We like exploring small-town America wherever we are camping, and we had several fun little towns to explore while are parked at Pride RV. We are actually ten miles from Waynesville, North Carolina, so we started with a trip to this cute little town for their Saturday Farmer's Market. They actually have two different markets, so of course we went to both. No picture of the loot, but we came home with squash, cabbage, and blueberries. We also bought a unique kind of green beans that all the locals were buying, as well as some tiny new potatoes called "fingerlings." We like eating like the locals where we travel, but we didn't have the hog fat for the beans like was recommended.
We also went back to Waynesville for the Fourth of July. They had a Main Street Festival and parade, and we enjoyed the musicians playing music along the street. Check out the boots of the guy playing the guitar--with built in bare toes sticking out.
Appropriately, they were playing in the shade of the blue grass statues along Main Street.
The Fourth of July parade was a little weak here. It was designed to bring families to Main Street where all the shops were open this holiday. So anyone was invited to join the line of children making their way down the street.
It did have a good beginning with Uncle Sam leading the processional,
and a good ending with veterans and flags. We appreciate so much the service of these veterans that have kept this great country free!
The web site said that Waynesville's United Community Bank was hosting a cook-out, but for some reason that didn't materialize. So we stopped by Wendy's for free Fourth of July frosties, and went in search for another lunch option. We found it in the small town of Lake Junaluska, just a few miles down the road. Since we filled up with ice cream before the meal, we shared a barbecue lunch with all the trimmings. Denisa's favorite Independence Day dessert would be the fresh watermelon.
We sat and listened to the very talented Darren Nicholson Band while we ate, and did some dancing before their concert was over. We were the only ones dancing, but that doesn't seem to bother us any more. We are amazed that every time this happens, people will go to the trouble to tell us that they enjoy our dancing. Denisa thought she was the one enjoying it!
The parade had just finished when we pulled into town, and they gave out awards in different categories for the floats. That's when we realized we should have chosen the Lake Junaluska parade this morning instead of making the trip to Waynesville.
True to its name, Junaluska is situated on a beautiful little mountain lake in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. There a few kayakers enjoying the calm lake waters
There is a Christian theme throughout town, with a bible school campus situated right on the lake. High on the hill overlooking the lake is a cross that is lit up at night. On this warm summer day, Mark is resting in the shadow of the cross.
This tiny town also hosts the World Methodist Museum. It has free admission, so we went in to learn more things about John and Charles Wesley and the spread of Methodism around the world.
We were made to feel very welcome at the Independence Day celebration in Lake Junaluska. We were invited back for the free concert in the evening at the town's Stuart Auditorium on the lake.
The headliner was Nicole C. Mullen, a Dove Award winner for best female vocalist in 2002 and 2005. We enjoyed her Christian concert of contemporary music that is pictured below. The opening act was a young woman named Kylie Mowry from New York City. Kylie had just spent eight months performing on a cruise ship, and we would definitely like to see her entire show too.
The concert was finished about 20 minutes before the fireworks began over the lake. It was a great show, mirroring the pyrotechnics in the water.
As we waited in a very long line of cars trying to leave Lake Junaluska, we had lots of time to reflect on the great Independence Day we got to share with small-town America. A little lake town in the mountains is a beautiful place to celebrate the 4th of July. But it has limited exit roads. Those roads were packed, and we stood motionless in our car for over thirty minutes. By the time we got home, it was almost the 5th of July!
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