Blue Ridge BBQ Festival

 We have lately begun to take more advantage of our weekends than we ever did in the past because we don't get to spend nearly as much time together as we used to now that Simon is at work all day.  Once I begin working we'll see each other even less because I will get home an hour and a half later than he does now.  We're adjusting to all of these new differences and one of those adjustments is making Saturdays a chance to really spend time together.    

Probably the best thing so far about being in South Carolina has been the beautiful weather and the amazing nature.  We both love how many trees there are here.  Even in the middle of the city there are tons of trees.  It's refreshing and makes almost any lengthy drive enjoyable.  We've done some exploring and have driven around to find some nice park areas and things like that.  Last weekend Simon and I were trying to find something fun and different to do and we heard about a BBQ festival in Tryon, NC (right above the SC border).  So, on Saturday we set out on a little road trip.  Here are a couple of pictures from the drive.  

 These are the blue ridge mountains.  You can see them from almost everywhere where we live.  

One of the "events" at the festival was an antique car show.  Really, I don't know all that much about cars so I probably didn't appreciate it as much as someone else would BUT it was still really cool.  

The whole reason for the festival was a BBQ cooking contest.  The various BBQ contestants sold their ribs, brisket, etc.  There were tons to choose from.    

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Here is who we picked.  It was BY FAR the longest line but apparently they are quite the champions and I figured if you're going to get BBQ at a BBQ contest you might as well wait for the best...  It really was delicious.  

 There was also a craft fair with venders who, for the most part, sold their own work.  There were two vendors selling wooden works.  One guy seemed to specialize in bird houses and bowls.  They were so neat looking but quite pricy.  Definitely well worth the money but... only if you have the money. HA 

We bought one of the inexpensive bowls.

The second wood vendor specialized in coasters and boat shelves (idk how to describe them other than boat shelves) and I bought some coasters for our bedroom since we just got new night stands.  Every coaster was different and they are made from different types of wood glued together.  I really like black walnut wood I've realized (it's the really dark streaks).

After we left the BBQ we went exploring around the area.  The festival was kind of close to the mountains so it wasn't hard to drive up into them and see a nearby lake.  

   

All in all it was an awesome saturday, we had a lot of fun together, did something new and saw some beautiful places.  I predict more fun road-trips to come as the summer continues!