Ain't No Mountain High Enough...

... to keep us away from Diana Ross. The Queen Supreme Diana Ross played an outdoor show at the Memphis Botanic Gardens on Saturday night, but we didn't have tickets. Rather than miss an opportunity to hear the Detroit diva live in concert, my friend Nathan and I planned a sneaky let's-catch-the-show-for-free picnic at Audubon Park. The park is located a few blocks from the outdoor show, so we were hoping to hear the performance.

Nathan popped open a bottle of bubbly for the occasion:

I brought some ciabatta bread and a couple of spreads from my cookbook for toppin' — this tasty vegan Pimento Cheeze Spread:

And some Garlicky Black-Eyed Pea Hummus:

On the side, we had my Granny's recipe for Southwestern Corn Salad (also in the cookbook):

And some tortilla chips with this tasty Sweet Onion Salsa:

Here's my plate:

And here I am stuffing my face as usual:

After we filled our bellies, we sat around and talked for a bit. And lo and behold, we suddenly heard a thumping bass line in the distance. I looked at my clock, and sure enough, it was Diana time. So we packed up the picnic gear and made our way across the park's golf course toward the show. It was dark outside, and though the course was closed, we were hidden from view. We got as close as we could without tickets, and we could see the fabulous lighted stage and the occasional glimpse of Diana's glittery attire. I heard my fave gay anthem, "I'm Comin' Out" and we felt so very sneaky.

Would the view have been better if we'd bought tickets? Sure, but I doubt we'd have had quite so much fun!