Fairs, Festivals, Football and Cool Mountain Air

"North Carolina Apples." Original painting by Hendersonville, NC native Olivia Thomason.Photo byDown South Today

Dog Days, mercifully, are winding down. Just ahead are the gifts of late summer, the celebrations and gatherings rooted in tradition. And, along with these, college football kicks off another season of pageantry, competition, and feasting we call Tailgating.

There’s some magic in the air.

Stone Mountain’s Yellow Daisy Festival is appropriately named. The little flowers are indigenous to the mighty monolith and even decorate large swaths with golden florals for a precious time. The celebration at the base is a hugely popular annual attraction.

The annual Georgia Mountain Fair in Hiawassee opens featuring live country, gospel and bluegrass music, crafts and arts and carnival food like funnel cakes, snow cones, cotton candy, local baked goods and much more. Check out Little Roy, a master of the 5-string banjo who made his name in Bluegrass Gospel. He might just play on request an old classic like, “He will Set your Fields on Fire.”

"Blackbirds and a Pie." Original painting by Olivia Thomason.Photo byDown South Today

Ask someone where to find a “blackbirds and a pie,” just for fun.

North Carolina’s Apple Festival is a Labor Day weekend tradition in lovely Hendersonville, the Blue Ridge mountain town that has been home to many in my family for generations. Just across the South Carolina state line, north of Traveler’s Rest and a stone ’s throw from historic Flat Rock, the apple season is celebrated with music, parades, dancing and the ubiquitous homemade products native to the region.

Flowers grow very pretty here.

A slice of fresh-baked apple pie any time of day is highly recommended. Bring home some apple butter for those biscuits you’ll be enjoying back home on cold winer mornings. For those who haven’t enjoyed this incredibly delicious artisan creation, my late Uncle Jack described it as a “jar of delicious memory.”

For an even more complete experience, the Flat Rock Playhouse, honored as “The State Theatre of North Carolina,” offers Broadway-quality productions from drama to musicals and is nestled adjacent to the national shrine, Carl Sandburg’s home and farm, Connemara.

The State Theatre of North Carolina, adjacent to Carl Sandburg's home and farm, "Connemara."Photo byFlat Rock Playhouse

Stick around for church services at historic St. John’s in the Wilderness, a Flat Rock landmark with a history that will leave you breathless.

Let’s take a trip to the mountains, enjoy apples any whichaway, watch pretty girls dance to bluegrass music, take in a play and tour the home of one of America’s poet laureates.

It’s festival time and soon it will be college football with all that great food and refreshing drinks served before kickoff or on our patios at home.

We’re winding down the summer, anxiously anticipating the aromas, colors and harmonies of a new season.

"Apple Festival Dancing." Original painting by Hendersonville, NC native Olivia Baker Thomason.Photo byDown South Today