Highland Maple Festival

Perfect, perfect day! I was the only one who wanted to drive over the mountain to the annual Maple Festival this morning, but that was okay. It was a great day for driving and seeing the scenery--beautiful blue sky, sunny, and great temps in the 70's. Of course, there was a long line of cars headed to Monterey with me.

Monterey is such a small town that it literally can't handle the traffic when the Festival comes a'calling. I spent a good part of the morning once I arrived in town cruising and searching for any available spot to pull into.

As last year, the vendors were lining the streets: BBQ sauce sellers giving out small tidbits of a grilled pork chop for sampling, watercolor artists, basket weavers, kettle corn cookers with their steaming, hot iron kettles, a woodburning sign artist, quilt makers, and the ever-present birdhouses. (I purchased a wren house made from wood salvaged from an old schoolhouse built in 1915. The perch was an old brass door knob. How neat is that!)

And, of course, all the food products: maple pancakes (the line was l-o-o-o-n-g!), maple bbq-d chicken, and maple donuts. I even saw one sign advertising fried oreos (2 for $1) that I wasn't really tempted to try.

I purchased two birthday gifts, three stocking stuffers for Christmas, one hostess thank-you gift, and two birdhouses. :)  All in all, it was a very successful trip. The only thing I didn't do was visit one of the Sugar Camps to watch the maple syrup being prepared--mostly because I was by myself and limited on time with Micah arriving for supper.

The rest of the family here worked mostly outside getting the garden ready for spring planting later, tilling a new garden bed, pulling up old mint patches, cleaning out the shed, and filling the bird feeders.  Looks like I missed a ton of work by heading out having fun! :)

All in all, it was a GREAT Saturday. And we're looking forward to Micah being in church with us tomorrow. Six on our pew--I love it!

~Deb

Comments

[Dorothy]

What a perfectly lovely day! I would have gone with you! I love maple syrup so much! I just bought a large bottle of it at a new international grocery store called Trader Joe's on Jefferson Ave. I think I would have passed on the fried Oreo as well! The bird house with the old brass door knob sounds so cute! I don't think I would have minded missing all the yard work. :-) Enjoy your day tomorrow...I'm sure it is nice to have all your children with you on the Lord's day. Miss ya! Love, Dorothy

[Cindi]

My parents are headed there tomorrow afternoon. I thought about driving up and going with them, but our oldest is due back from a youth group trip to Gaitlinburg. Since my husband has to work the evening I will have to be here to pick him up. Maybe next weekend.

[Susan]

What a fun day! I'd love to see the birdhouse you bought.

[Sarah]

Sounds like fun--I'd like to go to the Maple Festival sometime too. Did you by any chance see or go to, Sugar Tree Country Store? I recently met the daughter of the folks who own it. Sounds like a neat place and I was curious as to whether you had seen it. (:

[Chris]

Oh Deb! How fun to go to the Maple Festival. I had wanted to go this year but we had a special 70th birthday party for Jane Ross at our house for all the ladies in the church on Sat. It was fun, 46 women all packed in our house, lots of laughter and a few tears as we shared special memories ..... but I would have loved to have come up your way too! Maybe NEXT year! :)

All your purchases sound neat! I love the birdhouse idea. You'll have to post a picture of it.

I saw the neatest looking bird bath /feeder at Cracker Barrel last week. I thought of you when I saw it. I thought it would also look pretty in MY backyard! :)
Have a GREAT week!

[Deb]

Sarah, yes, I passed right by the Sugar Tree Store on the side of the road in McDowell on the way to Monterey. I didn't stop this year, but I did last year and posted pictures of the store, the sheep outside, and the old kettle where kids were stirring the syrup. It's a neat old store. Thanks for stopping by the blog and commenting.

Chris, Wow! You had a busy week getting ready for the party, huh? I didn't know it was Jane's b'day; I'll have to mail a card. And I will try to post the birhouse pictures--maybe next week for first of spring.

Dorothy, wish you could have gone with me, too! And you, too, Susan! :)

Cindi, thanks for stopping by the blog and commenting. Wish you could have gone with your parents. Hope they enjoyed themselves. If you've never been to a Maple Festival, it really is worth the trip. :)

[Courtney]

We love going to festivals!

Momma was just talking this evening about how we need to get our garden space tilled. Since we don't have a tiller, we'll have to borrow one or till it up by hand. I broke up most of the ground for our garden last year by hand. It was alot of work and I even snapped one of the shovels in two. :) As it ended up, we moved and didn't even plant anything. :) Joshua did pay me $20-$25 though so, I guess it was worth it.