Weekend in Sparta

Leesa and I picked Raleigh up at school on Friday and away we went for a weekend in Sparta, North Carolina, a somewhat strange little town in the southern Appalachians. Why strange? Maybe "strange" is too strong a word. I'll say that it's interesting to stand in the line at Hess (gas & convenience store) behind golfers and working poor and earthy hippies and a square dancer in full regalia, all of whom are, at 11:00 at night, buying as much beer as they can carry. By the way, I was buying two Snickers ice cream bars, one for Raleigh and one for me.

The occasion of this jaunt to Sparta was a surprise birthday party for our older son Lane. He turned 30 on Sunday the 23rd. Here's a picture of him with his wife Morgan (in the black with the camera) not long after they arrived and the surprise was sprung on Friday night. Morgan had invited several of Lane's friends--and Lane's parents and little brother--to join the celebration. The event took place at a house on the New River. (Leesa, Raleigh and I stayed at the Alleghany Inn in Sparta.)

The weekend consisted of the surprise on Friday, accompanied by lots of finger food and alcohol, followed by a long night of laughing and drinking around the fire (after Leesa, Raleigh and I had returned to our motel). Saturday included tubing on the river with alcohol for the partiers and Pepsi for Raleigh, a general nap time in the late afternoon, a barbecue dinner with alcohol and another long night laughing and drinking and who knows what else around the fire. The "kids" had a blast, but the ones I saw on Sunday morning were awfully weary of body and red of eye.

One of the Friday night events apparently included teeing up some golf balls and whacking them across the river. Of course, with all the alcohol--and perhaps some naturally weak golfing skills--lots of ball were dribbled into the shallow water near the bank. While most of the crew napped on Saturday afternoon, Raleigh was out in the river searching for golf balls like a bare-handed fisherman. He would find three or four, take them up on the bank and tee them up for himself. He dribbled a few in the river himself--not from inebriation but from having just started learning to swing--but the last couple he hit were straight and long, one landing in the shallows at the foot of the opposite bank, one far surpassing that and disappearing in a field between the opposite edge of the river and a road that runs along the foot of the hill beyond.

So, my little family's trip lasted from Friday afternoon when we left Johnson City to Sunday afternoon when we returned. In between, we joined a good bit of the merrymaking. Leesa and I also took time out for walking the track at the high school Saturday morning and eating lunch together at a place called The Riverside Grill. Of course it's now that time of the month--financially speaking--so we'll have to see how well the good time there holds up against the time here between now and payday!