Apples anyone?

Henderson County is Apple Country. Within a five mile radius of our home, there are a number of orchards, and altogether we supply a big chunk of the apples in NC and nationwide.

So what would be bigger and better than the annual NC Apple Festival right here in Hendersonville? In its 63rd year, it runs over four days and draws an estimated 225.000 people. Keep in mind that the county only has 100,000 inhabitants, and more like 80,000 in the winter. So this is a boon to business, and hotels, innkeepers, restaurants, and vendors are smiling all the way to the bank. It's bigger than Christmas., the biggest event of the year. Only leaf season in October comes close.

We went on the first day. The traffic was terrible, because the festival is held downtown, and most of the traffic goes through downtown. And where to park? It reminded me of Melrose Avenue on Game Day. We finally backtracked, parking in a big parking lot of a local park and taking a shuttle. Much less stressful. (This would be Jackson Park, for you locals and visitors.)

The main attraction, of course, were apples in various forms - au naturelle, as cider, ice cream, fried apple pie, etc. Alas, since my husband is allergic to apples, we didn't really indulge in it. I only bought a T-shirt with a giant apple tree as its logo. Since the apples for sale were only offered in large quantities which I didn't want to schlepp back to our distant car, I didn't buy any. I'll wait until our next visit to the Hendersonville Curb Market - which is really a year-round farmer's market in a regular, heatable building - where the same vendors offer the same kind of apples.

Entertainment was fun, too - various booths, live music, and "Remembrances of Mayberry" with "Barney Fife" and "Andy Taylor" strutting around, guns in holster, either swaying to the music or being photographed with tourists. I thought the Barney character was a closer fit, perhaps he only had to twist his face into a lop-sided grin. I didn't know until I moved here that Mayberry originally was set in NC, or so they say. Perhaps Tennessee and Kentucky are making the same claim. It could be true, though.

The rest of the weekend we are staying away, leaving the town to the tourists, even taking roundabout ways to get to church on Sunday. Anything to avoid the traffic jams downtown!