This morning Esther and I woke up a little later than we thought we would and had to jump in the shower to get ready to drive out to Ditchley. I am shooting a wedding at Ditchley in two weeks and wanted to get acquainted with the area before I get the camera out.

Maggie came by at ten o’clock on the dot and Esther and I had to scramble to get some coffee and everything ready to drive out there. It is out in Gloucester, which is about 30 - 45 mintues away (map), and it’s pretty confusing to get there, so I’m glad that we did this. I’ll be a little more familiar with getting out there so on the day I won’t get lost or freak out.

On the way back from Ditchley, Esther and I peeled off from the main road and made our way to Williamsburg. We were going to the Gin Blossoms concert at the Harvest Festival. Esther had arranged for us to meet a couple who we have recently started to hang out with, Kristi and Casey. We got to our parking space and started walking to the stage setup in the middle of a field, crossing over an orange fence. We walked around the vendors and searched for our friends, but didn’t find them. What we did find was the entrance to the concert, where we had not gone. It was funny because earlier Esther had commented on how they didn’t check for a ticket. Oops.

After going through the proper entrance and getting our tickets and wristbands (it was at a winery after all), we saw one of Esther’s professor and one of the women that I used to work with. We said hello to her professor, I didn’t say hello to my former co-worker; does that make me a misanthrope?

After getting a little italian ice, we walked back towards the stage and after scanning the crowd for a bit, we had our friends show up behind us. We made our way to the seats and blanket they had just as the first song started.

It was a very interesting concert. The Gin Blossoms were big when I was in 8th grade and it was a very odd middle school flashback. Of course they played the songs that they made them famous in the early nineties and some tracks off their new album, but the oldies got a rise out of the crowd. I wondered through the entire concert about what they had been doing in the 10 years between their waning first fame and this recent resurgence. I also wondered it they felt really let down by the fact that they were playing to a really small concert. There had to be less that 300 people there. I guess that is what happens when you have a hit in the early nineties and then fade in to pop music obscurity. I really wish that I would have brought the video camera, because it would have made a great little video podcast. Oh well.

After the hour-long concert wrapped up, we walked around the vendors again, joined by one of Esther’s cohort-mates (is that the proper term?) Adele. Kristi and Adele then got a bottle of wine, Esther got some kettle corn and we stood around eating the popcorn as the ladies enjoyed the wine.

After finishing the bottle and packing up, we walked around the winery a little and then decieded to get some coffee. We went to the Coffee House and I had a satisfying Large (triple shot) Latte. Mmmm. Caffeine.

After a little coffee and alot of good conversation we went to Adele’s apartment. Casey and I helped take apart a table and load said table and four chairs into Adele’s SUV, and after we had finished that we had some pizza and more conversation.

It’s really different to have a couple that Esther and I both click with. I have al lot in common with Casey, she has a lot in common with Kristi. Esther and I have been kind of picky about our friends in the past and its finally nice to have friends that we don’t have to be picky about.

Overall a great day.