The Ghost Train to Blue Heron

We hope that everyone had a wonderful weekend and was able to get out and enjoy the wonderful weather. Where did you go? What did you do? We'd love to hear all about it. Did you get out for a hike, go camping, or just hang out doing yard work? Luckily for us, most of all the home buying work has been done so we had a free (for the most part) weekend to do what we wanted.

In Memory of Tom, KK4TA

As you know from our post last week, we had the Ten-Tec hamfest to attend on Saturday morning to sell gear for our friend who lost her husband to cancer earlier this year. We really couldn't have asked for better weather. The turn out was a lot bigger than in previous years thanks to the gorgeous weather. Robin and I arrived just before 7:00am and were swarmed by "old men" (don't worry, that's what they're called in Ham Radio) wanting a chance at the sweet gear we brought to sell. By 11:30am we had sold all we were going to sell (nearly everything!) and it was time to pack it up and head home to prepare for our next event of the day.

Hamfests and Ghost Trains

This weekend looks to be a busy one for us. First thing early Saturday morning we have a Hamfest to attend. For our hiking friends, a Hamfest is an event where amateur (ham) radio operators gather together to sell equipment, check out and buy equipment from radio vendors, attend classes, seminars, and demonstrations, and hope to win a cool door prize. Not much different than an Outdoor Retailer type event, just on a smaller scale. The biggest thing about these events however are the food and fellowship amongst other Hams. Anyway, this weekend is the Ten-Tec Hamfest in Sevierville, TN. We will be up there early in the morning trying to sell some Ham gear for a friend of ours who's husband went SK (silent key, aka passed away) earlier this year. There's plenty of good radio gear to purchase and you'd also be helping out a fellow ham/widow with some of her expenses. So be sure to come out if you are in the area and are a ham or even want to be a ham. They give amateur radio exams during the hamfest, too.

Courtesy of BSFNRRA

The next big thing on our plates for this weekend is the First Annual Ghost Train up at Big South Fork NRRA and Big South For Scenic Railway. The scenic railway is located in Stearns, Kentucky and takes groups down to the Blue Heron mining community in the Big South Fork for tours of the area.

A Hauntingly Good Time

Courtesy of BSFNRRA

As most of you know, and if not then you should read this blog more often (hehe), this past weekend was the "Haunting in the Hills" Storytelling Festival at Big South Fork NRRA. It should also be a no-brainer that we went as usual as it has become sort of a tradition for us. This is one festival we make a point to clear the calendar and attend.

This year was no different. We made sure our day was clear to head out to Big South Fork for the festivities. It didn't matter that UT was playing against Flordia. Besides, UT loses to Florida more often than not so it really didn't matter much to me. After all, I was able to keep tabs on the game while enjoying the festivities. Anyway, we had planned to arrive early this year so that we could really take in all there was to offer. In years past, we usually would arrive just as most of the crafters were packing it up and heading out.

Friday's Giveaway Roundup (FGR) 9/16/11

Courtesy of BSFNRRA

Happy Friday everyone! The weekend is here or will be very soon. Does anyone have anything exciting planned for the weekend? We'd love to hear what plans y'all have. We are planning on attending "The Haunting in the Hills" story telling festival in The Big South Fork this weekend, and maybe even get in a hike. Regardless of what you're doing get outside and enjoy what mother nature has to offer. And with that, who's ready for some giveaways?

This week we have a couple good ones to mention and a recap of current giveaways going on out there. Shoes, watches, hammocks, first aid kits, GPSs, and shirts. What more could one ask for? If anyone has any outdoor gear related giveaways going on they'd like for us to promote on our FGR, shoot us an email at appalachiaandbeyond (at) gmail (dot) com. We'll be sure to get them posted. Now onto the giveaways.

A Haunting In The Hills Is Coming

We hope everyone had a wonderful Labor Day Weekend. We celebrated it in grand fashion: we scrubbed the outside of our house before the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee decided to dump over six inches of liquid sunshine on us. It's was Labor Day right? That means we work right? Honestly, we really had to get that done.

Anyway, enough about that stuff. With September having arrived, the weather cooling off a bit, and our favorite time of year (Autumn) being right around the corner, that can only mean one thing. It's time to get outside for some hiking and festival attending. All the autumn time festivals are getting ready to ramp up. Next weekend, there's a real treat of an event going on at The Big South Fork NRRA. It's the 19th Annual Haunting in the Hills Story Telling Festival on September 17th.

Storytelling Event - Sat, April 9th

photo courtesy of Marble Springs Historic Site

The Smoky Mountain Storytellers Association is teaming up with
Marble Springs Historic Site to host the
2nd Annual Storytelling Festival
on Saturday, April 9th starting at 1 pm EDT. 

This event sounds like great fun! We love storytelling events. Located at the Marble Springs Historic Site (that's the home of Gov. John Sevier), there will be free parking and festival seating (in other words - bring your chairs and blankets). The stories will be spread across three stages, and storytellers from the SMSA will be performing stories of humor, history, stories by and for children, tales of Appalachia and the Smoky Mountains, and Native American stories. At 6 pm, they'll be a gathering by the bonfire for slightly scary ghost stories, and at 7 pm they'll perform ghost stories for the brave.
The event ends at 8 pm. 

Admission cost is $5 for adults, $3 for children (under age 6 are Free). 

Discounts are available for groups of 10 or more, but they ask that you make your group reservations prior to April 4th. Contact information is
865-429-1783 or cuznjan (!at) juno (!dot) com.

Address is 1220 W Gov. John Sevier Hwy Knoxville, TN 37920
Click here for to get directions.