April 18, 2015

I’m writing this from home on Saturday, after travelling back from Gatlinburg.  I got up this morning, had a last big breakfast at the Pancake Cabin, was on the road about 8:30 am, and was back here by 3:30 pm.  Got another 4-5 hours of prime book-listening  time on ‘Lucifer’s Hammer’, and home in plenty of time to catch up on email and write this post.  I also was treated to another ‘alternate reality’ experience as I left the Gatlinburg area.  When I came off the mountain road back into civilization, (if you can call that strip ‘civilized’), I saw mile after mile of antique cars lining the road on both sides of this big 4-lane highway, with people sitting in lawn chairs on the sidewalk as if they were watching a parade!  Evidently I had stumbled through  some sort of regular  antique car show/sales event.  I mean, they sometimes have something like this in the parking lot of our  local DQ restaurant, but this went on for miles!

Just to round out my partnership desk experiences, my morning session partner never showed, so I was left with nothing to do until Mary and I played  the Friday afternoon and evening 299 pairs.  We did OK in the afternoon (52%, 0.46 MP red), but we really hit the jackpot in the evening pairs/team game, with a 61% for 3.81 MP red.  Mary was ecstatic (I was pretty happy too!), and it was a wonderful way to end my first Gatlinburg experience.

Mary and I managed a 61% game, taking 1st overall and 3.81 red

Gatlinburg Regional Mug/Pencil Holder

All in all, I had a wonderful time, got to meet and play with some tremendously nice folks, and even got a few points in the bargain (no gold though, drat!).  I’ll be back there next year, Lord willin’ and the creek don’t rise!

Frank