Today’s plan is for us to go to the Sugar Hill Festival. Here we will celebrate giving up the tug pusher lifestyle for true love and rejoice in all things Wesley Snipes. Now wait. Wrong Sugar Hill.
OK. So we’re going to go and listen to The Red Stick Ramblers and Ricky Skaggs albums. What? no! Oh, geez! Wrong again.
What’s the hangup here?
See, if there are two certainties in Georgia, it’s that little community Fall Festivals are the best events to happen ALL YEAR, and too many things around Atlanta have the same name. We’ve all heard the running joke about the 65 roads named Peachtree and it’s true. And it’s crazy how many times people have given me directions to their house where I have to turn from Pepperwood Lane onto Pepperwood Way to get to Pepperwood Court. Chalk it up to one of the quirky things about living in North Georgia.
In a karmic sense, I think Fall Festivals balance out some of that name weirdness. In form and feeling, they are as consistent as the name Peachtree.
And. I. Can’t. Get. Enough.
Every October weekend, all along the strings of small communities that make up the Metropolis of Metro ATL, plain folks get together to fling a fall festival. It’s usually a village green sized affair with inflatable bouncy boxies for the kids, an American Idol style armature stage performance area, a Gyro stand and lots of crap crafts. And I mean CRAP. Wonder Under sweatshirts outlined in puffy paints and crocheted bath tissue covers. You know. This kind of stuff you make and give to people cause it makes you happy, not stuff you SELL to strangers for real money. I LOVE going to look at this stuff. It’s my autumnal guilty pleasure to go see the gems among the rough. Occasionally, you find a really good artist, or a talented craftsman, or get a delightful old timey spiritual sung at you with true grace and pure harmony. Sometimes… there’s even FRESH FUNNEL CAKE! (Ohhhhh… funnel cake… lalalala.)
So, it’s a day of great expectations with my family. The weather looks good, I’ve got a little cash, and I’m on the prowl for some extraordinarily good craft crap. Could be a really full day.
