October in Tennessee

Last week I shared several events around the region during September.  Today I want to give you some ideas for Saturdays in October.

October in Tennessee is a marvelous thing – I can hardly wait, although I sure don’t want to wish away these last weeks of summertime.  But October brings clear blue skies that’ll nearly break your neck for want of staring at them.  And cool temperatures that prompt leaves to turn colors that man will try the whole year to replicate in paint or fabric and we can never quite achieve the beauty the good Lord showers on His trees.

Hmmm.. okay, but what’cha gonna do on these beautiful weekends?  Let’s get out and learn something!  Let’s go see the kinds of things our grandparents were doing on beautiful autumn days.  Here are some ideas:

October 6, 2018 will find the good folks in Allardt, TN weighing pumpkins just as they’ve done for the past 26 years.  There will also be crafts and food,  beauty queens of all ages, a parade, races and a pumpkin-rolling contest.  Whew, can you really pack all that fun into just one day?

That same day Andrew Jackson’s home in Nashville will host their Fall Fest at The Hermitage.  Billed as a “spectacular weekend of art, music and history”, this event on the beautiful Hermitage grounds sound very fascinating to me.  Tickets to the event are free but you would have to pay the $20 admission to the museum to actually see the house or their regular exhibits. 

On October 13th Rogersville Heritage Days offers visitors a “traditional community celebration” complete with demonstrations of pioneer skills, antique quilts, cars and farm equipment along with Appalachian dancers and Civil War reenactments.  I’m particularly fascinated by Rogersville’s history because I keep seeing that town named when doing genealogical research.  It seems that a number of Plateau boys were taken captive from Rogersville during the Civil War so I’ve been wanting to visit the town anyway.  This one is definitely on my list for the season.

Rogersville is a bit of a drive so if you’re not keen on the road trip, Monterey will be hosting their Standing Stone Days that same weekend.  There is a train excursion associated with this day, but you do have to go to Nashville to board the train – there’s no boarding in Monterey.  You can see antique cars on display, crafts and food will be available as well as a flea market.  This is Monterey’s 125th year so the Standing Stone Day should be a great festival this year.

The third weekend in October doesn’t seem very popular with festival schedulers but there’s still lots to do that weekend.  Why not visit one of the area corn mazes?  Autumn Acres in Crossville has 10 acres of corn cut into 3 different mazes.  They also claim hay rides, a petting zoo and “kids corral” with slides, tunnels and a hay mountain.  For $17 VIP admission, everyone goes home with a pumpkin. 

In Sparta Amazin Acres of Fun offers 3 different mazes, a busy bee zip line and tire mountain.  Their admission is $12 each with additional cost for wagon rides.

Slipping into November, The Museum of Appalachia will have their annual Fall Heritage Days November 9th and 10th.  There’s a $20 admission to this event but it includes both the museum’s regular exhibits as well as the special weekend displays of hands-on activities like rag doll making or weaving, and mule and tractor contests as well as tons of pioneer demonstrations and bluegrass music.

Cody Hull band

As I said last week I didn’t mention any of the county or agricultural fairs that abound in the next 3 months.  And I only made a passing comment here or there about the music in these festivals.  There are dozens of bluegrass festivals all around the area during the fall and they are always worth a visit. 

I can’t wait to hear what y’uns do with your fall weekends.  I’ll try to post pix of my adventures on Facebook.