March 14, 2009
An Irish/early St. Patty's Day festival probably should have weather indicative of Ireland and that was the definitely the case yesterday for Fiele Franklin. Despite the inclement weather, we donned our raincoats and decided to check out this free event. This was the sixth year Franklin has held this festival in its historic downtown area, but the first time we have attended. The rain mercifully let up as we pulled into town after picking up our friend, Nate, but you could tell the earlier downpours had definitely affected turnout
. There were only a sprinkling of people milling about downtown and it looked like several vendors had decided not to set up because of the weather. We strolled around and popped into a few stores and put our names on a waiting list for lunch at the local Irish pub, McCreary's. This little pub was quite popular, but definitely worth the half-hour wait. The food was tasty and the beer choices were quite varied and very affordable. A "late lunch" turned into about a 3-hour "sit-in" of trying different beers and just hanging out in the festive atmosphere inside. Our friend, Carolyn, joined us a bit later and the frivolity c
ontinued. Nate and Rob decided to tackle the beer-tasting event that concluded the festival while Ashlee and Carolyn opted for a bit more shopping and socializing. The beer tasting event was set up in over twenty different locations in downtown Franklin and allowed patrons to taste beer and shop at the same time (good marketing idea!). For more information on the beer, check out Rob's beer blog entry.
. There were only a sprinkling of people milling about downtown and it looked like several vendors had decided not to set up because of the weather. We strolled around and popped into a few stores and put our names on a waiting list for lunch at the local Irish pub, McCreary's. This little pub was quite popular, but definitely worth the half-hour wait. The food was tasty and the beer choices were quite varied and very affordable. A "late lunch" turned into about a 3-hour "sit-in" of trying different beers and just hanging out in the festive atmosphere inside. Our friend, Carolyn, joined us a bit later and the frivolity c
ontinued. Nate and Rob decided to tackle the beer-tasting event that concluded the festival while Ashlee and Carolyn opted for a bit more shopping and socializing. The beer tasting event was set up in over twenty different locations in downtown Franklin and allowed patrons to taste beer and shop at the same time (good marketing idea!). For more information on the beer, check out Rob's beer blog entry.
Since it was a Friday night, we hopped on the late afternoon Music City Star train leaving near our house in Lebanon and rode it downtown so we both could imbibe a bit and not worry about driving. Unfortunately, the latest return train leaves Nashville at 9:30 PM which wasn't of any use to us since the show didn't start until 8 PM and Sister Hazel didn't take the stage until 9. So we arranged for a car service to take us back home a little after midnight. We did this last year during the 
We opted to pay a few more dollars for a "meet-n-greet" with the band backstage after the show and weren't sure what to expect. Would it be a long wait and then an assembly-line-like procession with a quick intro and autograph opportunity?? Nope, it was a real meet and greet in a nice roomy lounge backstage just a few minutes after the show with the guys just mingling with the fans taking pictures, shaking hands and signing autographs. We met each of the band members, Ken, Ryan, Drew (who looks a lot like our friend, Kevin Swinger),