Appalachian German Kriskindlmarkt

Busch Gardens Christmas Town

Let the Christmas festivities begin!

As Busch Gardens is busily preparing Christmas Town for opening day, I can almost taste the peppermint fudge hot chocolate.  Much as I would like it to be 75 degrees, the steam rising from a mug of hot chocolate is heartwarming as well as traditional.

Next weekend is the grand opening.  Busch decided to open a week earlier this year.  Since I sprained my ankle last weekend I hope I'll be ready for it.  Maybe I can get a nice fellow to push me around in a wheelchair?  Nah, never happen.

I came across a new Christmas festival that looks interesting.  It's about 3 hours away but might be worth the trip.  I've already missed the cutoff for dinner reservations so I'd just have to setting for the traditional German festival food.  I will not mention this festival to Hubby until I definitely decide to go.  At the mention of German sausages it will be hard to live with the Sausage Crazed Madman!

They call it Kriskindlmarkt III.  It's going to be held next weekend, Nov. 21-22.  I suppose if I'm not up to walking Busch Gardens Christmas Town I could head up to Clifton Forge for this festival.  It couldn't possibly involve as much walking. And I have until the end of the year to go to Christmas Town.  I'm blessed to live in an area where there are so many choices!

Sharon

 

Filipino Fun

Filipino Festival 2014

I was listening to a radio station out of Richmond, Virginia when I heard a random announcement for a Filipino Festival this weekend.  Oh my!  How could I resist a trip to Richmond for some Filipino food and entertainment?

My small gang headed out with thoughts of pansit and adobo in mind.  We had great weather for the trip and only got lost once or twice!  We won't talk about how this happened (hubby).  After the minor setbacks we found the church and got great parking.  That's always nice.

We made our way through the kid area and vendors.  Lots of traditional Filipino clothing and accessories.  Not many crafts though so I didn't find anything to buy.

There was a covered area for eating and watching the performances.  So we made our way to the food line to check out the good eats.  I chose pansit to start.  Hubby got an empanada and lumpia.  The pansit was good but not as good as my own, naturally.  Hubby rated the lumpia as good and the empanada as "I could eat these all day" great.

The children's Filipino class was performing as we ate.  After that came the line dancing with many from the audience participating.  Although Hubby's feet were itching to head over there, he managed to restrain himself!  Too bad.  I probably would have gotten some prime photos!

Next came a dance troup Kultura Pilipino.  They had performed the night before and were back by request.  No wonder.  They were fabulous!  It was very difficult to get photos from my position under the tent.  Lots of photos with heads and poles in inconvenient places.  But I did manage to get some nice shots anyway.  Enjoy.

 #filipinodance, #Kulturapilipino, #pinoy, #filipinofestival, #filipinocostume,

Bacon's Castle

Country Drive and Historical Walk

Just around the corner from the Pork, Peanut and Pine Festival we ran across a site called Bacon's Castle.  I'll admit I had never heard of a castle in Virginia so the idea of touring one was hard to resist.  It was so easy to find I can't believe I never noticed it before.  I guess when I drove by on previous trips I had my mind on the pork chop sandwiches at the festival!

Country road through soybean and corn fields

At any rate, it was a lovely day for a ride through the Surry countryside.  It seemed like miles and miles of soybeans and corn fields.  Made me feel all "Scarletty" if you know what I mean.  As we left the Chippokes Plantation State Park it was just a hop, a skip and a jump (as they say) to the castle.  And we were just in time for the last tour.

Bacon's Castle

We paid the very inexpensive admission fee and waited in the parlor for the tour to begin.  So far we were the only ones there.  Our guide was a very charming and knowledgeable girl named Demi.  Thank goodness another couple joined us at the last moment  and then halfway through the tour a family joined us.  It made for a nice group.

I have to admit I didn't retain much of the information in my memory.  Truth be told I was too busy looking for nice shots and I've always had trouble remembering details about wars and such.  Hubby thoroughly enjoyed the historical information though.

Bacon's Rebellion painting

We started in the parlor and then made our way up the stairs.  I love exploring old houses.  This was a real treat for me. Here are a few of my favorite photos.  I especially love the rear stairwell.

We ended in the basement.  It was surprisingly cold down there.  A cold spot in Virginia is not easy to find in July!

