It was that time of year again; the annual Pig Roast at the Rural Studio in Newbern, AL. Some friends and I left Biloxi on Friday evening and got to Greensboro, AL where we camped for the weekend under a beautiful pavilion. We woke early on Saturday morning and headed to Newbern where we started the tour of all the new architecture projects. I won't elaborate on them but, I do have to say, they were all fantastic in very different ways.
After the tour ended around 4:30 in the afternoon we went back to the pavilion and napped while a guy visiting from new york cut himself a mo-hawk. It was nice. After a power nap we headed back to Newbern where we had some delicious southern eats: baked beans, fried catfish, slaw, hush puppies, some roasted goat (not pig) and beer, all while watching the Studio Awards Ceremony. Oh yeah, the plane flew over dropping whiffle dust (confetti). After the ceremony there was a run of three bands that played. They were fantastic, really fun dancy goodness. We danced and hula-hooped until 1am.
Sunday morning we woke to the bird songs and breezes; we washed up and walked over to Pam's house where she had started making fresh mozzarella at 6am. We were an hour and a half late but got to help in the end. We had coffee and then decided we should have some breakfast. I made biscuits, Jessie made cheese grits, Pam and New York Sarah made eggs, and Scott and Biloxi Sarah assisted on all fronts. The Project M people came over and joined us. In total I think about 15 of ate a glorious breakfast together. So fantastic.
We loaded up our cars and headed to Perry Lakes to check out a few more projects and go swimming at the river beach before heading back. One of those projects was the 100' tall bird tower that takes you above the tree canopy, something that everyone should go up at some point. After descending and getting back on ground we walked the mile through the woods down to the sandy beach of the river. We looked up and saw the storm clouds were moving in fast and then quickly realized they had an odd rotation to them; lighting and thunder quickly accompanied. We took off running back through the woods to take cover under one of the structures. We were too lake... the wind was blowing really strong and trees started to fall all around us. We jumped into a ditch and realized Vince wasn't with us. We started yelling for him; no answer. Within a few minutes the storm let up and Scott ran back to find Vince. Vince had taken cover somewhere behind us - a small tree fell on him but he was fine. After reaching our cars we changed into dry clothes and headed back home. It was kind of frighting. There were trees down along every road we went down. I later found out there was a tornado warning in the area. So, I guess we ran from a tornado and survived. At the time we were all really frighted and then were very amused and were laughing about it all. Now, thinking back on it. It really was a close call.
