Well it is about 5 weeks now since the end of Springfest 2007. The trip was amazing. I will certainly do it again, but with some changes.
We left Cozumel on March 19th headed for Atlanta (yes, we live in Cozumel - and yes, I know boo hoo, poor us). The air part of the trip was quick and we thought the arrival and passing thru Atlanta Airport would be also. We were so wrong. I doubt we will ever fly into the Atlanta Airport again as international passengers. We spent as long getting thru the airport as we did getting to Atlanta by air from Cozumel (3 hours). We had to go thru all the usual trappings of arrivals and when we thought we were done, the headaches really started. After passing thru Customs and Imigration, we and our bags were headed for the door. Instead of an exit, there was a guy telling us we needed to put our bags on the belt for another scanning. Then he pointed to a mile long line of people going back thru all the scanners. We explained that we had just arrived, we were not transfering to another plane. He said it did not matter. We had to go thru the whole shoe removal and emptying of pockets as if we just entered the airport.
OK, after that headache, we proceeded to the car rental. We usually go with Dollar, but this time we tried Budget. We got a Dodge Avenger. I do not know how many of you have driven this car, but, as for us, we did not care for it. The car seats were hard as a rock. The visibility out the side and rear view mirrors was minimal at best. The rear end of the car sat up so high that you could not see what was right behind you. And if you turned to look out the back window, the sides of the car blocked your view. The stearing wheel had very little adjustment.
Now to be fair, it did get good mileage and had good power as well as a good stereo. The trunk was a nice size and you could let down the seats if needed. The A/C worked very well although the controls were a bit confusing.
We stayed in Atlanta our first night. The morning of the 20th we headed for Live Oak, Florida. The drive was about 5 hours.
Once in Live Oak, we checked in to our room at the Econo Lodge.
Nice room, free wireless internet, mini-fridge, nice shower and TV. We had a Huddle House next to the hotel and a WallMart across the main street. The town is small. It is a typical small town. Not much to see or do except the Springfest.
The 11th Annual Suwannee Springfest Guide
Now, for the festival. The Meadow Stage was the main stage for Thursday. There was some stuff going on in the Music Hall, but the Meadow Stage had the fullest schedule. It was an easy day since things did not even start till 4 PM.
4:00pm - 5:00pm David Gans
5:20pm - 6:20pm The New Traditionals
6:40pm - 7:40pm Seth Walker Band
8:00pm - 9:20pm Ollabelle
9:40pm - 11:00pm Bluegrass Underground
11:30pm - 1:00am Donna the Buffalo
We were there the whole day. We did not leave till Donna the Buffalo wrapped up their set. That was a great day. No crowds. We were up front for all the acts. We did not get back to our room till about 2am.
Needless to say, we did not greet the sunrise. We managed to get over to Huddle House for breakfast at about 11am. We got to the park at about 1pm ready for Fridays’ entertainment.
We checked the schedule and decided that the Meadow Stage was still the best place to be for who we wanted to see. This is the Friday Schedule on the Meadow Stage starting at 2pm. There were other performers before Darrell, but we were slugs and did not get there early enough to see them.
2:00pm - 3:00pm Darrell Scott
3:20pm - 4:20pm Dan Hicks & The Hot Licks
4:40pm - 5:40pm Jorma Kaukonen & Roy Book Binder
6:00pm - 7:00pm Ray Wylie Hubbard
7:30pm - 9:30pm Donna the Buffalo
10:00pm - 11:00pm Joe Craven & Bobby Lee Rodgers Duo
11:20pm - 12:40am Dan Frechette & Friends
1:00am - 2:00am David Gans & Friends
Be sure to check our Photo and Video Galleries for snippets of these entertainers. I will mention that the Duhks did not make it. They were represented by Tania Elizabeth. She carried her weight. She is a great entertainer in her own right. Everyone was great. We stayed till the last. Another fantastic but long day. For us, there were many acts that we were not familiar with, but we enjoyed them all and decovered new musical interests.
Now for Saturday. Once again, we chose the Meadow Stage. We did not get there till about 1pm and we were getting hungry so we popped into the Music Hall for a bite. There was a variety of artists coming and going while we ate. Once we were done, we headed for the Meadow Stage. We took our time checking out the crafts tents and just doing some people watching. I also had to par-take of an iced coffee. I got hooked on those. Tastee !!
3:40pm - 4:40pm Ollabelle
5:00pm - 6:00pm Jim Lauderdale
6:20pm - 7:20pm The Avett Brothers
7:40pm - 8:40pm Blueground Undergrass
9:00pm - 10:00pm The Lee Boys
10:20pm - 11:20pm Gandalph Murphy
11:40pm - 12:40am Seth Walker Band
1:00am - 2:00am Big Cosmo & The New Traditionals Jam
I gotta tell ya: The Avett Brothrers, The Lee Boys and Seth Walker were our favorites that day. And Gandalph Murphy was something else, literally. A mix of Pink Floyd and Hillbilly music.
Sunday was an easy day. We sat up our chairs at the Amphitheater Stage at a little after 10am in the morning. The main body of performances took place there. The day was a short one also. Things were scheduled to end at 7:30pm.
10:00am - 10:20am Tania & Kids Set
10:20am - 10:40am Vassar Memorial
11:00am - 12:00pm Verlon Thompson & Shawn Camp
12:20pm - 1:20pm Bluegrass Set
1:40pm - 2:40pm Jim Lauderdale
3:00pm - 4:00pm The Lee Boys
4:20pm - 5:30pm Tania Elizabeth & Friends
6:00pm - 7:30pm Donna the Buffalo
To tell ya the truth, it was pretty much a free for all on stage. Everyboby jammed with everybody else. Don’t get me wrong, it was great, but you never quite new who was with who most of the time. The Lee Boys, as always, stood out. Same with Donna. Every set was a little longer than scheduled so the days entertainment did not end till almost 10pm.
There were several entertainers we did not see at all. There is so much going on that it is impossible to enjoy all the musical entertainers participating in the Springfest. We had a great time. Shot many photos and got alot of video clips. The pics are already up in the Photo Gallery. Be sure to have a look. The videos will be up shortly in our new Video Gallery Section.
Our return to Atlanta was uneventful as was the flight home to Cozumel. We are very interested in doing this again, but we will probably do the Octoberfest next time. The weather might be a bit cooler then. It was a bit steamy in March.
Our next trip is New Orleans !! We will be there in a few weeks so stay tuned. Also we are booked for Austin City Limits Music Festival in September. That should be a blast.
Posted on May 11th, 2007 by Chuck and Anne
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