Mother's Day, May 9, 2010

Mother's Day we went to the annual Symphony Under the Stars at the city golf course. Carolyn rode with us and Nancy met us there. The Ocala Symphony plays this event every year presented by the Fine Arts For Ocala organization. We bought our tickets a few days earlier to avoid having to stand in line to buy them there, and so didn't get there until just about 6pm. When we arrived we were a little dismayed that there was nowhere close at all to park unless we used the VIP parking, which was $5.00. Not too bad for a parking space very close to the venue. Not so easy, however, because not one of us had a dollar with us. So, quickly to the ATM and back to park. We had planned everything so well, we thought, but no one expected that we would need any money!



LOTS of folks go, thus the difficulty in finding a free parking space. The gate was advertised as opening at 6pm but many of these people must have arrived as early as 4pm because as you can see from where this picture was taken, the lake was pretty well encircled by the time we got there.



Regardless of the number of people already there, we got what turned out to be a perfect spot. It was directly in front of the speakers so mom had no trouble hearing the music (and the rest of us didn't either!) and we quite close to the orchestra tent. It was the furthest spot to walk but we didn't have any trouble. Nancy got there after us and actually got a golf cart ride.












We had a "little red wagon" to carry our chairs and food but this wagon was so much more than your usual. The slatted sides let down so that the metal bottom made a table on which to lay out our gourmet picnic. Kim, you will be proud to know that we thought of absolutely everything, from the wine opener to wet wipes, toothpicks to fresh-picked gardenias in a basket. Nancy and Carolyn brought their own sandwiches and we had Cuban poboys from Publix. We had chips, a veggie tray, olives, cookies, brownies, and more. I also made some chocolate-dipped and some sugar-dipped strawberries, which were delicious! We had a real banquet and it tasted all the more scrumptious eating it outside and being serenaded all the while.


I should also mention that we brought two bottles of good Chardonnay, which was rather quickly consumed and thoroughly enjoyed.

Storm Roberts from WKTK, a local radio station personality, was the emcee.






























The sun was shining brightly when we arrived but later, as the sun set, the mood slightly changed and most people settled down to just enjoy the music. We weren't so close as this picture implies; Britt took it with a zoom lens.

The theme was The Beatles (!) and I knew every song, of course. There was also a little of The Carpenters and Simon and Garfunkle as well, and I loved all of the program.



The finale of the night was a glorious fireworks display. This organization really went all out on them because the display went on for at least five minutes and was magnificent. So many different types and colors of explosives! I'm afraid of handling fireworks but I do love to see them. These pictures are beautiful but they can't possibly capture the wonderful show.













Britt had packed up most of the food while it was still light because there were no lights after dark. When the show was over we were a little surprised that none of us had thought of how we would get everything together in the dark. Lo and behold, Britt brings out four flashlights, one for each of us! That's a bit of planning I would never have thought of. To top it all off, he had put lights on the wagon that attached magnetically, two in the front and two on the back. We heard several comments on our walk back to the car about the "grooviness" of those lights (I am in the nostalgia of it all). I'll bet we'll see more lighted wagons next year! We all enjoyed ourselves tremendously and are already looking forward to the next picnic, which will be July 4. It was an almost perfect day, not perfect because my kids weren't with me, but it surely was close.