Cousin Janet

The WannaBeatles recently played a party in Savannah, Ga., at the home of Janet Barrow, cousin of WannaBeatle Bryan. The Beatles song "When I'm Sixty-Four" was the inspiration for this birthday party which was also a large family reunion.

Janet is one high energy woman. She may be turning 64, but she looks half her age and still runs circles around most teenagers. 

She met the WannaBeatles at a party last summer in Lexington, Virginia. That was at the home of Doug and Libby Cumming, Doug being brother of WannaBeatle Bryan. Janet was so glad to be at that party that she volunteered to drive from Savannah to Atlanta, to pick up Joe and Emily Cumming (her aunt and uncle, Doug and Bryan's parents) then drive hundreds more miles up to Lexington. 

That party in Lexington in 2014 included Doug playing his saxophone with Bryan, replaying the roles they had as teenagers in their first band, inspired, like thousands of others at the time, by The Beatles. That night in Lexington also included a lively version of "In The Mood," inspiring Joe and Emily Cumming to dance like they did back in the 1940's. The WannaBeatles can be a versatile band.

And so the party in Savannah in 2015 was another family gathering, with even more cousins and siblings showing up. Again, Joe and Emily came, and again we played "In The Mood" as they danced.


In preparing for the trip, The WannaBeatles considered several options, finally deciding to rent a pickup truck with a trailer hitch, a Toyota Tundra with a powerful V-8 engine. WannaBeatle David was our designated driver, and he was happy to drive such a powerful truck. He got us to Savannah ahead of schedule.

Savannah

Janet and her husband Charlie built a wonderful house that borders the marsh on Isle of Hope, a few miles southeast of Savannah. 

There are enough extra bedrooms upstairs and downstairs to provide us with very comfortable accommodations. To keep things interesting, they also have a pet rabbit, named Mrs. Peterson, running around their house.

We arrived on Thursday night, for Friday's party. Charlie had bought both Mexican and Chinese take-out for us to eat. We sat around a table on their front porch telling our WannaBeatle stories so Janet could get to know us better, which she was happy to do.

The next day was relatively easy, rising after sleeping enough, having coffee, enjoying the sunny weather and beautiful setting, deciding on a place to set up (the patio beside the house,) then visiting a local cafe for crab cakes. Dana Archer, sister of Good Yoko Holly, lives in Savannah, and come over to meet us, and joined us for lunch.

Moving the trailer into position.

Dennis and Nathan sweeping the patio

Janet, our  hostess with the mostest, on the day of the party

 

Afternoon break: David, Dana, Dennis, 

Nathan and Bryan at the Driftaway Cafe

The view from the porch: 

WannaBeatles set up on patio, 

Charlie and his son Thomas view the scene.

The music started around 8 pm, and the guests circulated from the house and porch to the yard and patio, enjoying the music, dancing, eating, catching up with each other.

There were plenty of big moments. Both of Bryan's brothers were there, and got onstage to sing or play different songs.
Brother Walter sang on "Ticket to Ride," and Brother Doug played sax on the James Brown song "I Got You (I Feel Good)" and "In The Mood." 

And of course our guest of honor, cousin Janet, joined us to sing "When I'm Sixty-Four."

WannaBeatle Bryan was among his people, family members who live in Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia, all gathered this night in Savannah, so there was lots of catching up to do.

And the next morning, WannaBeatle David again assumed the duty of driving the big Tundra, and got us back to Nashville safely and quickly.

The WannaBeatles will never forget cousin Janet. We had a great time.

Bloggin' Bryan 28April2015