 |
| Jasper GA bike show |
Due to a mix-up in reservations, a trip we had scheduled for
the Mississippi Gulf coast for the 4th of July cancelled out, and we
improvised for the holiday by meandering over to north Georgia. We landed in Jasper, Georgia again and made
plans to search for more peaches from the orchards near Ellijay.
After checking into the Woodbridge Inn the evening of the 5th,
we walked to downtown Jasper, drawn by the vroom
of motorcycles and a band playing on Main Street. Turns out that a Downtown
Bike Show, sponsored by the American Legion, was in progress, and an array of
vintage bikes were lined up in the center of the street—beautiful, gleaming
bikes whose riders were also vintage, probably between the ages of 50-70 and
sporting the "costume" of that era, complete with Willie Nelson
headband. Of particular interest to me was a WWII, olive-green bike that
Harley Davidson had built for military use during the "Great War." It
had been restored and was at the head of the line of more contemporary Harleys
being judged in the competition for the best looking bike.
The music for this event, also vintage 60's and 70's, was
billed as "jazz," but my ears registered "rock," and when
the MC announced that the next event would be a contest for the loudest bike,
we quickly exited the scene. People attending the festival amazed me—no one
applauded the music (except us), and we were among the few attenders who went
over to the bikes and examined them as if we were veteran bikers looking for a
new ride. No one danced in the street;
no one tippled beer from Styrofoam cups—the celebration in this culture
contrasted sharply with the Cajun celebrations and fais do do events that take place in our second home, "The
Berry," aka New Iberia, Louisiana. The following morning, Main Street was
pristine—no trace remained of a July 4th week-end celebration
featuring bikers and jivey music.
The next day I went over to the Pickens County Library, an
imposing building for a town of 3,600, that boasted an impressive sculpture of a boy reading to animals created by the Atlanta sculptor, William Sunderland, whose
"Peace on Earth" sculpt won the People's Choice Award and is
showcased in the Carter Center Garden in Atlanta. Sunderland studied under
Pasquael Martin in Pietrasanta, Italy and has won many accolades for his
creation in Carrara marble of sea lions nuzzling each other entitled
"First Love."
I spent an hour reading about the agri-tourism business of
north Georgia, a subject that fascinates me every time we hunt for peach
orchards and farm stores that sell the luscious fruit. According to an article
in Georgia Magazine written by Jackie
Kennedy, 52% of students enrolled in the University of Georgia College of
Agriculture and Environmental Sciences are female, and their perspective is
needed because women in Georgia are interested in farming and farm services –
they want to till the land and promote the industry.
North Georgia is big on agri-tourism—from orchards to
vineyards—and there's a growing interest in farm fresh foods, U-pick berry
farms and apple orchards. Farmers take seriously the stats about the world
population growing to nine billion by 2050 and know that a variety of
perspectives, including an emphasis on farm fresh food, will be needed to feed
the burgeoning population.
 |
| Peach orchard near Ellijay, GA |
We found a plethora of peaches at the R&A Orchards and
Farm Outlet again, but this time, the sweetest variety were of South Carolina
origin. We had fresh peaches and goat cheese for dinner one evening while
sitting in ladder-back rockers on the deck overlooking Woodridge Inn's garden,
and I can feel plans for another trip to north Georgia already forming in my mind…
No comments:
Post a Comment