Halloween Costumes

I didn't get a chance to go to Winston Salem this year to celebrate Halloween with my grandsons. My daughter sent me a picture of the boys along with their neighborhood friends in their Halloween costumes.

There are lots of kids in their neighborhood and as you can see, the parents go all out with the costumes. I thought that the kid dressed in the Duck Dynasty outfit was special. 

Decorations are Complete for Halloween

My two grandsons in Winston-Salem are ready for Halloween. Tomorrow night they will have on their costums and will be terrorizing the neighborhood. Eamon on the left is 11 and Brendan on the the right is 9. 

Grandson number three in Nashville, Tennessee is only 17 days old. Levi and his grandad Mangum sure have a lot to look forward to.

Something to Do This Weekend

If you are like me, you get a little bit bored if their is nothing to do or see. This time of year there are fewer attractions once the N C State Fair is over.  I have one recommendation. Go to the Carthage Tractor Show November 1, 2, and 3. Don't think this is something that only the guys will enjoy. A few years ago I took my wife, who by the way hates farm equipment, and she thoroughly enjoyed it. It is much, much more than just tractors.

The web site URL is http://www.edervillenc.com/. 

Nearly everything there was collected by Ken Eder and his wife. You will be amazed by the sheer volume of their collection. It includes everything from trains, tractors, cars, trucks, toys, Barbie dolls, motorcycles, peddle cars, a sawmill, general store, and on and on. 

Following are few pictures I took a couple of years ago. 

It's about a 45 minute drive from Angier to Carthage. The show is located just outside of Carthage. 

Spots

The spots must be biting in the Morehead City turning basin.

When you see this many boats grouped together, you can bet that something is biting. In this case it's spots. 

Pig Picking at the Haystacks

Following are photos taken at the pig picking we had in the parking lot at the Haystacks Saturday. The weather was cool but there was little wind and we were able to have it in the parking lot. What a great way to socialize. Everyone has a good time at a pig picking. 

I would guess that there were 40 plus people there. 

We had the pig catered by Roland's in Beaufort, $2.59 per pound. The pig was good, much better than I had hoped. 

All the sides and desserts were covered dish. I tried them all and they were all delicious. The total cost was only $5.00 per person. What a deal!

The serving line. 

Neighbor Pat Barrett ready for a Halloween party she was going to attend dressed as Marylin Monroe. Pat is less than five feet tall but had little trouble in pulling off the look.  Her husband passed away some years back, but she is always on the go and is quite a character. 

First Oysters of the Season

It was a little chilly last night but that didn't keep the Haystacks crowd from enjoying some steamed oysters. 

It's always fun to get together with the people here in the Haystacks condos. We are located on the Newport River on the east side of Morehead City and across the river from Beaufort. If you are ever in this area, look me up. 

It was shuck your own. The oysters were great and someone brought some delicious cornbread. I guess this is a warm up for the pig picking we are having tomorrow. More on that in the next posting. 

Angier Folks Identified

The photograph shown in the last post shows Larry Surles, the brother all Linda and Brenda, on the left.

Linda's yearbook photo. 

Brenda's yearbook photo. 

The person on the right is Stuart Gardner. Stuart was a classmate of Larry, class of 1959.  He currently runs a towing service in Angier and lives on Old Buies Creek Road just south of where Berti grew up. His father was Mack Gardner who was a postman in Angier for many years. Mr. Mack and my grandfather Gregory were old fox hunting buddies. 

More Angier Folks

Everyone should recognize the fellow on the left who is a brother of two of our classmates. 

The person on the right was one of his classmates. Can you name the person on the right?

Man in the Picture

No one guessed who it was. 

Here's the classmate, Cecil Bowden.  

This is his older brother, Jerry. I think Jerry is about four years older than Cecil. Jerry married Judy Coats who also attended AHS. They live on 210 highway just south of Harnett Central in the Butler Day homeplace. 

Who is This Fellow

I took this photograph this morning in the Red Barn. It is one of the older brothers of one of our classmates. Can you name him?

Send your answer to mangumf@aol.com. 

The answer will be posted soon. 

