It's always fair weather!

It's as if God knew it was fair time! The temperature has finally dropped to comfortable levels, with that fall chill in the air. Friday was the first day of the Dixie Classic Fair, so the family decided to spend a night out. Even if you don't ride anything, it's a terrific place to people-watch. What always strikes me about the fair is the fact that you see all types of people: the fair doesn't discriminate and it appeals to everybody. John drags his parents out onto the midway to try his hand at the games of skill(?) and make me ride the Scrambler while Pat sits on a nearby bench. Pat enjoys the Village of Yesteryear; I always head for the livestock barn. I'm funnel cakes, he's Polish sausage and John always wants a hot dog and ice cream. One thing we can all agree on: the demolition derby! What's not to love about cars crashing into each other until their radiators explode? And when the evening got late, we even got to see a couple of girls in a fight and the police throw them down and put them in cuffs. It doesn't get any better than that...at least until next year. See all the fair action here.

Oh, what a relief it is!

Whew! At last, some cooler air. For the first time since I don't know when, we turned off the a/c and slept with all the windows open last night. Woke up this morning freezing! (It was in the mid-50s, but when it's been over 90 for the past month, 55 is freezing.) It was too pretty to stay home today, so we drove up past Yadkinville to our favorite little winery, Laurel Gray. They're running low on the 2005 barrel-fermented Chardonnay, which is as good - if not better - than many California chardonnays I've tried. We even got to sample some of the Cabernet grapes which were just harvested. Very sweet and delicious. Support your local NC wineries!