Sylvia & George take a road trip to Ennis, Texas October 2024
Well, Sylvia noticed that there was a country music festival in Ennis, Texas that caught her interest, but the thing that really caught her interest was the lantern lighting ceremony that happened each evening after the music was done! So, having purchased a couple of VIP tickets, we were off on a four-hour drive north to the Texas Motorplex in Ennis Texas, a small town just south of Dallas! We decided to stay at La Quinta Inn in Waxahachie since it was closer to Highway I-35, and just 10 minutes to the Texas Motorplex where the event was being held.
Here we are with our "Golden Ticket" for the festival. Sylvia is standing next to the sign for the Stars of Texas Festival sign and I am standing next to the Night Lights (lantern lighting) sign.
One of our first purchases at the festival was a hat that Sylvia picked out. I mean, it was a country music festival and what's country music without the Cowboy hat and boots, right? I borrowed Sylvia's new hat for the picture on the right. Admit it! I wear it better than Sylvia... am I right or am I right!.
As we were headed for our seats close to the stage, Little Texas was playing music already! We could hear it all the way from the parking lot as we drove in.
- Little Texas -
- Neal McCoy - Following Little Texas was a real entertaining singer named Neal McCoy! Besides being an older performer with multiple hits in the 90's, he was a great story teller and talked about numerous subjects in between his songs. I think we found out more about him and his family than I ever wanted to know, but he was very entertaining and had a great rapport with the audience.
Mixed in with the great music, was some sports car racing. They had multiple race cars on display. Sylvia got to talk to the driver of this red sports car and he told her that the car cost a whopping $400,000. Yikes! - Texas Invitational Racing -
But the quarter mile races were amazing, travelling at speeds of greater than 200 miles per hour. Some of the cars looked more like rockets, than cars, shooting out long plumes of flame and smoke.
Well, you can't go to an outside music festival and not enjoy the culinary delights that are offered. So, as expected, we filled up on funnel cakes, churros and corn dogs.
And just when we thought we had enough junk food, there was a flashing sign extolling the virtues of FRIED PIES. Here I am devouring an apple fried pie.
And then it was back to music with Shenandoah! Marty Raybon and Shenandoah put on a lively set just before the lantern lighting event on Saturday night!
- Shenandoah -
Finally, to close a Saturday night full of country music, Tracy Lawrence hit the stage with his set. All-in-all, it was a great day of festival fun and celebration marred only by the fact that when we got back to the hotel, Sylvia threw up everything she had eaten right there in the hotel parking lot! - Tracy Lawrence -
Worn out by the long 4-hour drive and a full day at the festival grounds, we settled into our hotel room for a quick shower and a long night's sleep.
We awoke the next day full of energy and hungry. We stopped into a Waffle House restaurant for breakfast and then headed to the fair grounds for a second day of Country music, drag racing and lantern lighting. - Sylvia & George -
The day's music started with an unknown artist, named George Birge. The music was great, though. This was followed by a long set from the Eli Young band, who put on an even greater show. - George Birge -
- Eli Young -
But the highlight of the second day was a closing set by a group that Sylvia loves, LADY A (previously known as Lady Antebellum). They played a variety of their personal hits as well as popular country songs by other artists. Their rendition of "TAKE ME HOME, COUNTRY ROADS" by John Denver was particularly stirring. - Lady Antebellum -
In the middle of their set, we started lighting our lanterns. I have to say that the pictures below do not do justice to the magnificient spectacle of about five thousand lanterns being lit by the crowd and released all at once! It was truly a magical moment to witness!
- Magic Light Nights - Sylvia, lighting and releasing her lantern!
The next morning, we got up early and started our trip back to San Antonio. Along the way, we stopped in West, Texas for some delicious kolaches at the Czech Stop. Some of these were dropped off at Michelle's place in Temple.
This last picture taken on our trip was a special moment for Sylvia. She told me once that her dream trip was to go to Italy. Well, about 30 miles south of Waxahachie is a little town called ITALY (Texas). I told her that now she can never say that I didn't take her to Italy!
(She did not find this as humorous or as satisfying as I did, however! Go figure?)
Well, you can't go to an outside music festival and not enjoy the culinary delights that are offered. So, as expected, we filled up on funnel cakes, churros and corn dogs. 
