Fun Festival: Life in the 1800's

A friend told us about "A Touch of Yesterday" festival happening this weekend. The location was at Bost Mist Grill, a local mill that was established in 1810. For $10, our family of six enjoyed the following:

The first activity we stopped at was this woodworking tent where they made toy tops for the boys. It was quite fascinating to watch the men turn blocks of wood into a spinning top. Jackson and I picked out the colors for the tops.

We checked out some other items such as worn shoes from "the War Between the States", dolls, quilts, and other handmade crafts. We then looked at the various methods of transportation. I was particularly interested in the wagon. Westward Expansion was one of my favorite social studies units to teach. I would have loved to take my fifth graders here!

Jackson could literally sit inside the wheel of this tractor.

We planned ahead and packed a lunch for the kids. Jesse and I each bought a $1.50 hot dog for ourselves. I asked Jesse to take a picture of me with the kids.

I was a bit leery of how much money we would spend, but all of the games and activities were free once the adults paid admission into the festival. Jackson was able to pan for gold. The lady in charge managed to find the tiniest fleck of gold and put it in a small container for him.

My favorite area was the "little farmers" section. Each of the kids dug through dirt to find potatoes and carrots.

This simple activity kept the girls' attention for quite some time. Surprisingly, they never once put a carrot or potato in their mouths.

Jackson was also able to pick a pumpkin and paint it. He used markers and finger paint.

The kids played with milk jugs, sidewalk chalk, hay, bean bags, tools, toy tractors, and more. Jesse and I were genuinely impressed with the kids' area. We played long enough to work up an appetite for ice cream. Jesse and Jackson indulged in banana pudding ice cream while I stuck with the class butter pecan.

Jackson's final request was to sit in the firetruck. He didn't talk much to the firefighters, but he sure was content sitting in the driver's seat.

I think Jesse and I were both surprised at how much fun we had. We spent over two hours at the mill and only left because Jackson had a birthday party to attend. The festival had a really great balance of interests for kids and adults. And we could not have asked for better weather with Carolina blue skies and a slight chill in the air indicating fall.