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This was the weekend I was headed for Vienna, West Virginia to see my favorite band (Home Free) play at the Freedom Festival. I was hoping to go with my bff but she (predictably) bailed. Then my aunt sort of invited herself to go along in bff's place, expecting the same deal: I'd pay for the hotel and gas and all she would need to provide was meal money. I'd only made that offer to bff to entice her to go...my aunt could very well afford to pay her own way. But whatever. Then last weekend, Auntie told me she'd broken a wisdom tooth and wasn't sure if she would be up to going...on the trip she invited herself on. I told her she could make it a last minute decision and let me know Friday. By Friday morning, I hadn't heard from her and was actually looking forward to going by myself. On Friday afternoon, Auntie texted me to say she could go after all. Umm...yay? But Friday night, after I got home from work, she pretty much demanded we leave early Sunday so she could be home by 1:00 so she could make her "special" red pepper and cream cheese dip to take to a cookout at her son's house at 2:30. I'd told her the plan was to be home around lunchtime Sunday...when I was thinking it would be bff and me and bff would need to be home as early as possible to get her doggos out of boarding. But when I thought it would be just me, I decided I wanted to attend a local church Sunday morning in Vienna. So I told Auntie I couldn't guarantee she'd be back in time to make her stupid dip...I mean her "special" dip (really, all you do is mix a red pepper jelly, or better yet, a red pepper and onion jelly, with cream cheese, and it's better done ahead of time)...and she told me she'd "committed" to the cookout before she "agreed" to go with me, so she was out. YAY!

The drive down started off a bit...worrisome. I ran into rain showers, then rain, then rain falling so hard I could barely see the road. To the idiots in front of me who didn't have their headlights on...it's the LAW in Ohio that if your wipers are on, your headlights must be as well. You may think your daytime running lights are enough but the folks behind you NEED your taillights to help make out the road, thanks! Luckily, the rain slowed, then stopped for the rest of the drive.

I spent several hours in Marietta before heading on over to my hotel in Vienna, WV. Marietta is yet another quaint old town (a QUOT?) with cute shops and restaurants and tons of interesting architecture and murals...but it's not exactly a vacation destination, IMO. I was disappointed that the only place I really wanted to visit--a steamboat museum--was temporarily closed (and the only steamboat I saw was going down the river as I was driving over it on my way home). I was also disappointed to see an utter lack of diversity in town. The only non-white face I saw was at the walk-up restaurant Spanglish (where I had some outstanding "Latin" eggrolls). The town is also very proud of their history as "the starting point to the country's move west") but a lot of their success came at the expense of the Native Americans living there. There's even a plaque attached to a rock near the river proudly proclaiming this was the spot where--I'm obviously paraphrasing here--the town folks were "protected" from those evil red people *sigh*. I'm glad I stopped in Marietta but I have no desire to go back.

The best part of the trip--even better than the concert, which I really enjoyed--was checking into my hotel. First I had to FIND the hotel; I'm weirdly reluctant to use GPS and pride myself on getting around without it. I did that just fine getting to, and around Marietta, but WV was a different story. The hotel was NOT, as it claimed online, "right off exit 179 on I-77 S" but was, in fact, a 6 mile drive west and included a turn I missed. I knew I went wrong somewhere when I would up crossing a bridge and seeing a sign welcoming me to Ohio <g>. Then I got snarled up in Parkersburg (the town just south of Vienna), where they're weirdly adverse to streets going two ways. I finally, grudgingly, turned to Google Maps to get me to the hotel, which it did in the most convoluted way possible. And not just because of those one way streets; the hotel is actually not ON Grand Central Avenue (though that's its official address) but is, in fact, kind of tucked into a corner next to a Lowe's and just behind a strip mall. "Talky Lady" (as my family calls the voice of Google Maps/GPS) took me the back way in, down all these small side streets. But I finally arrived at the hotel and checked in. As I went back to the car, I saw a van (possibly the hotel's official transportation vehicle) right outside the lobby entrance and as I was walking out, the side door of the fan slid open...and Tim Foust (bass singer of Home Free) smiled and gave me a wave. He knew I was a fan because I was wearing my Home Free "Land of the Free" t-shirt (it's the name of their patriotic album). I said hi and told him I was going to the concert that night and he said "see you there!". Then when I came back in with my bag, I saw Rob (HF's low tenor) walking towards me. He smiled and said "nice shirt!" I told him I think so and said hey, you look kind of familiar and smiled back. He asked if I was going to the show and I said yes, then as we passed each other, he told me to have a good time. After that, I went back to get another bag from my car (no, I didn't overpack...I have a bag in my trunk that's there permanently and contains a swimsuit, a towel and a few other items pertaining to swimming), I had a guy ask me "Who's Home Free?" I started to give my usual explanation--"you know Pentatonix? Yeah, they're like them only more country western"--and he cut me off with a laugh, saying he was a longtime friend of Chance (HF's baritone). We had a longer conversation, and he told me I'd just missed "Rupp" (beatboxer and my favorite band member, referred to by his last name as three of the five band members are named "Adam", so the Adams sometimes go by their last name to avoid confusion). I later asked the desk clerk if Home Free--who of course he didn't know before Saturday--was staying at the hotel Saturday night and he said yes, "most of them were". I made a point of getting down to the free breakfast buffet earlier than I would've liked to and hung out there/in the general vicinity for three hours (I brought a book to read) hoping to see the rest of the band but all I saw was the two sound techs and possibly Chance walking in the open hallway right above the lobby.

After killing some time at the mall located almost across the street from the hotel (small but surprisingly busy, with almost no empty store fronts), I caught a free shuttle down to the river park where the festival was being held. It was...a much smaller event than I was expecting. I was thinking something along the lines of a county fair but it was closer in size to a church festival. There was a handful of kiddie rides, about a dozen food stands, a handful of vendors and a huge stage where first Chapel Hart (once a trio who won AGT, now a duo) performed, then HF. Right before HF took the stage, a thunderstorm rolled in, delaying the start of the show. There was no cover for the concert goers...and no chairs unless you paid extra for the VIP experience. I'd actually stuck a chair in the back of my car but forgot to take it on the shuttle, so I stood the entire show*. But it was a great show, and I really enjoyed both acts, even if I did get rained on. There was also a rather nifty drone show following the concert that was impressive.

* between all the walking Saturday--18,000 steps!--and all the standing, plus a little dancing, then all the sitting on the drive to and from WV, my back is seriously protesting today.

Yesterday was uneventful except for a minor glitch when I arrived at church just over 5 minutes late. The website said there were two services--a modern service at 10:00 and a traditional service at 11:00--but a woman inside apologetically told me that was only for last week and usually church starts at 10:45. But I had no trouble sneaking in and grabbing a seat in the back, and I enjoyed the singing and the sermon. After once again refusing to use GPS and, well, not getting lost but accidentally backtracking to get back to I-77, I wound up getting home around 3:00. I'd considered going to see my good church friend who left today for her cruise but I was too tired, so I begged off. I'm looking forward to seeing her next Sunday at church and swapping vacation stories.