Great Big Woman and A Little Bitty Bottle of Wine

Fun times at the Pennyroyal Opera House on Friday night.

Bluegrass by the Coleman Familyand The Karl Shiflett & Big Country Show.We were invited by a friend from school who was playing mandolin for the Big Country Show. It was phenomenal.

We'd never been to the Pennyroyal but found it to be like a home away from home. It's located on Route 40, the National Road, which is one of our favorite day-trippin' roads. We couldn't tell whether it had been an old church, an old school house, or was originally the theatre it is today.

When you walk in the front double doors you are greeted by the ticket seller seated behind her window. She told us that we could just lay our coats on our seats to save them and head downstairs for a bite to eat. She also told us that the cushions found on the church pew type benches belonged to the house and feel free to use them.

Downstairs in a block wall basement you find a little cafeteria and tables with green checkered tablecloths. Behind a door you can hear the band rehearsing while you eat your hotdog, fried bologna sandwich, or homemade pie. We were already loving the place by that point!

After the kids had a snack we headed back to our seats and waited for the show. There was a little lady selling 50/50 tickets, so Mark bought a couple. How could he not? (The total winnings: $59. We lost.)

The folks in the pew behind us brought their cafeteria tray of food up to their seat. I was wondering if that was 'legal' or not, but nobody said anything to them. That man was the most hootin'est hollerin'est guy in the place.

As I said, the show was incredible. Being the type to get all choked up and verklempt at the sound of a marching band or a showing of The Lion King Broadway show, I was no match for this beautiful Bluegrass music. It took all my power to keep it together. This is the music we listen to on AM Radio being played live right in front of us. Loved it! Mark felt the same way & we can't wait to go back.

In totally unrelated news, the next morning I bolted outside to finally catch photos of the helicopters that have been flying over the house. They're picking up the seismic testing cable that the natural gas drilling company had strewn all over the land. They say we're sitting on a big pile of it. So they drop these cables and sensors from the helicopter, stretch them over all the property for miles, and then drive these 'thumper trucks' down the road stopping every 15 feet to hammer the earth. It's kind of surreal. But that's what's goin' on in the neighborhood these days.

Oh, and the post title? It was the final song they played for the show. It's hard to beat any kind of country song for a clever title.