RedBone Willy’s Bluegrass Festival

Saturday we went to RedBone Willy’s Bluegrass & Acoustic Music Festival in Lawndale, North Carolina!

After a fun day of visiting roadside attractions around Winston-Salem, Sadie and I left her place early for the drive to the festival. And on our way we stopped for some breakfast to give me my first taste of Bojangles.

Chicken biscuit from Bojangles
Chicken biscuit from Bojangles

When we got to the grounds, we met up with her sisters Carrie (of Travelin’ Thrifty) and Jamie (the other half of the Hungry Sisters) and a whole bunch of others for the day.

Val and the HungrySisters at RedBone Willy's Bluegrass Festival
Val and the HungrySisters at RedBone Willy’s Bluegrass Festival

We spent the day listening to some awesome bluegrass music and drinking and eating hanging out and moving with the shade and eating the best grilled cheese sandwich ever made (seriously, cheddar, apples, and onions on cheddar bread — delicious).

RedBone Willy's Bluegrass Festival
RedBone Willy’s Bluegrass Festival
RedBone Willy's Bluegrass Festival
RedBone Willy’s Bluegrass Festival
Showing off their Knobby shirts at RedBone Willy's Bluegrass Festival
Showing off their Knobby shirts
The best grilled cheese sandwich ever at RedBone Willy's Bluegrass Festival
The best grilled cheese sandwich ever

I don’t like beer so I chugged a bottle of wine I bought at the winery earlier in the week. I may have ended up drinking the entire bottle…

Chugging wine out of the bottle.
Chugging wine out of the bottle.

I also tried livermush for the first time! I’d never even heard of livermush until the day before when Sadie told me they’d have it. It kind of tasted like breakfast sausage but I don’t think I need to ever have it again. I still have no idea what it is. And don’t really need to.

Trying livermush for the first time.
Trying livermush for the first time.
Trying livermush for the first time.
Trying livermush for the first time.

The last two musical groups of the day were really amazing and got us all up dancing. Or maybe we were just really drunk. Or both.

Dancing at RedBone Willy's Bluegrass Festival
Dancing at RedBone Willy's Bluegrass Festival
Dancing at RedBone Willy's Bluegrass Festival
Dancing at RedBone Willy’s Bluegrass Festival

First there was the Steep Canyon Rangers, who were the only group of the day I’d ever heard of before (I don’t listen to too much bluegrass in Chicago) and I even saw them earlier this summer at Ravinia Festival when they were playing with Steve Martin.

Steep Canyon Rangers at RedBone Willy's Bluegrass Festival
Steep Canyon Rangers at RedBone Willy’s Bluegrass Festival

The final band was Mountain Heart and they were pretty awesome too.

Mountain Heart at RedBone Willy's Bluegrass Festival"
Mountain Heart at RedBone Willy’s Bluegrass Festival”

We set up camp for the night on the side of the festival right between the grounds and some horses and chilled with some music on the guitar and on Carrie’s autoharp.

Camping at RedBone Willy's Bluegrass Festival
Camping at RedBone Willy’s Bluegrass Festival
Camping at RedBone Willy's Bluegrass Festival
Camping at RedBone Willy’s Bluegrass Festival
Camping at RedBone Willy's Bluegrass Festival
Camping at RedBone Willy’s Bluegrass Festival

And then we settled into our tents to drift off on one of the last nights of my road trip.

Oh, and North Carolina has stars. I don’t see much of those in Chicago.

Stars in the North Carolina Sky
Stars in the North Carolina Sky

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RedBone Willy's Bluegrass & Acoustic Music Festival in Lawndale, North Carolina
RedBone Willy’s Bluegrass & Acoustic Music Festival in Lawndale, North Carolina

Valerie Bromann

Founder & ROad Trip Expert

Valerie Bromann is a a website manager, content creator, and writer from Chicago, Illinois (currently living in Dallas, Texas). As an avid road tripper who has visited hundreds of roadside attractions, Val always pull over for a world’s largest thing. Founder of Silly America and author of The Road Trip Journal & Activity Book, she visits, photographs, and writes about all the weird tourist destinations she visits and offers road trip planning advice and inspiration based on her own travels so you can hit the road for yourself.

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Last modified: March 25, 2023
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The Road Trip Journal & Activity Book - Everything You Need to Have and Record an Epic Road Trip! By Valerie Bromann

The Road Trip Journal & Activity Book

Everything You Need to Have and Record an Epic Road Trip!

BY Valerie Bromann

Enjoy fun games and challenges to pass the time on your next road trip and have a keepsake to look back on for years to come with this entertaining must-have for your next vacation.

The road trip you’ve been dreaming of starts here! Journal about your stops and get to know your fellow passengers with activities and exercises designed to pass the time and bring you closer together. Instead of “Are we there yet?” you’ll find yourself asking, “We’re there already?”. Complete with prompts you can turn to while driving between locations, this journal will one day be a memento of your life-changing trip.