Red Top Mountain, Lake Allatoona, Bluegrass, and a Full Moon

Yesterday evening we went to Red Top Mountain at Lake Allatoona to hear a bluegrass concert.  The bluegrass group was the Cedar Hill Band who were pretty good.

Of course, we got to the concert spot on Red Top Mountain about 90 minutes early and had time to kill.  We walked a little trail overlooking the lake and had a seat at a lookout point over the lake and sat a while.

Sitting there high up overlooking the lake and hearing lake sounds brought back many memories of back in the 1960s when I frequented this lake often, very often, almost  daily.  That was another time, another life.

While sitting at the overlook a lady with two giant white fluffy dogs walked by.  They were so big, rounded and fluffy they reminded me of two big polar bears.... they also reminded me of Tip O'Neil.  We had a long talk with the lady that owns them.  She loves her dogs, that is for sure.  She always has dogs, and she is about 50.  She said every time one of her dogs dies she goes into mourning or depression that lasts a week or two that she is unable to work or be sociable or anything.  She and her dogs live near Peachtree City, in Coweta County, which is a long way to take your dogs for a walk.  One of her dogs liked me so much he tried to sit on my lap.  Imagine a big white polar bear backing up to sit on you.  It wasn't as crunching as I expected.  He eased himself down.

Another lady came up with her big dog... actually, the 2nd lady and her dog scooted away the lady with the two dogs.  The first lady told us her two are very territorial and defensive in her behalf.  So, she avoids other dogs.  We had a long talk with the second lady too.  Her 22 year old daughter who moved out of the house had a similar dog and the lady was so attached to the dog she got her one like it.  She lives in Cartersville and had not heard of the huge sporting complex that was being built right  there in Emerson.

The first time I had went to Red Top was soon after they completed the 4-Lane that far, in the early 1950s.  It was on Labor Day.   A neighbor, with a reputation for being a draft dodger and a drunk, but at the time was in the Air Force and ran some kind of social club at Dobbins Air Force Base hired me me others to strategic places at the lake with ice cream carts.  He placed me by the lake at Red Top Mountain.  I don't remember much more except I discovered if you throw "hot ice" in the lake it bubbles like something evil.

The reason I was there, was the lake had just been completed also.  They were having a sailboat race just around the bend leaving from the the yacht club, they would sail by there and they expected a crowd to be lined at the shores to watch it.  The crowd never came.

The second time at Red Top was about a year later when our coach Romeo Huggins of our Little League team Southern Discount took us for a camp out by the lake.  I remember Daddy borrowing one of those tents from the Marietta City Works that are narrow and tall.  It wasn't for camping but for roadside work.  Everybody else had very nice tents and I had that - which I couldn't figure out to put it up, so I just crawled under it, and used it as a blanket.

Years later, maybe just 20 or so years ago Anna and I came and parked in the same parking lot to go to Red Top Mountain's Restaurant for breakfast one morning.  I was amazed at all the deer lounging around. and also lots of humming birds outside the windows.  The restaurant is closed now and has been changed into an office for the park.

From very high above Lake Allatoona looks like a Chinese Dragon... the length is folded or zig-zagged and it has many little coves.  In the late 50s and early 60s we mostly hung out on the other end, at Victoria Landing, many miles away, even as the crowfish swim.

The bluegrass band Cedar Hill was versatile and mixed in rock music.  They kept it lively.

Below are two video sampling:

On the way home we saw a full moon.  When arriving I got out my tripod, which I haven't used in ages.  

I have no idea why one has an orange tint and the other one doesn't.   Orange was more true to the color of the moon then.  Maybe Mr Moon realized I was taking his pictures and blushed.