This however is not a typical fall. Temperatures have regularly been 15 to 20 degrees above normal. Rain (until yesterday) has been rare. The deep drought has limited the vibrant fall colors and winter seems a long way off.
Nevertheless it is indeed fall and with fall comes (drum rolllllllll) fall festivals!
Carter Mountain Orchard
A couple weekends back we tagged along with the “Annual Hormel Family Pumpkin/Apple/Berry/Donut Picking Trip”. Apparently this is at least the second if not third annual trip. While previous Hormel excursions have gone to Maryland we didn’t know the Hormels existed so obviously we were not invited. This year was different however. On a humid and overcast fall morning we headed to Charlottesville from Richmond. Savannah and little “Spam Nugget” Hormel (in utero no less) were well prepared for the first pumpkin picking.
Ashley holding Savannah and stealing a pumpking (shhh)
We made our way to the outskirts of Charlottesville, just a mountaintop or two over from Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. It was nice to find out that Carter Mountain Orchard lived up to its name as a real orchard located on a mountaintop. Not that the mountaintop mattered much with the overcast skies and foggy haze. While the fog slowly lifted it did reveal a south facing view of brand new townhomes and condos at the base of the mountain. So much for natural serenity.
What absolutely did not disappoint were the homemade apple cider donuts, apple cider, and apple cider slushies. In fact there was even peach cider but given the price and the absence of South Carolina peaches we walked on.
We did spend a little time in the orchard picking apples fresh from the trees. We did find out that an orchard on a mountain means you have to walk back up the mountain after heading to the trees. This is made much more difficult when pregnant or carrying a 12 pound baby up a wet clay path.
Picking apples with Savannah
I'll take this one home
Back on top of the mountain we soon realized that we were only a small number of the thousands headed to Carter Mountain Orchard that day. Apparently it was the day of the Charlottesville Apple Festival. After a quick picnic lunch at the park in Charlottesville we headed back to Richmond.
A very sleepy trip home
Due to the fact that it was 90 degrees in Richmond that weekend we skipped another planned festival, the 2nd Street Festival in Richmond’s historic Jackson Ward. We’ll have to wait until next year for that one.
National Folk Festival
The following weekend was the excitement of the fall (for some of us anyway). The National Folk Festival was finishing its three year run in Richmond with perfect weather and a record crowd of 175,000+ over three days, a record in the 69 year history of the festival. Let’s just say, “This ain’t your daddy’s folk festival”.
For the whole week preceding the festival the weekend’s itinerary was analyzed, scrutinized, and finalized. Without spending the entire three days at the festival it would be impossible to catch everything, and even then it would be a tall task. But we did head down to the downtown riverfront along the James River and canal. We didn’t have to mess with parking since we live close by and know the back way into the festival area.
The festival setting along the James River, the canal (below), and downtown (above)
We took our blanket and Savannah’s stroller and enjoyed an afternoon of music including The Holmes Brothers (Blues/Gospel/R&B), Jeff Little and Wayne Henderson (Piedmont piano and guitar), and the Junk Yard Band (Go Go). All three acts were simply great. I’ve found one of the Holmes Brothers cd’s at the library and they sound a lot like the Blind Boys of Alabama. Little and Henderson were obviously accomplished performers and are even more well known for instrument building. In fact Eric Clapton had to wait 7 years for one of the hand built guitars. The Junk Yard Band was a straight party that Savannah had a blast at before falling asleep to the blaring percussion and bass. It would have been nice to catch John Cephas and Phil Wiggins playing blues together, maybe a little zydeco, or some more bluegrass. While traveling between the 7 stages we managed to catch parts of West African drum and dance, classic bluegrass quartet, a little banjo picking, and a few others. We also strolled through the Virginia artisans’ area (everything from canning to weaving to rough-hewn log cabin building) and the fair trade marketplace. All in all it was a great festival and we’re looking forward to the first Richmond Folk Festival starting next year.
Enjoying the Holmes Brothers in concert
Unfortunately we didn’t partake of the numerous food vendors we enjoyed the smells of West African, Indian, Polish, German, and American foods not too mention the standard festival foods like funnel cakes, et al. (More on that to come though).
Pumpkin Palooza
Grammy and Poppy Walker (Sue’s parents) made it up from North Carolina to visit Savannah this weekend. We went out for dinner with Savannah for the first time. The evening was incident free but Red Robin is not at all designed for families with babies. I imagine no restaurant is really. Anyway before heading to dinner we walked over to Byrd Park for Faison’s Annual Pumpkin Palooza. Again the fall weather was not acting like fall weather so we couldn’t put Savannah in the pumpkin outfit. We discovered that the kids costume contest was earlier in the day anyway, it was a Harry Potter themed contest, and kids had to be 8 years or older. So there was no real reason to risk a heat rash anyway. .JPG)
We did have a good time checking out all of the massive pumpkins in the carving contest but we didn’t stick around for the jack-o-lantern glow at sunset. We did however find our way to the funnel cake stand. It was as wonderful as hoped, especially the first two bites. After that it basically became a test to see how much sugar the body can hold before exploding. Then it was off to dinner.
Hopefully we will head back to Pumpkin Palooza in coming years as Savannah can enjoy more of the kids activities and clean up on the competition in the costume contest. Preparations are already under way for Pumpkin Palooza 2015. Bring it. 
Ride Savannah Ride
And finally...
Cfnbnhbmnvnhvcnhuynbghbv (this message was typed by Savannah with a little help from mom). I’m sure this translates to something, somewhere. She is a very advanced child.
Anyway, one final note on the weeks of festivals includes a trip to visit Savannah’s newest friend. The fourth baby at our church since June was born October 1. Our friends Jorge and Laura Pacheco welcomed Keeker Max Pacheco Wojcik in to the world. It is amazing to see other babies, especially after only 2 or 3 months of watching Savannah grow. Keefer was born at 5 lbs 7 oz and 18 inches. Savannah is now 13 pounds and nearly 24 inches.
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