Flogging Molly!

Last Sunday, Craig and I saw Flogging Molly at The Fillmore Charlotte!  We had never been to this particular venue and we were really curious to check it out. 

(picture above found here)

The music hall was simply amazing!  Small.  Cozy. And beautiful! 

The show opened with The Devil Makes Three who we had never before heard, but were certainly impressed with.

“Black Irish”

We were a little underwhelmed by the second act, Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears.  They performed a little longer than we would have liked, but it was worth the wait to see the headliners make their way to the stage!

I was beyond excited to see Flogging Molly!  I have been a fan of this Celtic-punk group for many years… and their performances most definitely did not disappoint!

“Drunken Lullabies”

“If I Ever Leave This World Alive”

“Whistles The Wind”

“The Sun Never Shines (On Closed Doors)”

What a fun way to spend a Sunday night!  Wish we could do something like this every weekend!

Weekend Visitors!

As is tradition for the month of June, our wonderful friends Laura and Travis came to visit us for the weekend (you can look back at their last two June visits to Kingsport here and here).  They had the honor of being the first non-family overnight guests at our house since we began our renovation 3 months ago, and we were more than happy to have an excuse to not work the weekend away!

We spent the weekend doing a few of the old favorites, such as eating dinner at TK’s Big Dogs Too and enjoying the Bluegrass on Broad concert…

…paying a visit (okay… maybe two visits) to Dairy Queen…

…and checking out the local farmer’s market.  We also spent some time trying something new.  Saturday we went to Johnson City for the Little City Roller Girls roller derby!  I loved the movie Whip It, so I was very interested to see what roller derby is really like… and let me tell you, it wasn’t quite like the movie, but it was still really a lot of fun to watch! 

Definitely a fun visit with Laura and Travis… as usual!

Mumford & Sons

Tuesday Craig and I took off of work early and headed to Asheville, North Carolina for the Mumford & Sons concert.  Thankfully, my sister Erin was in town to watch Bailey for us while we were gone.  The sold-out show was held at the Asheville Civic Center Arena and we were two of the lucky few 7,000 people who managed to get tickets!  Which meant we ended up standing in a really long line waiting for the doors to open (even though we got there way early to try to avoid a line).

 

But it was totally worth it!  The show was general admission, but we still managed to get some pretty awesome seats.  We figured there was no point in trying to get on the floor in front of the stage (I mean there were at least 1,000 people in line in front of us), so we came up with our seat-finding strategy and sprang into action as soon as we got through the doors. 

The show had two openers.  The first was Matthew and the Atlas. 

And the second was The Low Anthem (click here for videos of both of the opening bands). 

Both bands did a great job getting the crowd warmed up, but Mumford & Sons was definitely who everyone was wanting. 

And they, of course, didn’t disappoint!  They played for almost two hours and performed songs off of their album Sigh No More, as well as, songs off of their upcoming album which will be released in a couple of months.

The show was awesome!  They are all such high-energy performers that you can’t help but tap your toes, throw your arms up in the air, and sing along.  Unfortunately, I can’t get my videos to upload to share with you all, so you’ll just have to take my word for it.

 

For the encore performance they invited both opening bands back onto stage to join them in covering the Avett Brothers’ song Go to Sleep, which was really cool since the concert was being held in the Avett Brothers’ home state of North Carolina.

 

 

After this the openers left the stage and Mumford & Sons closed out the night with their song The Cave.  Definitely a great way to end the night!  Too bad I can’t share the video of it with you… it was amazing!

Racks By The Tracks

Racks By The Tracks is a free barbeque, blues, and beer festival held in downtown Kingsport each May.  The festivities are held next to the Chamber of Commerce and Citizen’s Bank buildings on Main Street which occupy the old train depots (hence the name Racks By The Tracks).  It was held yesterday and we were very excited to join in the festivities (we went last year, but Bailey was so small that we didn’t really get to stay and enjoy ourselves… but we made up for it this year)!  We were also very excited to have my sister Erin and her boyfriend Matt join us for the weekend!

Once in downtown we set up camp in front of the stage and set out to find some lunch… which wasn’t very hard considering all of the excellent barbeque and ribs there were to choose from!  Naturally, we also had to help ourselves to a beer of two (you know… to help wash down the food and enjoy the music)!

The weather was a little dicey (eventually we got rained out), but we all seemed to really enjoy ourselves!

Can’t wait to do it again next year!

Gone Fishing!

Yesterday we joined our friends Misty, Rob, and Maelen for the Trout Fishing in America concert at the Niswonger Performing Arts Center in Greeneville, TN.  I’m sure that many of you have never heard of TFIA, but we are most definitely HUGE fans in our house!  They perform a collection of silly children songs (and even some not so silly adult songs)… listen to a few of them here.  We had such a fun time!

The girls decided to share a seat although it didn’t last long… they both started climbing all over the place like a pair of little monkeys!  When the music started Bailey enjoyed clapping and bouncing along… she had so much fun that she decided to pass out about halfway through the show.

What a fun way to spend a Thursday night with family and friends!

Surprise Anniverary Weekend in Asheville!!!

Saturday Craig took me to Asheville for a early anniversary weekend full of surprises! I knew that we were going, but I had no idea what we were doing or where we were staying. Bailey stayed at home with my mother-in-law, Bev, so that we could get away just the two of us!

The first stop Saturday morning was at the North Carolina Arboretum. Craig had read that this was one of the nicest botanical gardens in the southeast. We enjoyed the scenery as we explored the gardens.

After leaving the Arboretum we went to the Biltmore Village for lunch at Rezaz for some yummy Mediterranean food! We spent some time walking around the village after lunch. Our next stop was in Asheville's River Arts District where we walked through the various studios/galleries and then ended our tour with a couple of pints at the Wedge Brewing Company.

From here we went to check in to our room at Hotel Indigo, located in downtown. The lobby and rooms were just beautiful! After a quick nap (remember we are sleep deprived parents) we headed back out for tapas at Zambras where we shared in some more VERY delicious dishes! After dinner we strolled through the streets of downtown Asheville where we happened upon Shindig on the Green, a free bluegrass and folk music festival held throughout the summer. We sat down to enjoy a couple of songs before moving on to more fun in downtown.

The next morning we did a little more walking around and a bit of shopping in downtown before lunch at Carmel's. Somehow each time we visit Asheville we seem to end up at Carmel's for lunch on our last day.

Our next stop was extremely top secret. Craig drove us out to Barnardsville, in the middle of no where to this place...

The only clues Craig gave me before going were that it required that I wear either pants or long shorts and that we would be outdoors. My mind was racing with the possibilities... although after much contemplation I made my mind up that we MUST be going horseback riding. BOY, WAS I WRONG!!! Once there I am told that we are going on a Navitat Canopy Adventure! Most DEFINITELY NOT horseback riding, but still VERY exciting!!! Apparenjtly Navitat is brand new, only opening this past May. The course has 10 zip lines--the highest one is over 200 feet off of the forest floor; the longest one stretches over 900 feet; and on the fastest one zippers can reach speed of about 35 miles per hour! IT WAS AWESOME!!!

On a lot of the zips you couldn't see the platfom on the other end... you just had to put yourself out there in faith!

Craig zipping in for a landing!

I must say, eventhough this Wednesday will mark 3 years of marriage for us, we're still far from being an old married couple!

What an awesome weekend full of AMAZING surprises! What a cool husband I have!