This fall mountain festival was so much fun! It had all the elements of a great adventure if you love walking in the woods to the sounds of good ole mountain music echoing through the valley, seeing great views, inhaling fresh mountain air while seeing all sorts of homemade products for sale and historic mountain foods to taste like apple cider, fried apple pies, fresh churned ice cream and more!

It’s well worth the $12.00 entrance fee when you consider all there is to experience in your exploration of this historic period. This authentic Pioneer Village sweeps you back into another time and place as does their Exhibit Hall teeming with antique and vintage farm equipment. Along the meandering path you’ll also find areas of Authentic Demonstrations like what it was like to cut logs into boards, make moonshine, apple cider and soap while hearing varied entertainers do their thang as you walk.

There are competitions going on this week for Cooking, Arts & Crafts, Flower Shows and the Georgia Official State Fiddlers’ Convention (Friday, 10/18-19) and Chases Racing Pigs (three shows daily) and a great deal of good clean air!

But, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, and I have about twenty pictures to share from yesterdays journey which only wetted my whistle to get back there this week!  Check out their website: GeorgiaMountainFairgrounds.com!

Real Mountain Music

You’re first greeted by this true mountain music.

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You follow the flowing trail through the Pioneer Village to see firsthand how they lived/survived this rough existence.

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Can and Meat House.

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Corn Crib

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Moonshine was a by-product of corn and an important source of income for the mountain folk of that day which was made in a still just like this.

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Modern kitchens had these items but only after the turn of the 20th Century!

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This was a clothes washing machine which pre-dated the one we had at our house in the early 1950’s which was similar to the next photo!

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A much nicer version of the clothes washing machine we had in our house!

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This is the nicer version of the refrigerator we had in the late 1940’s to early 1950’s! The freezer section, if you could even call it that, was about the size of a shoe box which always needed defrosting.

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My mom’s best friend, Nell, had a sewing machine just like this and I never got tired of watching her fast pumping feed on the pedal while she expertly directed the material toward the needle.

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I remember when Mom and I were visiting an historic venue which had one of these when Mom laughed as she said she’d had her hair “curled” with one of these! I’m still amazed she wasn’t  electrocuted in the process!

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Wonderful spontaneous music playing throughout the area!

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Exhibit Hall full of mountain farming and processing equipment! Love me some old tools!

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Snow sleds were needed back in the day. No so much now but I remember when!

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Antique printing press. Huge, isn’t it!

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Blacksmithing was an integral part of pioneer life for creating every type of tools needed to survive.

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The general store was a place where most pioneers could only afford to go monthly for basic provisions.

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When you went, you’d sit around the pot-bellied stove and visit with neighbors, get news and play checkers.

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Even though this picture is a bit fuzzy, I thought it revealing as to other items for sale at these stores…like herbal tinctures and cures.

So, if you’ve got a hankerin’ to get soak up some Pioneer spirit and step back in time with great music and fun, make it a point to go here for a wonderful day in the mountains at a great annual festival!

HAPPY TRAILS…UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN!

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