The traveling manatees by Nancy French: North Carolina

Showing posts with label North Carolina. Show all posts

LEAF - Black Mountain, NC

May 2020

Even though things are starting to open up slowly in Florida, being "of a certain age" and with underlying health conditions, we are continuing to socially distance and follow the other CDC recommendations regarding Covid-19. Once again, I'm doing a little armchair reminiscing. Receiving an email for the May 2020 Virtual LEAF festival (click here), I was inspired to write about our Fall 2017 experience. Though the virtual festival is no longer available online, visiting the site gives a taste of what LEAF is all about. The somewhat wacky and endlessly creative efforts of everyone involved in putting together this biannual happening make it an event we will surely attend again. (Our prior visit in October 2015 and more info on LEAF is recounted here.) Connecting cultures and enriching lives through the arts is the key behind LEAF.

Sheep at our Airbnb

October 2017. As the 2017 LEAF (Lake Eden Art Festival) happening approached, tickets were ordered and reservations were made through Airbnb for a 7-night stay at a “pastoral farm” in the nearby community of Swannanoa. Driving up over 2 days, we made our first stop in the area at Hickory Gap Farm and the adjacent Flying Cloud farm to load up on food for the week. Buying tickets for the Saturday and Sunday events, we had 1 full day before the start to visit Asheville and the Art District and revisit the 12 Bones Smokehouse Restaurant for finger-licking good ribs, baked beans, and collard greens.

Asheville Art District

Saturday morning we headed out to Lake Eden, transferred by bus up to the festival we unloaded with the hordes of other festival-goers to move through the park. With a full schedule spread over 6 main venues from 8 AM to 2 AM on Saturday and then 8 AM to 6 PM on Sunday, we had many more entertainment options than we could possibly see. We had highlighted a number of the groups and artists prior to our arrival so we had a bit of an itinerary to help us maximize our experience. Having purchased Culinary Passports for our meals, we found our way twice a day to the LEAF Cafe in Eden Hall for delicious, gourmet, international fare. And, there were a number of Culinary Booths located throughout the park offering non-typical festival foods, often vegan or organic.

Saturday afternoon parade

Fantastic Negrito on stage

With poetry readings, dance workshops, drum circles, yoga, and a Saturday afternoon parade offered in conjunction with the music, there was never a dull moment and we maxed out both days. The sunny and pleasant daytime weather in the 70’s dropped into the 40’s overnight but we had packed layers and were prepared. Though we heard countless entertainers, our favorites were the energetic Fantastic Negrito with his blues-rock sound followed by the reggae music of Toots and the Maytals. It was an incredible weekend in every sense.

Over the following days, we headed out on the Blue Ridge Parkway to take advantage of “Mother Nature’s” fall leaf show. In conjunction with this, we made a return visit to the Folk Art Center that features Appalachian arts and crafts. Outside of Asheville, we visited the Western North Carolina Farmers Market to load up on some of the new apple crop, as well as a number of other goodies spotted as we moved through the vendors. The nearby Moose Cafe, offering farm to table Southern cooking, provided a delicious lunch option.

Stopping overnight in Savannah on our return home, we enjoyed a walk along the waterfront, stocked up on a few bottles of our favorite Johnny Harris Barbecue Sauce, and savored local seafood for dinner.

Waving Girl statue in Savannah

Black Mountain Departure

Fall comes to Black Mountain, NC

During our final two weeks in Black Mountain, we drove north to Damascus, VA for a couple of days so we could experience our 4th trip down the Virginia Creeper Trail. Though the trail is lovely at any time of year, the orange, crimson, and golden foliage of the Fall is splendid. Stops for fishing were unsuccessful but nonetheless, they were a great way to break up the ride.

After our return to NC, we explored the nearby community of Old Fort. The tiny town offers little, but we enjoyed our visit to the Mountain Gateway Museum. It consists of the Stepp cabin built in the 1860s and 70s and the Morgan cabin built in the 1880s. Both were moved to their current location in the 1970s and became part of the Museum. Permanent exhibits cover a range from the history of the Appalachian culture including folk medicine, moonshining, agriculture, and crafts. Following a picnic lunch along the riverfront next to the cabins, we headed back toward Black Mountain and stopped for a hike up to Catawba Falls.

Fishing and painting along the Broad River near Bat Cave rounded out the rest of the week. The Asheville Lyric Opera produced a free, public event at Pack Square Park our final weekend with selections for the program drawn from The Barber of Seville. The area has offered a wonderful diversity of cultural amenities along with the best of mother nature.

