Yes, it's true. Those were our taillights departing Michigan after a quick stop in Hartwick Pines. In 14 years in the north country we had never made it there to see the 350-year-old "old growth" forest. It was worth the side trip. Beautiful and quiet, the old woods showed us her fall colors and whispered goodbye.
Then we high-tailed it downstate to "Live from the Living Room" in Pontiac for our last Michigan stop for the year. Dennis Kingsbury and Maggie Ferguson (the event's hosts and promoters) were as great as ever, and we really enjoyed the songwriting (and playing!) of Barbara Barton, who was the co-act for the night. (Dennis is becoming one of Whitt's favorite songwriters.)
The Apple Festival at Kendallville (Indiana) was a blast, in terms of both heat and fun! (Crowd was estimated at 50,000!) We met people from all over. They come from Michigan, Wisconsin, and Ohio to experience this festival year after year. All the vendors and entertainers are in period costume, as were we, thanks largely to the help of Toni Felmlee and Susan O'Rourke. There's a slew of old-fashioned fun, like hand pulled merry-go-rounds for the kids, civil war encampments, demonstrations of folk art, music (of course), Abraham Lincoln (he liked us!), magicians and a full stage show revue! All of it free! The food was amazing as well, from apple cider slushes to haystack (apple peel style) potatoes, and even candied pork! (No, we weren't feeling that adventurous!)
The bad news is, our camera chose this time to go completely dead, so no pictures. We hope to have this remedied soon!
One thing was missing as we enjoyed a night at Chain O' Lakes State Park in northern Indiana: our Michigan pine tree air fresheners! Boy, are we spoiled! (This is a beautiful area just three miles south of Albion, IN, and the showers are really hot!)
Now we're in Valparaiso, IN, to perform at an open mic Thursday evening at Front Porch Music, a music store and coffehouse. As always with open mics, we're hoping the guy who does the booking for their concerts will actually be there to hear us!
Next, it's three shows Friday night at Ed 'n' Joe's in Tinley Park, a bedroom community to Chicago--wonderful restaurant and the chance to spend a little more time with great new friends. Hopefully we'll get some pix this time, but you can click on "past news updates" below for a look from the last time we were there.
We'll be in touch at the next stop! Don't forget you can leave comments in the guest book or just email us.
