I am truly enjoying sharing fun ideas from our Summer Bucket List. I have also been enjoying seeing what others have been doing as well. I hope that we have been able to give you some ideas and inspiration to start a bucket list or even add on to your bucket list you already have made!
Something else our family loves doing together is going to state or national parks. We are blessed to live in a state that has several in our area. Our family is just minutes from The Great Smoky National Park and The Blue Ridge Parkway.
One of our favorite places to go is the Mountain Farm Museum in Cherokee, at the Oconoluftee Visitor Center. A couple of times a year, they have this wonderful Mountain Farm Life festival. They have volunteers dress in period clothing and they give examples of how folks lived in the late 1800’s. You will see women standing over open flames with a huge kettle on top making lye soap. You will also see women making apple butter, too!
There are always men and women showing the the guests how to make brooms from corn talks and tassels.
They have the house open so you can see the simple life that people had. The kitchen is usually warm with women baking cornbread and beans in the fireplace. They also bake cookies as treats for everyone who comes by.
One of my kids’ favorite areas to visit is the games area. A gentleman brings his toys that he has collected and made over the years for every to give a try. It is so hard to get the kids to look at other things when they see this area!
I love seeing the area set up at the Apple barn. They have a tent set up where they are making molasses the old way. The mule is walking around in circles at the grinder, pressing the juice from the cane. They then take it to an area that has a huge shallow pan where they pour the juice from the cane. Under it is a fire that keeps the juice boiling to burn the water off. What is left is the syrup from the sugar cane.
Next to the molasses tent is the apple press. They take the apples and slice them up in a big bucket. They then have this press that they use to mash all of the juice out. What you get is fresh apple cider! It is so delicious!
We were able to attend the Mountain Life festival this past September, but missed it this past Spring. I am hoping to at least get one more trip to this beautiful area before we move in a few weeks.
Do you have any National or State parks in your area? There is usually a small entrance fee to the parks, but it is well worth the money. I know I always enjoy a trip back in time to these beautiful places!
Be sure to stop by the others who are participating in the Summer Bucket List series to see what fun they have been up to!
Honey @ Sunflower Schoolhouse
Tonya @ The Traveling Praters
Jeniffer & Melissa @ Sisters ‘N Cloth
Lisa @ Creativlei
Nancy @ Proverbs 31 Jewels
Jennifer @ Teaching Boys
Kelli @ Adventurez In Child’rearing