We will have a number of posts this week on the Jamboread festival at the Spartanburg Library in South Carolina. Wow! All day entertainment for families with three visiting children’s authors, face paiting, musicians, storytelling…and puppets! In their ninth year, the Spartanburg Library has been hosting the Jamboread festival as a way to get families out to the libraries, emphasize the importance of great books, and bring authors and readers together. We had a blast!!
I must mention that the Spartanburg Library was beautiful. Gorgeous! I think you can tell a lot about a community by the resources they invest in their local library system. As Melanie looked out the window, she spotted a nearby building which looked vacant — I liked her idea about moving there! Really, we are staying put in Richmond, but now we have a better sense of what we are looking for in a location: close proximity to a fabulous library!
Our weekend was packed to the gills…really. This was our schedule:
Friday
7AM Finish packing, have breakfast and load up
10:30AM Depart Richmond
1PM Picnic lunch at North Carolina rest area (yes, it was open, Virginia!)
6PM Arrive Spartanburg and unload show
8PM Dinner at “Guadalajara” in Greenville, SC
9PM Check in at hotel…finish making new butterfly puppet (more on this later)….get girls ready for bed
11PM The grown ups (finally) go to sleep.
Saturday
5AM: Alarm!! (Way too early!) Shower, breakfast, load truck
6:45: AM Check-out
7:15AM Arrive at Spartanburg Library, set up show
10:45, 12:15: First and second performances (Sam takes the girls to many activities, they get their faces painted and do cool stuff.)
12:30PM: Lunch!
1:45PM, 3PM: Third and fourth performances
4:15PM: Begin packing, Load truck, chat with Roger Day in the parking lot.
6PM: Head for next hotel in Charlotte, NC
7PM: Grocery store to pick up a few things
8PM: Dinner (prepared by Heidi, mystically, in the hotel — most excellent!)
9PM: Swimming and hot tub!! (OK, the Marco Polo game was a bit loud indoors…Instigated by our own daughter with nine 12-year old boys…)
10PM: Get ready for bed, get clothes out for tomorrow and prepack a few things
11PM: Bedtime
Sunday
5:30AM: Alarm (for the adults — too early. Again.)… Get ready/packed
6:30AM: Wake up the children, get them dressed (much whining — some from the children!)
7AM: Quick breakfast
7:20AM: Check-out and GO!
(Drive, drive, drive, stop a few times, eat snacks in the car)
1PM: Arrive in Richmond — home at last! Time for lunch…and unpacking…and laundry…
Phew!
Check back for photos, courtesy of Melanie, and more info on our fabulous weekend!
