Pat's Patunia Patch: Quick Trip Part 2

Yesterday I had mentioned that Eric and I had taken a quick trip out of town. We headed up north to Bayfield, Wisconsin to see Greg Brown perform at the Big Top Chautauqua. We catch his shows whenever we can. We traveled to St. Cloud for a Greg Brown show in March...you can read about that one here.

Anyway, back to The Big Top. Located on a ski hill called Mt. Ashwaby, near Lake Superior, there is a Big Top tent that seats about 900 people. They have concerts throughout the summer. Some big names, some not so big names. They have ongoing shows as well, but we've only been there to see Greg Brown. This year Greg's show was opened by Charlie Parr. The only photo I got of him was when he was headed off the stage.

In the past few years Greg has been performing at the Big Top on the last weekend in August. Eric and I enjoy one final overnight before schedules get too crazy with fall sports and back to school for the boys and all that entails. That trip, along with Labor Day weekend, seem to signal the end of summer. Sigh.

I didn't get very good pictures. Our seats were further back than normal...row I....something about not noticing or ordering when the tickets were first available. We ordered ours in the first part of May...still got row I. It's a popular show. It appeared to be sold out on a Sunday night.

Greg's shows are always good, usually wonderful...and even though we were sitting further back, this one would fall under the wonderful category. Towards the end of the show Greg called Charlie back on stage to perform a few songs with him.

It's amazing to me when these true musicians can just listen to a couple of notes and just jump right in. Greg and Charlie had a little chat between numbers, it looked like they were deciding on what to do next.

Or maybe Greg was wondering what Charlie put in his coffee cup...I don't know. But they played together beautifully and their friendship was apparent. It's always fun to watch old friends interacting. Wonderful show, wonderful excuse for a quick trip up north.

Sometimes when we go we stay in Bayfield. Other times we've just stayed in Washburn, Wi. That's what we did this time. A quick walk to the marina is always fun. It's sort of a different world there.

All sorts of different kinds of boats...all with tall tales to tell I bet.

Not sure if this one was being put in or being taken out....but it looks like a tricky job. Um sorry, just dropped your really expensive boat. Yikes!

Oh look, a salty old sailor. Oh wait, that's Eric. Hi Eric. Are you following me? Yep.

And then, it was time to head back. Goodbye boats. Good bye big lake. See you next year!

My mom called us on our way home. She bribed us with a piece of her apple pie if we'd just stop by for a quick visit. Oh, okay. Her pie is worth a trip in itself.