MARION, NC: Rally Continues

The Rally Schedule on Wednesday had 4 seminars.  We were interested in one, but were held up by 2 phone calls from the warranty company wanting more information so we weren't able to attend.  Still had the usual social gathering at 4 P.M.  One of the groups had a pot luck, but we decided not to go. The evening's entertainment was Bernie Burleson's Tru Blu Bluegrass Band.  This group was better than the previous one, and the banjo/guitar player was exceptional.

Yesterday (Thursday) was basically a 'free' day since a lot of the rally attendees went to tour the Biltmore House.  We spent the morning with our computers, went to the cafe for lunch and was told the warranty company was checking prices for a replacement bed, so we're hoping that means they will eventually honor our claim.  We ran a couple of errands and then headed up into the hills...the Blue Ridge Mountains to be exact.  We ended up on the Blue Ridge Parkway for a little while and enjoyed the spring scenery.

By the time we got back to the rally park, social hour was half over, but lots of socializing was still going on.  One of our chapter members mentioned that they went to Bruce's Fabulous Foods for lunch and the menu included Crawfish Etouffee and Cheesecake, two of Hank's favorites.  So off to Bruce's we went. Hank thoroughly enjoyed the Etouffee and Cheesecake, and Selene had the Triple P Sandwich (Grilled pita bread, filled with a thick layer of Bruce’s housemade Pimento Cheese and caramelized slices of pineapple), which was also delicious.  Their business philosophy http://www.brucesfabulousfoods.com/story.php is interesting as well as the number and types of cheesecakes they will make http://www.brucesfabulousfoods.com/cheesecakes.php.  They had about 7 choices available last night.

We returned to the Rally Park for an ice cream treat (we wouldn't want to hurt anyone's feelings by not taking part), then moved over to the HUGE fire pit for an equally large bonfire. But by 8:15 P.M., the mountain air was cooling considerably, in spite of the hot fire, and we decided to call it a night. All in all, it was another beautiful day near and in the western NC mountains.