A Charleston Sunday

Today was gorgeous! After church, mom and I decided to head to Charleston and explore a little. We hiked "Carriage Trail" in South Hills. It was a short hike (.65 miles), but quite steep. The trail was a nice uphill walk, away from the noise of Charleston so we enjoyed it. At the beginning of the trail we saw this owl. He just stared at us and followed us with his eyes as we walked. Mom stopped and posed for me. This is before the uphill climb and the sweat!

I thought this bench looked like a couch out of the Flinstones!

After our "hike", we challenged ourselves to walk up the sidewalk portion to South Hills. For those of you familiar with this area, it was quite a challenge. We made it though. On our way down we decided to keep the exercise going and made our way to the capitol grounds. The Vandalia Festival was going on there this weekend. I must say it was much more interesting than I had anticipated, and I found myself wishing we had attended sooner. Everywhere on the lawns this is what you saw....

And got to enjoy. These people were amazing musicians, and they weren't even the featured musicians. Bluegrass everywhere! It made me so proud to be a West Virginian. This music originated in Appalachia, and whether one likes it or not, the musicianship and talent of these players cannot be disputed. My family roots are in this music and this people, and after hearing them today and watching them, I am glad.

If any are interested, here is a short clip of some people "jamming" on the lawn. They just met up, listened, and joined in playing. I listened intently in hopes of learning something new for "Smoke on the Mountain" -- don't think it worked though. The Vandalia Festival in WV. It is one not to miss next year.