Festival of Apples

Yesterday, Labor Day holiday, I brought my folks to Hendersonville. It was the annual Apple festival. Main Street was closed off with lots of stalls offering local food for sale. There were also stalls offering some local artifacts. An office mate of mine lives in Hendersonville and I now understand why. I always thought that Asheville was a better city to live in but Hendersonville offers a more pleasant environment. Main Street was lined with a lot of interesting shops and I bought a few sweaters for my kids. I liked the crowd here than in Asheville because they seemed to be more down to earth and homey. I guess Asheville is a more lively and seductive place.

My folks also bought some shirts, shoes in the General Store. It was a large store which also offered some hiking gear. During the weekend I watched a 2 DVD film called ‘Appalachian Impressions’ which was a good feature on the hiking life. It satisfied my curiosity of hiking the Appalachian trail from end to end. If I was younger, I would have planned to travel the whole breadth of the trail but I would need to get myself to a more fit level. I liked the section in the film where the hikers would go to the small towns along the trail and have breakfast or dinner at the local accommodation offered to hikers. Small towns quite like Hendersonville and Asheville.

I like these small towns and the interesting festivals that they have like ‘Belle Cherie’ or ‘Festival of Apples’. There was a parade in the afternoon and my folks and I had a nice time watching it. We had lunch at the Japanese and Thai restaurant where my dad ordered stir fried pork while I had Green Chicken curry. The parade started at 2:30 pm a few minutes after we finished our lunch. It was a nice view of local American life. Both Hendersonville and Asheville don’t give out a vibe of the South but more about mountain life like in Colorado or Montana. It was the cold air and the surrounding mountains that gave out this feeling. The first place where we stopped was the sweater store with some surplus US military stuff which was why some of the items were cheap.

Veterans of past wars like Korea, Vietnam and I think World War II participated in the parade and people would stand up and applaud which was touching. One could feel the respect and admiration from the people when these old soldiers walk past. The veterans were grateful for the applause. There was less applause from the soldiers of recent wars and from the local political parties although there was some response from the crowd for the local Republican Party. I liked the old cars, motorcycles and tractors that joined the parade as well as the local high school bands and cheer leaders. It was a touching display of local life.

Last Sunday, we played golf at Willow Creek and joined another flight of 2 folks who where also beginning golfers like me. It was a nice pleasant course and we finished at about 8 pm in the evening. A day earlier we went to the driving range also at the course and hit a few balls. After wards we went to the local flea market nearby at highway 101 and saw a few interesting stuff. I wanted to buy a golf set being sold at about $100 but I hesitated because it was an unknown brand made in China. But it fit my needs because it was all hybrid clubs with graphite shafts. After exploring the rest of the warehouse I walked back to buy it but saw a young kid who had already purchased it. I guess that type of club fits seniors, kids or ladies so maybe I was right not to buy it after all.