Saturday, October 13, 2012

Ames Plantation Festival

Today a nearby historical plantation was putting on a festival of sorts.

The Ames Plantation has 18,400 acres of land and is owned by a historical foundation and the university of Tennessee, I believe.

They use the land for agricultural research, but part of it is used for civil war events and reenactments.  This festival is a heritage celebration, of sorts.  There's lots of old timey type events going on and crafters and food vendors have booths with things for sale.


There's a tractor pulled wagon going up and down the plantation street that gives rides for free. It was nifty.



There were acres of things to see, and the tractor didn't go many places, so we did a ton of walking.



Dulcimer band - pretty music


Grist mill making corn meal (We bought some)


Logging with horses -this was amazing.

















After watching the logging for awhile, we walked around some more and saw these horses giving wagon rides
 

And this lady shoeing a horse


And this lady doing pottery

Lots of pottery for sale


Spinning wheel

Cooking in a cabin


Picking cotton


Spinning

Blacksmithing



Goat milking

And a random grave marker

There were also quilters, bee keepers, wood carvers, knitters, story telling, native american dancers, and 200 or so booths to visit with things to buy. Pretty amazing.

This was our first year going and we spent 4 hours there just walking and looking and I'm sure we didn't see everything there was to see.

It was great fun. :)  I'd like to go again next year, though  I might just be participating!  We'll see. They might have me volunteer as a spinner. I think I'd enjoy that.

5 comments:

  1. Wow! That looks like so much fun! Has Monica ever seen a horse? The logging looks really cool and it sounds like you guys had fun.

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    1. It was a lot of fun, I'd love to do it again.

      No, Monica hasn't ever seen a horse or even a dog or cat. She's only ever seen roaches, mice, rats, bugs, that sort of thing - spiders. I should introduce her to a cat some time.

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    2. Hi Amanda!
      Looks like a cool place. I think cotton picking would be a neat experience, to know part of what the slaves went through.
      Anyway, what I wanted to say was that I just finished Precisely Terminated, and it was amazing! I loved your detailed story world, especially the variety of settings in Cillineese. You made me wince when Monica was in pain and smile when she achieved victory. And she wasn't the only enjoyable character - Simon and Audrey and the plethora of others were fun to read about too. :) I can't wait to read Noble Imposter! It's sitting tantalizingly on my shelf. ;) Keep up the good work!
      -Tracey

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    3. Hi Tracey,

      The picking cotton was pretty neat. Though, not just slaves did it, of course. Plenty of other people did as well. My neighbor (who died last year at 80 something) had to quit school in 8th grade because her father made her so she could go pick cotton to help support the family. Pretty sad. :( She picked cotton all day long when it was in season, and that was just 60 years ago.


      I'm so glad you enjoyed Precisely Terminated. It's a blessing to hear. Wait to you see more world developments in book 2 and 3! I explore different worlds of the world in each one. The slaves in PT, the Nobles in NI, and the merchants in book 3.




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    4. Wow, that is sad. I never really thought about anyone else picking cotton before.
      Oh, I like the sound of further world developments! I was guessing that the world of the Nobles would be explored in book 2 (seeing as the title is Noble Imposter). But the merchants... hm, didn't guess that one. :) That'll be cool too!
      -Tracey

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