By dark tonight I'll be off down I-40 to the west, over Black Mountain into Asheville and snaking my way southwest deeper and deeper into the mountains until I finally reach my home of Franklin. Returning to where I spent the first 17 years of my life is always a great joy, made all the more so by the opportunity to catch up with my brother Joe, his bride Pam, their daughter Sara Frances and whatever assorted critters and ne-er do wells that might be around.
I've never been home to Franklin that I didn't have a grand, rollicking time, so you can see why I'm looking forward to the trip with such great anticipation.
I'll be uptown (and if you've ever been to Franklin, you'll know why it's called that) at Books Unlimited Saturday (Oct. 13) by 10:30, and plan to hang around as long as they need me. If you're a Franklinite reading this, sure hope you can make it on by. We'll have us a time.
That's certainly what we had last night at Park Road Books in Charlotte, where a healthy gathering turned out to sing Sail With the Pilot and talk ACC Basketball. As always I met some new friends, but it sure was great seeing some old ones like Ron Morris, the esteemed columnist for The State newspaper of Columbia, and author of the invaluable ACC Basketball: An Illustrated History, and John DeLong, my close friend and running buddy for years and years with the Winston-Salem Journal.
And just when the festivities started to flag, in roars the one and only John Dunlap, a proud denizen of Spudtowne, with his family, which I was so happy to finally meet. John had a few stories as well, and we laughed until our ribs were sore.
And to get myself in the traveling mood, I'm posting the newest song to be included in my soundtrack for ACC Basketball Book of Fame. It's a blues tune about a basketball program, Wake Forest, that has experienced its share of the blues in recent seasons.
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