A Prairie Home Companion

Mary, a friend, had VIP tickets to last night’s live broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion from the Blossom Music Center. Lucky me, she invited me to go with her.

I’m very familiar with both A Prairie Home Companion (APHC) and the Blossom Music Center. M and I are regular listeners of APHC, and we spend quite a few summer evenings picnicking on the lawn at Blossom before the Cleveland Orchestra plays their concerts.

Blossom is a lovely venue in Cuyahoga Falls, surrounded by woods, and located within the Cuyahoga Valley National Park where there is some lovely hiking year round. Usually when we attend an event at Blossom we have to park quite a distance away from where the concerts take place. That can be attributed to our poor timing (we tend to leave too late and so end up in the outer parking lots). The walk in takes about 15-20 minutes and it’s a good way to add exercise to your day.

Last night, however, Mary had a VIP parking pass and we were treated to parking practically next to the gate.

(VIP Gate at Blossom. June 21, 2008.)

We were able to bypass the walk, the main ticket booths, and the main entrance. Star treatment.

The main feature at Blossom is, of course, the pavilion where the concerts are held. It fits into the landscape quite nicely.

(The pavilion at Blossom. June 21, 2008.)

Mary and I sat on the lawn under a nice, shady tree to have our picnic dinner before the concert. It was hot and a little humid with thunderstorms looming in our future. We were there pretty early and, as you can see from the photo above, not many other people had arrived yet.

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