Happenings in Georgia and Tennessee

Two more posts on Warm Springs and Callaway Gardens will be forthcoming, but later on.  In early May friends invited us to attend a concert given at the historic Strand Theatre in Marietta, Georgia.  This theatre is by the turn of the century square in downtown Marietta and has been there since the 1930s.  I took pictures of it several times along the years but had never been inside.  I drove by it again this morning and took a picture through my car window.  (click on collage twice to enlarge.)

The Strand Theatre was opened in 1935 as a new Art Deco movie theatre.  It had the latest technologies of the time such as acoustical sound system, heating and air conditioning, a fireproof projection room and seating for 1,000 patrons.  At the time it costs $150,000 to build and it was the most modern theatre outside Atlanta.  "Top Hat" a musical starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers was the first show featured at the Strand in the fall of 1935.  It closed its door as a movie theatre in 1976.

Afterwards the building housed a number of ventures until it deteriorated and became vacant in 2002.  Community leaders formed a group to save the Strand Theatre and after a successful restoration campaign it re-opened in 2008 with a showing of "Beauty and the Beast."  On May 4th, 2013, the "Paradocs" were giving a performance at The Strand.  We arrived early so we could get a good look at the theatre.

The group playing that Saturday came about when a "pair of docs" taking a break in the doctor's lounge at the local hospital started a conversation about music and how much they missed playing.  In 1996 they started playing together and were joined by more medical personnel and registered nurses.

The doctors and nurses call their 15 piece rock and roll band the "Paradocs."  Their repertoire includes great rock music from the 60s, 70s, and 80s to the present.  They also play some southern rock, country and blues tunes.  I was really surprised at their sound - it certainly rocked!

The female and male vocalists were true professionals and could certainly sing on the stage fulltime instead of working in a hospital.  I tried to take pictures, without flash, with my little Lumix camera - it was not easy with all the fast gyrations.

The Paradocs have been playing for five years and most shows are sold out.  They give all the revenues from the performances to benefit the Strand Theatre or other worthy charities.  We really enjoyed the performance.

 The following week I did not go on the computer much as I was trying to finish knitting a baby blanket before our trip to Tennessee.  I finished it just in time.  It was in the same style as those I made for our three grandsons, but mostly pink...

We drove to a suburb of Nashville, Tennessee, where our younger daughter lives with her family.  Every time we visit we see how fast our three grandsons are growing - they are now 6, 4 1/2 and 2 years old.

This was a special event - the birth of our little granddaughter.

She was born on Friday, May 10, 2013.  She is a lovely 8 1/2 pounds baby, but has a slight heart murmur which we hope will heal as she grows.  The mother, our daughter, had to be readmitted in the hospital for a couple of days but she is out now and improving.  We stayed several days.  I pre-programmed a post for publication but am behind again visiting friends' blogs

I had time to crochet a "lap" blanket (or security blanket or car-seat blanket) - it is about 23 inches square.

Below is grandson no. 2 making a list of names for the baby.  Eldest grandson is showing his green
soccer uniform and youngest grandson is getting close to the baby to check her out.

While we were in Tennessee the weather was perfect - warm with low humidity.  Peonies and roses were blooming in the garden.

We drove back through Alabama.  Many fields were covered with bright yellow wild flowers.  I could have stopped many times along the way to take pictures.

I am a city girl and the sight of cows in a field will stop me every time.  There was no place to stop on the road but luckily no cars were behind me and I took the pictures from the car window.

It was lovely to see that our roses were in bloom when we arrived back home.

Our wild climbing roses were covering the adjoining trees.

Now we need to get busy planting annuals and herbs before the weather gets too warm.  Looking over this post it seems I have a lot of the color pink showing - it goes well with a new baby granddaughter!