Well, it all began on Thursday (yeah, weekends start early, sometimes...)... Justa and I went and saw Enter the Haggis up at Higher Ground. Nothing like a Celtic Punk band rockin' hard on a fiddle and some bagpipes, with electric guitar in the background. Hardcore. AWESOME show. Then, we run home and (I pack) and Justa crashes out on my couch.

Why is she on your couch? you ask... WELL, because at 8am Friday morning, we threw my Dad in the car, picked up Holly and rolled out to Washington, DC for Shamrockfest, '08. It was like a 10 hour ride, with stops... not SO bad. My dad has just bought a new Garmin GPS, so we got to hear some Australian guy (Justa picked the voice) give us directions all day... ridiculous, but amusing.
Meanwhile, Becky (Car #2 of our quasi-caravan) got off to a little rougher start (nothing like leaving w/o your ticket!), but was off behind us to head down, via NYC to pick up Pearson - to complete our entourage. Yeah. We were gonna be rollin' 6 deep. Oh yeah.

Arriving in DC (or really, technically Maryland, I guess) at our hotel was were the fiasco's began... We had the reservation (a printed copy, even) for our double bed, non-smoking room. They say they've had a bunch of school groups book and had to move people around.... would a king bed in the smoking section be okay?...... uhm. Does that sound REMOTELY like what we asked for? yeah. no.  Nonetheless, we got it sorted out (double bed, smoking. Damn.) and managed to get some dinner (at the attached Outback. Yum.)... After which, the rest of our party people arrived.... (circa 11pm).

My room of people was all kinds of sleepy.... *I* on the other hand, was decidedly not. Whether it was the continuous caffeine drip (via reststops) that I had had all day, or the fact that I am just generally awake at that time of day, I don't know. But, needless to say, I was not ready for bed yet! Waha! Thankfully, neither were Pearson and Becky... so, I went and hung in their room for a while... Becky, zonked from the driving, passed out.... leaving Pearson and I - two hard-core night owls - up chit-chatting, geeking out over sci-fi fantasy books and brainstorming over a story he's writing. ..... and then 3am arrived. Yikes. A crazy day on the horizon, I tiptoe back to my room (nearly bouncing Holly off the air-mattress we were sharing) and sleeeep.

Saturday morning brings.... SUNSHINE. And 65 degrees! (when it was supposed to be rainy and 55. hmm.)... Yippee! The easiest way to get to Shamrockfest was via Metro... which was the funniest thing ever. We started at the end of one line. We're all in green, but we're the only people in the car in green. As our proximity to Shamrockfest increased, so did the concentration of green-clad people on the train... resulting in almost 100% of the train being very green and headed to Shamrockfest as we debarked at the Armory.

So. Shamrockfest: 40 acres of Irish Festival. Carnival Rides. Green Beer. Fair Food. 10 stages. TONS of bands - music from noon - 10pm.
Seriously crazy. There are not even words to describe the fun that was had by all. SUNburns were even procured! (I know. Amazing.).  So, what'd we do? Wandered around, listened to crazy irish, or Irish-punk music... watched some of the pub-contests (Best Legs in a Kilt, mens and womens), irish dancers... drank. Ate. Made Merry.

As the day wore on, (and the lines for food and porta-potties got longer), our highly-anticipated concerts (the reason we came: Carbon Leaf and Great Big Sea) got closer.
We battled our way through crowds to get decent spots for Carbon Leaf, which was awesome, as usual... they played a really great, upbeat set this time... with a finale of "The Boxer" complete with Irish dancers! Yay! Very cool.

However. Next was Great Big Sea. We managed to continue our conquest to the front, and land ourselves about 5 rows from the front (really good spots, all things considered, and a pretty good distance for pictures!) for a kick-ass concert. All the favorite tunes were played, lots of audience singing and hooting and hollering....

THEN. The HIGHLIGHT of the evening:


Yes friends, That is Oscar Winner, Russell Crowe with Great Big Sea, singing Folsom Prison Blues (I've got awesome video of that). Later, they were all joined on stage by Carbon Leaf, making it a raucous Great Big Crowe Leaf throw down. The awesomeness is indescribable. I had no idea Russell Crowe REALLY sang. However, I have pics galore (of this, and Shamrockfest in general) in my scrapbook if you're interested in more of the crazy photo documentation.
BAD. ASS.

So, let's see.... then... mass exodus began. Have you ever seen 15 THOUSAND people (about 90% of whom who are decked out in green), descend upon ONE metro station? and board the first train? It is a sight like no other. It's just a seething mass of green, wherever you look. too cool.

After a metro-ride home, after a 10 hour party (noon to 10pm!), much jumping up and down and singing and clapping, all of us party people fell into bed. Exhausted...... Right after a stop at IHOP for some late-night breakfast.

This morning brought the Quest for the Waffle House, a couple of Goodbye's when our caravan parted ways... and lots of napping in the car. Except for Justa, who was driving, who I am convinced was intent on killing us. haha....

We left DC and it was raining, but not so cold.... and got to VT in the middle of a snowstorm. UGH. BLEH.

And so.... here we are. Sunday Night, home and sleepy...