One day we took off on our own to go see Turner Falls. Staying with our shoestring budget we opted to just go to the scenic overlook to see the falls instead of paying $10 each for a day pass down into the park. We’d planned on going over to a nature preserve as well, but the rain cancelled that, so we’ll go there another trip.
We of course made sure we got “Original Fried Pies” while on our outing that day. Folks these pies are soooo good. This time instead of getting the sweet pies we got meat pies. Gary got the beef one and I the chicken. Talk about melt in your mouth goodness!!! Gary did sneak back to the register and get himself a cherry pie for dessert but I was far too full for a dessert at that time. We did get fruit ones later on in the week at the festival. He stuck with cherry but I tried the apricot for the first time and it was, as they say, to die for!
As luck would have it we picked up a rather steady flow of small shops and one set of big shops that allowed us to stay the whole festival. We were very pleased with that outcome.
Our only disappointment was needing to run home for two days for two different doctor appointments I had scheduled, but even those were a blessing. Both reports were good, so I can’t complain. While we were home we even managed to work in one good shop and a couple of small ones as well.
As soon as we were back to the campground Gary attended workshops on blue grass and felt he learned a lot.
The final Thursday was when things really got jumping. First off was the golf cart parade. You can either bring your own or have one delivered to the campground from a local golf cart rental company that the Bowens, (the owners) had made arrangements with so everyone can have a cart available to rent if desired. The carts in the parade were decked out in a patriotic theme. One of the larger carts was also pulling a trailer filled with musicians playing.
Of course there was a competition for the best decorations and there was “street” entertainment by the contestants for the next day’s beauty queen pageant. This is all done in good clean fun. Young and old a like got a good giggle out of the antics of the performers. (see photos to the left).
After the parade the music really kicked in. For the rest of the weekend we were treated to bands like Ellis County Bluegrass, Lonesome Prairie, Mark Phillips &IIIrd Generation, Salt Grass, Glen Bonham & Sothern Tradition and many more. Each band played twice a day for the entire weekend The on stage music started at noon each day and ran until 10:30 each night with a short break for dinner daily.
The evening hours were then filled with jamming at various campers throughout the large park. The fact that the music was so spread out wasn’t a problem though because even if you didn’t have a golf cart there was a very active free shuttle of golf carts that ran all day every day and into much of the night to make sure everyone could get everywhere they wanted easily. I would estimate you never waited more than five minutes if you needed one.
Rosemary, Al, Paula, Richard and all the other people that worked so hard to put this event on should be well complimented on how nicely things ran. They even managed to get the rain to stop just in time for the actual festival days. Now how’s that for service?
There were drawings daily for everything from a nice mandolin to CD’s by the various artists. Vendors were available to feed you a burger or sell you pain relief medication.
One of the highlights was the Youth Fiddle and Mandolin competitions. It’s amazing how good these young musicians are.
Camping for the festival was once again $12 per night unless you stayed 7 or more nights then it was $10 a night. Tickets for the festival were $35 each for all three days, or a sliding scale for individual days. The honey wagon was still just $8 a pump out as well.
For more information on the campground see my earlier blog on the Arbuckle Mountain campground or visit their webpage at: www.arbucklemtbluegrasspark.com
That final Sunday morning saw campers leaving in a great drove us among them. We were headed for Woodward, OK.
Jan who is off on the adventure of a lifetime and is enjoying it thoroughly in OK
No comments:
Post a Comment