Thursday evening, Colleen and LynneH met Katie's and my planes at
PVD. Colleen flagged down a friend of hers driving one of those
electric carts. He drove us at break-neck speed to the exit. Lynne
drove all of us down to Newport, across the beautiful Newport bridge,
and straight to Yesterday's where we hooked up with Vicky, Tracy,
Kathy, MossE, LynnM, Becky, Caren, Kathryn, Lynn and Darlene. The
place was ready to close so we went to Benjamin's on the wharf for
drinks and to get Katie and me something to eat since we'd been on
planes all day. Lovely breezes in the open air patio...nice and humid.
:-) We saw Barry and Susan as we were heading to our hotel room and
they came over to say hello.
Friday was a very busy day! First thing that morning, we went to
the little Newport airport to watch Caren jump from a perfectly good
airplane. The way she described it, though, makes me think I'd like to
do that. Sometime. In the future. Distant future. LOL! We had
champagne to celebrate her flight then went to Applebee's for lunch.
Afterward, Caren, LynneH, Kathryn and I went to the Cliff Walk. We
didn't know there was a bus available to take us back at the end of
the walk so we only went halfway. The scenery was breathtaking. 
I
walked in the surf a bit but didn't get a chance to have my pic taken
with MossE! :-( That evening, as we were walking to the Wharf, we saw
Paul and Lou who asked us if we were going to Marissa's birthday
party. So we had some time to kill before the party and met up with
the others to decide what to do for dinner. Four guys in black came up
to us and asked us to sing something for them...they were 
A Capella
Gold, a do-wop/barbershop group. I started to sing the Rain Song and
no one joined me! LOL! But the guys started singing for us then asked
us to join them for dinner. We went to the Wharf Pub where they
serenaded us and played a song game with us. They ate, we drank. LOL!
Before we left, they sang "Goodnight Sweetheart" to us.
*sigh* Off to the party. Paul and Bob told us stories of the silly
contests and things they did as kids. Grilled cheese eating contests,
diving contests, standing on the bus the longest contests, and a few
others that were cracking us up. We had some very good cake, wished
Marissa happy birthday (did you find some great clothes yet,
Marissa?), and left to get some dinner. Thank you so much for inviting
us! It was very generous of you all! :-) Back to Benjamin's for
seafood cakes. Yum! On to Billy Goode's where a duo was playing. They
had nice voices and played well enough...until WE walked in. They
played Beatles' so we woo-hoo'd and yeow'd them! They got better! So
we kept cheering them on. The locals didn't quite know what to make of
us, I don't think. ;-)
Saturday morning, LynneH left to go to a family wedding so Caren,
Kathryn, and I went to scout for poster board to make signs for 
the
picnic. Caren found a gorgeous spot that overlooked the harbor at Ft.
Adams. We didn't have a large crowd but it was fun meeting new people
and chatting with the familiar people. We sang some songs, looked at
Maureen's scrapbook, and left around 1 to get ready for ToRI! We got
to ToRI early to get good seats to hear 4-Play. They were awesome!
Lucie came out in this black Stevie Nicks/Gold Dust Woman outfit and
blows us away with Rhiannon, Stop Draggin' My Heart Around (with
Billy...woohoo!), Takin' Care of Business, Sultans of Swing (go,
Johnny, go!), and so many other great covers. Lucie sang my request of
"I'm the Only One" and got a hug for it. What a terrific
band! So energetic and so into their music! Everytime they mentioned
the Cowsills, we naturally yeow'd and whistled. You know how it
is...we couldn't help it! LOL! Well, of course, the C's did NOT
disappoint. They were on their game both days with tight harmonies,
perfect timing (yes, you were...so hush), great instrumentation, and
wonderful music! What a show! They all looked so good and seemed to be
having as great a time as we were. Covered Wagon rocks, guys! Thanks
so much...it's my favorite! After the concert, we went to dinner at
Brick Alley Pub with Suzanne and her
family, KimT from NH, Deb and Nan, Louise, Barbara and Kathryn. Then on to Billy
Goode's for more music. The trio had this amazing young singer with a
voice that wouldn't quit. She was very good! Barry and Rich were there
talking with everyone. Barry showed us a sketch book by a young friend
of his. Pretty good work. He said her photography was great. Wish we
could have seen that. Back to the room later where Kim and I stayed up
until 3:30 talking. Yawn!
Sunday morning and LynneH came back for the concerts. We go
straight to ToRI as 4-Play went on at 11:30. Another great show with
us dancing in the aisles and woo-hoo'ing all over the place! What a
fun band! They even handed out maracas for us to play for the Santana
songs they did. How cool is that? And once again, when the Cowsills
came on they were on fire and brightened up that cloudy day. Lots of
stories and jokes from the stage, Susan sang her new song, Paul, Bob,
and Susan sang a beautiful love song, Barry rocked on River of Love,
Rich still had his voice and did a great job! After the concert, we
went around to the food booths and gathered up some of the leftovers
that the vendors were giving away free. We went to a B&B some of
us were staying at and had a dinner of chicken calzones, hot wings,
some kind of spicy hot dog, brownies, cookies, free Pepsis, and wine.
We tossed the paella...it had been out a little too long. LOL! 
Then
off to Billy Goode's for Barry's gig! I'd asked him earlier if I could
play tamb with him and he didn't object...and he didn't object all
night so I guess I did ok. :-) It was wild! About 20 people tried
dancing in a space the size of a postage stamp...and succeeded! Barry
sang Route 66, Warm and Beautiful, Werewolves of London, had help on
California Dreamin', and I can't think of the rest right now. Robby
played the Hofner bass for a while and did a great job as usual. The
end came too soon and we said our goodbyes to everyone. LynneH,
Kathryn, KimT, and I shut the place down as Kim was talking to
someone. So Lynne and I got our hugs from Barry several times. ;-)
Monday morning and breakfast with LynneH, Caren, and Kathryn. Lynne
graciously took me to PVD for my flight. I quickly discovered that
Vicky was on my Chicago flight so we discussed the weekend and all the
fun. Paul and Lou were heading to their gate when they spotted us.
They gave us hugs and said goodbye.
Highlights of the weekend: Playing tambourine with Barry and not
getting told to stop! LOL! The Cowsills in concert, of course! And
4-Play and ACapella Gold. A weekend of great music!
Best Song: Covered Wagon!!!!!!
Catch Phrase: Wherever you go, there you are! LOL!
Coolest thing: Walking in the Atlantic Ocean surf. Two coasts in
one year! Wow! FW, baby!
Biggest disappointment: Not getting to see the Breakers or go on a
harbor cruise. NEXT time! :-)
Thank you so much, Bob, Rich, Paul, Barry, and Susan for doing this
again for us. You all are such fun, fine people. Love you bunches!
Thanks, Robby, for playing bass...that thing you do so well! Thanks to
all my friends (especially LynneH, Caren, and Kathryn) for making last
weekend so special and fun! We had a blast, didn't we? On to the Bash!
LOLOL! After a lot of sleep. ;-)
... Barb Meade
