Making a stop to visit The Buckeye Strings Dulcimer Club in Cincinnati, Ohio has been another summer tradition that dates back about six or seven years, I'd have to dig through backpages of Facebook posts to see when those first pictures began appearing, but it's always been so much fun that I've come back every year. Vickey Sasser did the same thing so many have done, noticed that I was going to be in the area, dropped me an e-mail requesting a visit, and the rest, as they say, is history!

What's involved is usually a potluck, a couple of workshops and a mini-concert for the adults on Tuesday evening, then I come back and do a morning show for the church kids and then work with the youth dulcimer group. Each year, there's a theme and Vickey goes all-out to bring that theme to life through decorations, costumes and even culinary themes.

This year's theme, concocted not too long ago, was "The Mickey Mouse Club", and, as usual, Vickey pulled out all the stops. Not only were there decorations galore and food items inspired by "Lady and the Tramp" (spaghetti and meatballs, natch!) and "Beauty and the Beast" (try the gray stuff, it's delicious - no, really - it was awesome!) but there was also a trivia game where you had to guess the name of the Disney film by looking at a picture. This was a "deep cuts" list of films that included mainstream titles like "Frozen", "Toy Story" and "Aladdin" as well as "The Horse In The Gray Flannel Suit", "Snowball Express" and "The Boatniks." As a big Disney fan, I got a huge kick out of this.

Vickey also made me a Mouseketeer shirt, which many of the folks sported and I wore a pair of mouse ears above my tam, which, along with the headset microphone, made me look like a motivational speaker from Fantasyland (if the shoe fits.)

The potluck was fabulous and I taught three tunes,"The Mickey Mouse Club March", "Stay Awake" from Mary Poppins and "Yo Ho Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life For Me)" from The Pirates of the Caribbean attraction. It was an all-around fun time and, as we got a photo together, I thanked everyone for making this one of my must-make tour stops. The Buckeye Strings have always so wonderful and welcoming, so giving and grateful. Their legendary care package usually finds me needing to bike extra laps, but is well-steeped in local culinary lore and I always feel like a local once I've hung out with them for a couple of days.

After we wrapped, I headed back to Winton Woods, finished editing Friday's Dulcimerica, got it uploaded and scheduled, then headed to bed for an early start in the morning with the kids.

All the while humming, "A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes."

Day 63

Day 62: Interstate Tour 2018