68 Years Old and Never Ridden A City Bus

I know it is hard to believe, but I am 68 years old and have never ridden a city bus. It is not on my bucket list, but I am going to give it a try anyway. A person who grows up on a farm outside a small town doesn't get a chance to experience the finer things of life like the big city kids.

Nashville has a fine bus system that runs by my daughter's house every 20 minutes. For $.85, a senior citizen can ride to downtown Nashville in 15 minutes. The downtown bus stop is within walking distance of everything. This can be the cheapest way to travel when off street parking can cost up to $10 for the first 30 minutes. 

Not as exciting as I had hoped. Made downtown in 18 minutes and 21 seconds. 

Walked down to Printers Alley and took a couple of photographs. It's not nearly as nice as I remember from years ago. Maybe it's better at night. Walked back to bus station for the return trip to East Nashville. 

I can now say that I have ridden a city bus. Whoopee!  You can tell that I am getting a little bored when the best thing I have got to do is ride a city bus. 

PS  This posting was done using my iPhone only. 

Honky Tonk Crawl in Nashville

I just love the music in Nashville.  Broadway Street is known as Honky Tonk row. There must be 40 Honky Tonks on Broadway. You can walk into any one of them an hear some outstanding talent. We went on a damp Wednesday night, but every place we went was packed. We went in only three joints, but they were three of the better known places.

Many movies and videos have been made at the Stage. 

One of the many bands that perform at the Stage each day.

Roberts is one of my favorites. 

Young Danny Danato was playing with the Don Kelly Band at Roberts. Click on the following link if you would like to see the 16 year old tear a guitar to pieces. http://youtu.be/qdxGq6hTuoc

Legends is located at the back door of the Ryman Auditorium. They say that many of the Grand Ole Opry performers would step over to Legends for a beer between acts. 

Family Wash

The Family Wash is a resturant/honky tonk in historic East Nashville, Tennessee. It is located in an old laundromat that has changed little on the outside. It has been featured on the television program, Tennessee Crossroads. It is known for it's comfort food and it's entertainment.

Click on the following link to see the Tennessee Crossroads video. http://youtu.be/swY_OQ5-e9M

Tuesday night is pint and pie night. You can get a pint of beer and a shepard pie for ten bucks. You also get to hear some great music at the same time. My kind of place!

The shepards pie was delicious. 

The entertainment was also good. I recommend this place if you are ever in Nashville. 

Welcome Levi Roan Powell

The latest addition to our family arrived Monday at St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee. A 7 pound 4 ounce  boy. This is our third grandson, no granddaughters yet. 

Mother, Lindsay, and young Levi are doing well. 

He is a beautiful baby shown here at about 4 hours old. 

Nanna with the baby. 

Of course Granddad had to hold the baby. 

Hot Chicken

Hot chicken is a Nashville dish made famous by a small resturant named Hattie B's not far from St Thomas hospital where our new grandson was born. While waiting for the birth, Becky and I went to Hattie B's to have lunch.

Hot chicken is made by marinating chicken in Cayenne pepper and buttermilk over night and then deep frying it. It ranges in heat from mild to damn hot.  We both ordered the mild and that was more than enough heat. 

Drank three of these full of ice tea and my  stomach is still burning. Don't care, that's good chicken. 

Regatta on the Pamlico

Max Henries was kind enough to invite me sailing again on the Pamlico River. This time it was a regatta. For those of us that are not too sophisticated, a regatta is a boat race. 

Max had the most inexperienced crew of anyone in the race. In addition to me who had been sailing only once, we had four ECU Sailing Club members, all freshmen and none had ever sailed. 

Let me say that sailing is much more complicated than operating a motorboat. If you have never sailed, you will not have a clue of what to do. Fortunately, Max is a good instructor. 

We pulled out of McCotters Marina and headed for the start line of the race. The weather was overcast and cool. Fortunately, it did not rain. 

Needless to say we were hopeless in the first race. We looked like the Keystone Cops, but nobody fell overboard. We were the last boat to cross the finish line. I estimate that we were a full 30 minutes behind the other boats at the finish. 

In the second and final race, we did much better. The crew begin to learn the ropes as they say and worked together quite well. We didn't come in first place, but we didn't come in last either. It was a very respectable finish. 

Here is captain Max doing what he loves most. Thank you Max for a wonder day on the water.