Mark's Photo Travels

Last Saturday I visited the 24th annual Bluff Mountain Festival in Hot Springs, North Carolina. The Bluff Mountain Festival began as a way to raise funds and awareness to preserve nearby Bluff Mountain from logging. When a compromise with the logging company was reached, the festival has evolved into a fundraiser for the Madison County Arts Council with food vendors, art booths, and, of course, bluegrass and old time music. The festival now takes place on the grounds of the Hot Springs Resort and Spa . The weather would be as good as it gets for June. I arrived a bit later than the 10am start time because I made an unplanned stop near Madison, so a crowd had already set up close to the stage. I decided to check out the red caboose by the road first. A quick search after I got home documented this was once a caboose owned by the  Norfolk and Southern Railway . The Festival Before setting up my chair in front of the stage, I walked around the artist vendor area. I...

Every year for the past several years, I've attended the Uniquely Union festival in Union, SC, and this year was no exception. Instead of being held at the Union County Fairgrounds as in previous years, this year the festival took place in downtown Union. The Uniquely Union festival was divided into several zones. The first zone was for people to show off their classic cars. The second zone was dedicated to art and folk music. The third zone was for the kids, or "kidz" as their brochure spelled it. When I first arrived to this zone, a donut eating contest was just about to start. Nom, nom.  Later, several groups of cloggers performed. The crowd loved them.  A variety of rides were setup to thrill the little ones. The next zone was the Gospel Zone. The last zone was what drew me here to begin with, the BBQ zone and where the Taster's Choice event is held. Participants receive samples of BBQ from the BBQ contestants and vote for their favo...