pumpkin festival 08

it's that time a year again. free festival fun. the pumpkin festival in pumpkintown is one of our favorite festivals. the bluegrass music is pretty good and i get a chance to get more good smelling candles and bath supplies. i had to work saturday morning, so the fun had to wait till later in the day to get started. since we were heading up 25 and it was lunchtime, we took this as an opportunity to try out the new bbq place, huntin camp bbq. it was pretty good. we did the buffet, which was small and didn't have a green veggie option, but otherwise it was pretty tasty. the bbq had a good flavor, the little hushpuppies were tiny and cute, ray really like the potato salad, the coleslaw was still nice and crunchy, and the peach cobbler had a cake like crust just like i like it.

deer head at the front door to greet ya.
(although sarah palin was no where to be found.)

bbq....yummy.

after lunch it was on to pumpkintown, sc. the candle and soap booth that i really liked last year was there again, but unfortunately the super cool civil war folks were not. last year they had this whole set up of period tents and cooking equipment, and some really strange looking fellows that would let you shoot their old time rifles. ray was really looking forward to getting his picture taken with these guys, but all they had was this sad looking table set up and a cannon. the nifty guy from last year was m.i.a and they weren't even firing off the cannon. poop! but all was not a loss. i did get some more candles and soap stuff and we sat and watched these boys try to create a human pyramid up a greased pole. apparently there was a prize tied to the top of the pole. the announcer at the bluegrass stage was saying something about $500. they tried for about 45 minutes before they finally got this one guy who climbed up far enough to kinda jump up and grab the top of the pole and then lifted himself up by his fingers to untie the ribbon. pretty impressive and totally worth the trip to pumpkintown. which, by the way, is the real actual name of the town.

yeah pumpkin festival!!!

big pumpkin mural inside the community center.

horse.

yes! old crow candles. the candle scent in the tin cup is called barn dance and then the pottery tea light wax melting thing is pumpkin tart. nice scents for the fall.

yeah! bath supplies from thistle ridge soap. i got a sample pack of soap and some restful mint bath salts (last year they had some wonderful eucalyptus bath salts) and ray got two shaving soaps. ray really likes his new contraption of cup, soap, and brush for his morning shave. when i get around to shaving i really like it too. however folks, now that the cool weather has arrived, it's time to stop the shaving. all shaving. i like to go through winter just a little fuzzy. this, of course, confirms to my co-workers that i am strange and is how i got the cold weather nickname at work.....frenchie.

nice crowd at the music stage.

me and ray at the festival. as you can see the fall fuzzy phase applies to the eyebrows as well. did anyone notice this is the same shirt from the apple picking pictures? i will proceed to wear the same shirt and pants for most of the season. i really need to go shopping, but when you wear scrubs to work everyday, it just doesn't seem necessary.

ray checking out the old dude's super cool pants. i think he really wants a pair. and i'm being serious here.

here are the boys trying to get up the greased pole.

they finally did it.

after the festival, we stopped at beechwood farms. we have passed the farm before, but this was the first time we stopped to shop. lots and lots of sweet potatoes and some beans. they still had tomatoes on the vines, and if you wanted you could pick the veggies yourself. we just bought the produce from the stand and tried to stick with the veggies that were marked as coming from the farm. so now in addition to having a frig full of apples, we now have a bag full of sweet potatoes as well. time to make some pies and tarts.

beechwood farm stand.

fields at beechwood farms. this farm was huge! much much more than what is pictured.

pumpkins. funny...we didn't get any pumpkins this weekend.

hee hee.

produce from beechwood farms.
sweet potatoes, crowder peas, cucumbers, squash, and muscadines.

i don't think there are any festivals next weekend, so a trip back down to the farmers market will definitely be on the agenda. the weekend after is the autumn festival in downtown, the friends of the library used book sale, AND the hills skills arts and craft fair. ROCK ON!!!!