2017 June 17, Saturday, RC Moon Pie Festival Bell Buckle, Tenessee🌝🍰

Cooked waffles for breakfast, topped with walnuts and Cool Whip.
Loaded the van, programmed the GPS, and began our trip.
We traveled north on hwy 43, turning right onto hwy 64 East, traveling through Giles County, Pulaski, TN, crossing I-65
to 244 northeast, traveling through Lincoln and Marshall counties, Petersburg, & Bedford County, Shelbyville.

Town of Petersburg Library

The Town of Petersburg, located in Lincoln and Marshall Counties, has a population of 580.

Our next stop was Shelbyville, TN, in Bedford County, home to the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration.

Walking Horse National Celebration (Horse farms)
The historic Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration Grounds in Shelbyville, TN, hosts the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration each year in late summer for 11 days, concluding on the Saturday night before Labor Day.

Veterans Memorial Plaza in front of the Bedford County Courthouse

Shelbyville is the county seat of Bedford County, "Courthouse"

Arrived at Bell Buckle around 10:00 A.M.
We found a closed park, walked up to the stage, and found seats on bales of hay. We sat and listened to music, watching a group of young girls and women clog.

Cloggers (stepping high)

Milking Machine

Railroad Town (several trains came through while we were in Bell Buckle)

We walked around checking out the vendors, where we saw giant corn dogs, funnel cakes, deep-fried Oreos, Snickers, and Twinkies.
We visited Everybody's Antiques and More, Bluebirds Antiques, and the Ice Cream Parlor.
We visited the Livery Stable, now an Antique shop with many rooms of antiques.

The livery stable is now an Antique Shop. 

We saw boxes of strawberry, banana, chocolate, mint, & salted caramel moon pies.
There were Moon Pies and RC Colas for sale everywhere we looked, and prices varied.

Ice Cold RC Colas 

Boxes of Fresh Moon Pies

Uncle Sam is greeting the crowd at the  Parade.

We met a couple from North Carolina who had been to softball tournaments in Birmingham.
We met an older couple who had visited the festival many times.
There were people from everywhere who were still coming when we left.

We ate lunch at Bell Buckle Cafe, where we both ordered a barbecue sandwich and a glass of iced tea.
It was almost time for the parade, so we gobbled down our lunch.
It was the only cafe in the entire area, so the wait was long just to eat lunch.

Standing in front of the Mural of Moon Pies and RC Colas 

We came outside to watch the parade, and afterward, we started home.

Moon Pie Girl in the parade

We took a different route home, riding through Tullahoma, Lynchburg, and Pulaski.
We stopped in Lawrenceburg for gas and to-go meals from Long John Silver's.
We stopped at the fruit stand in Lawrenceburg for vegetables and were home by 5:00 P.M.
We were home for about an hour when my husband got a call from work, so we loaded into the van and headed to Huntsville.
As we were entering the gate, we were in a Jurassic Park jeep with a dinosaur in the back.
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When the Jeep moved, so did the dinosaur
The Jurassic period relates to or denotes the second period of the Mesozoic era, between the Triassic and Cretaceous periods.

The sun was setting as we traveled home. (around 8:30 P.M.)

🎃🎃🎃2014 ~ Oct 25, Saturday, Pumpkinfest Franklin, Tennessee

Saturday, October 25, Franklin, Tennessee, was having a Pumpkinfest, 

Hubby and I decided to go.

We had never been to a Pumpkinfest, and we did not know what to expect.

I put on my long, burgundy dress trimmed in black lace, with long puffed sleeves, and my black pointed hat.

I wanted to look like a wizard, and I was prepared to play the part.

When we arrived in Franklin, I did not see anyone dressed as a character, so I decided to change.

I climbed into the back of our VUE and changed into 

pink Capri jeans and a short-sleeved pink top.

It was heating up fast outside, and I would have gotten hot wearing my Wizard outfit.  

I would have made a perfect wizard.

The first thing we saw was a stage as we entered the roped-off area where the festival was underway. 

There was a stage set up where young and old alike were performing clogging.

People were sitting and standing watching the clogging. 

We stood and watched until some chairs became available. 

I was spellbound by their performances.

The clogging finished near lunchtime, so we started looking for a place to eat.

We stood in a long line just to get an all-meat hot dog; it was worth the wait!

The wiener was first boiled, then put on a very hot grill,  and served on a hot dog bun.

There was a table full of condiments for the hot dog.  

I put sauerkraut and mustard on my hot dog.

We saw a bench in front of one of the stores, so we sat there to eat our hot dogs. 

We enjoyed watching the crowds of people walking through the festival as we sat, eating our hotdogs.

It took a truck pulling this large pumpkin (sitting on bales of Hay) to get it into the festival in Franklin Square.

 People were stopping in front of the pumpkin to have their pictures taken. 

There was a weight-guessing contest for the pumpkin.

The winner would receive a $50 gift certificate to Stroud's Barbecue.

The Scarecrow and Me (he looked like he was from OZ's).

Not sure who was hugging whom!!!

Hubby also took a picture of Pokey Pig and me.

Keep calm and eat chili was the sign behind us.

There were many vendors with pots of homemade chili.

It was a chili cook-off contest to see who could make the best chili.

After eating the hot dog, we passed on the chili-eating contest. 

It was ten dollars for a two-ounce cup of chili, and you could sample from all fourteen vendors.

Even the pumpkin and skeleton were wearing smiles.

Was it from all that chili, or maybe the cold beer they were serving behind us?

Beetle Juice 

We stopped by to see Beetlejuice, before and after he lost his head.

Beetlejuice should have known swapping numbers was the same as stealing!

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, and Beetlejuice - never say Beetlejuice three times or he may come out to haunt you!!!!

Third Avenue South was the kids' section.

There were long lines of children waiting to ride the ponies and the train.

There were several different inflatables for the kids to enjoy.

. 

There was bull riding, bungee jumping, and a spider Web Mountain for the youthful. These were paid attractions.

There was a pumpkin carving contest, and it was hard to choose the best pumpkin.

The carving was done by Leiper's Fork Carving Club.

Clown with his hand on my head

A special appearance of the terrifying clown, not sure what he is doing atop my head.

Looks like he is using his horn to blow out my brains!!!! LOL

We had lots of fun, and we will return to Pumpkinfest next year if the Lord is willing!