Before we headed home, we walked around the grounds.  It just happened that a crew from Ghost Hunters was setting up to spend the night.   The story is there is a girl's ghost who pulls on  the back of your shirt.  No one pulled my shirt but if I had know about it ahead of time I would have had some fun with it!

 

Ghost Hunters

Slave Quarters

The tour took about 45 minutes and was well worth the admission price. I highly recommend it for history buffs.  For more information check the Bacon's Castle website.

Sharon

Pork, Peanut and Pine Festival At Chippokes Plantation State Park

39th Annual Pork, Peanut and Pine Festival

Ask a local when the Pork, Peanut and Pine Festival is and you will usual get the answer, "It's on the hottest two days of the year."  And that is usually a true statement.  But thankfully we were blessed with a cold front this week and it was actually tolerable.  Normally we just walk through the craft section and then grab a bite to eat.  By then we are miserably hot and head on home.  But since it was almost springlike, we spent the whole afternoon enjoying the festival.

Farm Animals For Everyone

Pigs.  I love them.   Don't know why.  They had two varieties this day.  Work pigs and play pigs.  I enjoyed them both.  The little feeding pigs were sweet.

But not as sweet as this little cutie.  She is four months old and up for sale.  Definitely hard to resist.

Festival Fun

What festival would be complete without old cars, tractors and the mandatory firetruck?  Hubby was in he-man heaven.

I didn't get any photos of the tractors but I did grab this shot of a  kilted man in the BBQ line.  You dont' see that every day!

Beautiful Countryside

The gardens at Chippokes Plantation

After walking around admiring the beauty we indulged in some BBQ and sweet tea.  Doesn't get much better than that.  Hubby wanted some boiled peanuts.  It's not something I enjoy but he loves them.

We sat in the grass to enjoy our food while we watched the live entertainment.  There was a bluegrass band called Flatland Bluegrass Band playing.  It was just the perfect touch for this day in the country.  I didn't hear why she put that hat on but everyone got a kick out of it.

Boat Party

We took the shuttle (it was a flatbed pulled by a tractor!) down to the river.  I had never been to the river and someone said there were lots of boats for photos.  Of course I wanted to take pictures of boats.  I don't know what I expected but it wasn't a massive boat party.

As I was looking out over the hundreds of boats I saw something way off in the distance across the water.  I had an idea what it was but really didn't think it was possible.  So I got out my biggest lens and zoomed in.  I was right!  It was actually Busch Gardens.  This will give you an idea just how massive these two rides are.  It's amazing that I could actually even see them with the naked eye from this distance.

So after a very enjoyable day and plenty to eat we headed out.  Didn't go straight home though.  We decided to tour Bacon's Castle.  But I'll talk about that another day.

Sharon

Daffodil Festival At Gloucester, VA

Dogs!

The first thing I noticed at the Gloucester Daffodil Festival was that everyone (well, not everyone, but a whole lot of people) love their dogs.  And they love to bring them out and show them off.  Does everyone in Gloucester have a pedigree dog?  They came in all sizes.  This well-dressed fellow was my favorite.  He was enjoying himself very much.

Mighty Dog

These greyhounds were enjoying themselves also. But they were actually hard at work.

Greyhounds

Shriners!

The Shriners are always crowd pleasers.  I don't know where they get the vehicles but I would love to drive one.

Beauty Queens!

No festival parade would be complete without a beauty queen float.  This photo was taken at the very end of the parade and the girls were still having a good time.

I have to say I really enjoyed myself at the Gloucester Daffodil Festival.  The small town atmosphere was wonderful.  So was the kettle corn!  There was lively music from a band called The Janitors.  Of course there was lots of food and  plenty of craft booths to keep me happy.  I look forward to going again next year.

Sharon

Fun At Newport News Fall Festival

I look forward to the Fall Festival every year.  Sometimes the weather doesn't cooperate but this year was perfect.  The crafts were great this year.  I spent a bit more than I normally do but got some fantastic buys.  Also got my pint of local apple butter.  Yum!  I skipped the pork rinds but did get a big bag of kettle corn.  So much for my diet!  My timing was off so I didn't get to see a lot of the entertainment.  I did catch the kid's show with the monkey.  He was adorable.

  

The ventriloquist's dummy was another story.  Maybe I've seen too many horror movies but this was a bit creepy!

 

Checked out the re-enactment site also.  I'm sure they appreciated the good weather.

All in all it was a great time.  I ate too much, spent too much and walked way too much!  Already looking forward to doing it all over again next year.