Just in Time for NC Wine Month…A Winery Video!
Today, May 4th 2020, we published a video on our YouTube channel that is a bit of a departure from our normal format. It is an informative video of sorts; kind of like a “How it’s made” video. And if you couldn’t guess by the title, yes, it does have something to do with the North Carolina wine industry. It is a video about the bottling of wine. More specifically, the mobile bottling process that occurs at many, but not all, of the wineries in North Carolina. Why produce a video about the bottling of wine? Why not? It is something to see (or do) in the Carolinas if you get the chance.
Pisgah National Forest is Closed
In an unprecedented move, the United States Forestry Service announced on April 13th that the Pisgah National Forest is closed until August 13, 2020 or until the order is rescinded (whichever comes first). This order was signed by the current forest supervisor, Hurston A. Nicholas, and carries punishment of fines up to $5,000 per person, $10,000 for organizations and/or up to 6 months of imprisonment. While the order went on to specifically list a bunch of roads, trails, and campgrounds or recreation sites that were closed, the basic text reads:
The Flowers Have Their Final Encore!
With Autumn officially starting this month, there isn’t a lot of color left in the year with regards to flowers. The trees will make their big show in the coming weeks with the fall foliage but flowers, for the most part, are finishing things up. The bees are frantically making their final rounds collecting as much pollen as they can before the pollen tap runs dry and another cold winter sets in. There are, however, a few spots in the Carolina’s where flowers are making an encore appearance before the last curtain call of the calendar year.
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50 Days to the Start of Autumn 2018!
Today, Friday, August 3rd 2018, marks 50 days until the start of the Autumn season for 2018 which officially starts on Saturday, September 22nd, 2018. There is always something exciting about a countdown and when you get to the 50 day countdown from any season as it is usually right about the time you are getting tired of the existing season. This is particularly true during the cold Winter months or the hot Summer months and this year is no different. While the heat this Summer hasn’t been too bad, it has been a rather wet Summer with a lot more rain than we typically receive. Most areas of Western North Carolina are reporting that they have already exceeded their typical yearly rainfall amounts and there are still five months to go until the end of the year! We are also not oblivious to some of the warmer periods that we did experience this Summer although we do recall enjoying a hike one day in July where it was only 63 degrees outside. So other than all of the rain, it hasn’t been too bad of a Summer this year. That being said, we are ready for it to be over and want this:
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Great Roadside Waterfalls
It is probably very obvious that we really like waterfalls as the majority of our episodes are on great waterfall destinations (over 100!). There are so many great waterfalls in the Carolinas and we just love discovering new ones and sharing them with everyone. While many of them require a hike or walk to reach the waterfall, there are a lot of them that you can see just driving by as they are completely roadside accessible. While we have already featured many of these roadside waterfalls on episodes and in previous blog posts (see Seven Waterfalls You Can View Without Hiking) we just keep finding new ones that need to be mentioned. These particular waterfalls are probably not episode worthy since they are so easy to reach and are somewhat small in size but if you are in the area, these are definitely worth checking out.
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