Wheeling Around
I was sitting in Revival waiting for the live music to start and Wagon Wheel by Old Crow Medicine Show started playing and I started giggling to myself. That song always reminds me of one particular day when I was in Savannah.
I had gone to Savannah for their music festival. It isn't your typical three days packed with music and limited opportunities to sleep. Instead, it is two or three weeks with multiple concerts per day at various venues in the historic core of the city. I saw a lot of amazing performances in a lot of different genres while I was there including Della Mae, Jennifer Sheehan, Cameron Carpenter, and Aaron Diehl. There are also lots of historic houses, beautiful green spaces, and delicious food, so I was having a great time, but the day of the Old Crow Medicine Show concert was different.
The concert itself was okay. I enjoyed the opener although I don't remember his name anymore but I didn't actually care too much for OCMS. I remember it as being too loud and having too much emphasis on the stage show (look at our lights and fog machines!) rather than on the music. Some of the fans had told me that their best song was Wagon Wheel, so I stayed for that, but then I left and snuck in to the Zydeco Dance Party instead which was way more fun.
I guess the short version of my Old Crow Medicine Show is that I saw them once but decided to leave early, but that's not my Wagon Wheel story. It's really about what happened earlier in the day.
On the recommendation of a bartender a couple of nights earlier, first thing in the morning I walked over to Mrs. Wilkes Dining room to stand in line for lunch. Despite getting there reasonably early, there was already a line. There are no reservations and dining is at large tables that hold ten so you get seated with strangers. Somewhat ahead of me in the line was a cute curly haired brunette I had seen touring one of the historic houses earlier in the week and remarkably I ended up being at the same table as her.
The food was incredible. The best fried chicken I had ever eaten and probably ten other dishes. I was unbelievably full by the end of lunch. On the way out, the cute brunette was just ahead of me and in a fit of surprising boldness, I asked her if she wanted company and then she stunned me by saying yes. We walked and talked. She was from New York and studying philanthropy and played a particular type of Irish drum at a pub there on a regular basis. We visited a haunted house and sat on a couch where visitors often encounter spirits. I didn't see anything, but my heart might have been beating a bit faster than normal. We visited an antique shop and she was amused by the weird candle I pointed out. We wandered by the river front and she teased me about wanting to eat again. Eventually she had to pick up her bags and head back home, but it is still one of my favourite days ever and it's why I get a goofy grin on my face every time I hear Wagon Wheel.
(Strangely, later in the trip, while at the Aaron Diehl concert, I saw another cute brunette with curly hair. I had a pleasant chat with her too although not nearly as long. I didn't realize until after the conversation was done that she was Jennifer Sheehan and I had seen her earlier in the week and just didn't recognize her without a ball gown. Perhaps there's something in the water in Savannah that made me braver.)
I had gone to Savannah for their music festival. It isn't your typical three days packed with music and limited opportunities to sleep. Instead, it is two or three weeks with multiple concerts per day at various venues in the historic core of the city. I saw a lot of amazing performances in a lot of different genres while I was there including Della Mae, Jennifer Sheehan, Cameron Carpenter, and Aaron Diehl. There are also lots of historic houses, beautiful green spaces, and delicious food, so I was having a great time, but the day of the Old Crow Medicine Show concert was different.The concert itself was okay. I enjoyed the opener although I don't remember his name anymore but I didn't actually care too much for OCMS. I remember it as being too loud and having too much emphasis on the stage show (look at our lights and fog machines!) rather than on the music. Some of the fans had told me that their best song was Wagon Wheel, so I stayed for that, but then I left and snuck in to the Zydeco Dance Party instead which was way more fun.
I guess the short version of my Old Crow Medicine Show is that I saw them once but decided to leave early, but that's not my Wagon Wheel story. It's really about what happened earlier in the day.
On the recommendation of a bartender a couple of nights earlier, first thing in the morning I walked over to Mrs. Wilkes Dining room to stand in line for lunch. Despite getting there reasonably early, there was already a line. There are no reservations and dining is at large tables that hold ten so you get seated with strangers. Somewhat ahead of me in the line was a cute curly haired brunette I had seen touring one of the historic houses earlier in the week and remarkably I ended up being at the same table as her.The food was incredible. The best fried chicken I had ever eaten and probably ten other dishes. I was unbelievably full by the end of lunch. On the way out, the cute brunette was just ahead of me and in a fit of surprising boldness, I asked her if she wanted company and then she stunned me by saying yes. We walked and talked. She was from New York and studying philanthropy and played a particular type of Irish drum at a pub there on a regular basis. We visited a haunted house and sat on a couch where visitors often encounter spirits. I didn't see anything, but my heart might have been beating a bit faster than normal. We visited an antique shop and she was amused by the weird candle I pointed out. We wandered by the river front and she teased me about wanting to eat again. Eventually she had to pick up her bags and head back home, but it is still one of my favourite days ever and it's why I get a goofy grin on my face every time I hear Wagon Wheel.
(Strangely, later in the trip, while at the Aaron Diehl concert, I saw another cute brunette with curly hair. I had a pleasant chat with her too although not nearly as long. I didn't realize until after the conversation was done that she was Jennifer Sheehan and I had seen her earlier in the week and just didn't recognize her without a ball gown. Perhaps there's something in the water in Savannah that made me braver.)
