Merlefest.... Exposed

So if you've never been to my favorite four days of the year -- Merlefest, then this won't mean much to you. Just go on and mosey on by. However, if you're like me, and you live and breath Merlefest, this might be interesting.

I live about one and a half hours east of Wilkesboro, where Merlefest takes place, but I don't get by there a whole lot. I usually end up going past it about once or twice a year when I'm not going to Merlefest. I've always wanted to stop, get out, and figure out what the Wilkesboro Community College looks like when it's not gussied up for the festival to end all festivals, but I've never had the chance. Well, a few weeks ago I went on vacation in Boone for a little mountain R&R, and I was lucky enough to stop.

Let me tell you, it looks different. You know when you first move into a place, or maybe when you move all the furniture out of a room to paint it, that it looks smaller somehow? That somehow, without all the stuff, it shrinks? Well, that's exactly what this place looks like.

It's open, flat, and lonely. There's a few familiar landmarks -- the sidewalks, the railroad caboose, and the Watson and Cabin stages, but to be honest -- that's about it. All the tents, booths, rails, ropes, and above all people are gone.

Did you know the Merlefest reserved seat area is actually a baseball field? Where the food tent is there's actually a dugout. I'm not kidding. Batter's cage and everything. The Watson stage (main stage) and the Cabin Stage are both open and available. I walked around backstage!

Anyway, all this is to get you ready for the Merle coming up in little more than a month, and to christen our new moblog site! That's a "mobile blog" to you non-techies. A place where I can post pictures from my wireless camera phone. I plan to post pics from Merlefest 2006 while I'm there, so if you see me -- say hello! You might just end up on the site!

There's also a slideshow of me standing about where the sound tower usually is and spinning around in a 360. It's best to see these in context, cause otherwise there's no landmarks! There's no sound tower! No lines! No vendor tents! And Stacy -- for the love of the GOD there's no CD tent!! (That one took my breath away.... whew...)