When town life starts getting too busy and you need to escape to a simpler way of life, just head down Hwy 54 W about 10 miles, take a right, and you'll find yourself in Saxapahaw, NC. This historic village on the banks of the Haw River is host to Saturdays in Saxapahaw where you can sample the best of the Farmer's Market (including local organic produce, meat, and wineries) and sit on the lawn for the week's best bluegrass band. Richard & I were fortunate enough to learn our colors, letters, and science lesson form Jimmy Magoo & the Paperhand Puppet band. The kids were bouncing around the lawn like fleas and after about 45 minutes of kiddie songs (read: I like to wear my red pajamas), the mood switched to more of a jam band. My buddy Austin is a very talented percussionist for the Paperhand Puppet band as well as a number of other local bands (in a post near you very soon), so it was nice to support him. The Carrboro connection is strong out there as I saw several people I know and the instinct to sit and visit comes naturally. Here's the quick & dirty on Saturdays in Saxapahaw.
Yearly on Saturdays - First Weekend of May thru end of August Farmer's Market 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Music 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sorry No Dogs Allowed Bring your own food, beverages (koozies to cover up any illicit labels), and blanket/chairs. There are vendors for BBQ, the crepe ladies, kid's activities (bubbles, a water slide).
The best day of my year a.k.a. The Greatest Kickball Tournament Ever a.k.a. GKbTE! was a few weeks ago and I'm still recovering from the epic day of athletic grandeur.
The whole thing started in 2009 as the result of a gchat between me and my co-founder, Meg. When you live in Chapel Hill with an impressive group of alumni friends, it's kind of important to create new ridiculosity instead of reliving your glory days. In short, we decided that throwing the greatest kickball tournament ever (hence the name) would be the kind of stuff legends are made of...
And it was...
After months of planning and thousands of dollars invested in our one day debacle, we had to build up the enthusiasm with a pep rally at He's Not Here. Teams came to size up the competition and talk some smack to their opposition. Hybrid South was playing some rockin' Stones covers and the Founders made a guest appearance on their stage. Game day: Sunday, June 6, 2010. A day that will live in ballerdom.
115 participants
20 cases
7 teams
6 games
3 bottles of champagne
2 Founders
1 keg
The winner: It was a close game, but Slow Your Roll beat the Townies. Congratulations Slow Your Roll for being the GKbTE! 2010 champs!
We finished up the day with an after pool party and ended up at IP3's. Yes, it's what you think it is.
Special thanks to Jared & Dan for being excellent Umpires! It was a tough application, but they impressed the Founders and were the right men for the job.
Abbreviated Rules & Regulations:
1.Drink in hand at ALL TIMES while playing.
2. Shots at 2nd base
3.If the drink gets knocked out of hand, the player must do a kegstand at 2nd base.
4. Regulation kickball rules apply.
5.If a teams wants to be eligible to bunt, they team must bring a bunt cake to share with the group.Otherwise, no bunting.
6.In the event of a tie, the teams will each select a player to represent the team in a chug run.At the referee’s command, each player will have to chug a drink then run the bases, making sure to stop at second base and dress in the provided super duper extra large clothing.The team whose player to returns to home base advances to the next round.
a.In the event of a tie during the chug run, a round of rock, paper, scissors will determine the winning team.Best 2 out of 3.Rock, paper, scissors, shoot.
7.If the kicking team is more than 5 runs ahead of the outfield team, the dizzy bat rule will be instated.Each kicker must do 5 dizzy bat spins prior to kicking (3 additional spins after 1st or 2nd strike).
a.The entire championship game will be played with dizzy bat rules.
8.Don’t be a douche.
9.The penalty circle (hula hoop) may be used at the discretion of the referees with respect to violations of Rule 8.
9.Founder Rule: Whoever founds the game makes the rules.Meg and Becky can make up their own rules at any time.
10.If a participant of The GKbTE! pronounces, “This is the Greatest Kickball Tournament Ever!” then all players must pause, cheers, and drink after repeating, “This is the Greatest Kickball Tournament Ever!”
Meg & I are very proud to have a small profit which we are donating to the N.C. Children's Promise. It's been so much fun to see this tournament grow over the past 3 tourneys and see the turnout get bigger and bigger. The GKbTE! has brought more people together than when Gerald Henderson punched Tyler Hansbrough in the nose. We're about building communities, helping children, and goofing off on Sunday afternoons.
It's only going to get bigger and more baller from here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rq-nBujdb4I Cooler Than Me~ Mike Posner This guy is a Duke alum and it couldn't be a funnier song! There's no need to think-- Carolina girls are cooler than you.
I spent a couple of days with my favorite girl cousin (a tall honor!) and her husband (my newest cousin), aunt, and uncle in Boone, NC. Their hometown has become one of my favorite retreats, especially as Aunt Janet & Uncle Bob welcome everyone to the rocking chairs of their kitchen and porches.
The Ellison house recently welcomed a couple dozen keets (baby guinea hens), and although they are a smelly bunch, they are awful cute and will grow to be excellent watch dogs for the house.
Katherine, Jesse, and I rescheduled our first climbing day for a hike since the rock we were scoping out was sopping wet. We made it to Price Park off the Blue Ridge Parkway for a 5 mile loop but bailed a few miles in when the rain and other extenuating circumstances dampened the trail.
The best place to beat the rain was obviously Black Cat, arguably the best burrito outside of Chapel Hill, and finished up at Espresso News for a rousing game of Bananagrams.
Becky's special handicap for Bananagrams when playing the Ellisons:
-I get to turn all of my tiles over first
-then form my first word
-then form my second word
-then the Ellisons can start turning over their tiles and play
... and I still lose.Sunday proved to have better weather and the rock at Holloway Mtn was dry so Jesse and I set up an anchor and hopped on some nice cracks. I'm stoked to finally know a good place to climb in Boone since much of the rock in Western NC is trad and exceptionally difficult.
Katherine had a rough day of napping, snacking, snapping photos of her buff husband, and encouragement from the hammock, but what a cheerleader she is! Stay tuned to Stitching Hope because her next task is to figure out how to make me a chalk bag.
This historic village on the banks of the Haw River is host to Saturdays in Saxapahaw where you can sample the best of the Farmer's Market (including local organic produce, meat, and wineries) and sit on the lawn for the week's best bluegrass band.
The Carrboro connection is strong out there as I saw several people I know and the instinct to sit and visit comes naturally. Here's the quick & dirty on Saturdays in Saxapahaw.