Finally headed back home, we stopped a couple days in Brevard, NC. A bike trip through the Pisgah Forest along the Davidson River provided the opportunity to enjoy more of the fall foliage. The following day, as I walked around the Cradle of the Forestry, Alan completed a plein air painting of one of the cabins.

What a change we have experienced over the past week as we made the drive south from North Carolina to Florida. With highs in the mid-60's in NC, we transitioned into the mid to high 80's in Florida. We've gotten spoiled.

Between South America, Mexico, New Mexico, Maine, and North Carolina, we have only been home about 2 months this year, so we have missed our friends, our home, and our bed. It's good to be back home.

Biking in Pisgah Forest near Brevard, NC -- 14-mile round trip

At Cradle of the Forestry

Alan completing a watercolor at the Cradle of Forest, Pisgah Forest

Davidson River along our bike trail in Pisgah Forest

Beginning of leaves changing in Pisgah Forest

Along the Broad River near Bat Cave, NC

Fishing along the Broad River

Alan painting along the Broad River

At Old Fort, NC

Cairn marking the trail on our walk to Catawba Falls

Catawba Falls

Along the Virginia Creeper Trail

Hikers on the Appalachian/Creeper Trail.

Along the Creeper Trail

Asheville Lyric Opera at Pack Square Park

LEAF Festival in Black Mountain

Last year when we passed through Black Mountain, we became aware of the LEAF (Lake Eden Arts Festival) Festival and tried to
attend. Tickets for this event, however, were sold out long before the start of this unique "happening." So while making reservations for our accommodations in Black Mountain this year, I also purchased tickets for the 41st Festival, all 3 days. In May and October, the non-profit organization holds the Festival on the grounds of the former Black Mountain College near Lake Eden. Since it started 20 years ago, LEAF has expanded beyond the festival. It now includes a Schools and Street program which serves over 10,000 youths annually (since 2004) in art and music workshops, residencies, and performances. In 2006, LEAF International was launched, which
sponsors programs to "empower global youth and collaborate to preserve cultural traditions."

New Orleans was the primary theme of this fall's event. The relationship between the city and the non-profit began 10 years ago following Hurricane Katrina. LEAFers donated $100,000 in instruments to the city. The first Schools and Street program established was with young New Orlean's musicians, and the 20th LEAF Festival (2005) featured entertainers from the area.

Following a group of singing honey bees on stilts (pollinating singing flowers) on our arrival to the event on Friday afternoon, was just a touch of the diversity awaiting us for the weekend. Six different performance art venues were available for entertainment, but also there were roving entertainers, ranging from jugglers to clowns. Healing art workshops for yoga, tai chi, herbal medicine, and numerous others, in addition to drum and didgeridoo workshops, soapstone carving, kombucha workshops, and on and on, being offered at 3 different locations.

As a family-friendly event, there were a variety of kids activities offered as well, including soccer, frisbee matches, kickball, and bedtime stories. Elfhaven childcare was offered for parents wanting to experience some of the late-night venues without their children. With somewhere around 3000 tents located on the outskirts of the festivities, many of the attendees just had a short walk to their "home" for the weekend to take a break. As temperatures dipped down into the 30's on Saturday night, we were happy to have a heated home to drive to. Traffic was managed with off-site parking and transfers to the event by bus. Buses ran continuously until 2 A.M., allowing revelers to enjoy the later programs.

Trying to describe the event is difficult. Weirdness is celebrated, and it's like wandering into a

magical carnival surrounded by mountain vistas and fall colors. Hundreds of people wear costumes, and the excitement on the grounds in palatable. You are constantly surrounded by sounds and sights to stimulate your senses. The food offered was unlike any we had ever experienced at a festival. Even the junk food was somewhat healthy, with organic sugar and no food coloring used for the cotton candy, and organic corn used for the kettle corn. We had purchased Culinary tickets which provided us with meals offered in Eden Hall, which was also one of the entertainment venues. So we heard poetry readings, or Taiwanese music or blues, as we ate healthy meals, like a beef stew made with grass-fed beef. But we also enjoyed the offerings at a few of the numerous food vendors.

Aaron Neville and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band were the lead performers for the weekend, with the rest of the program filled in with an outstanding variety of entertainers. When Aaron started his set, a chill ran over me, his voice was exquisite. Charles Neville on the sax was sublime, I'm certain I've never heard his equal. With the large tent area cleared of seating for his evening performance, the crowd danced, swayed and sang along, and convinced him to sing a few encores. Preservation Hall was the closing performance on Sunday, and their show started with an overlap with the LEAF Delta Jazz and Southside Drummers, part of the Schools and Streets program. All in all an incredible experience!