The day was bright and crisp, perfect for Huntersville Tradition Day.  Women in 1800s attire mingled with the crowds.   Demonstrations abounded: black smithing, broom making, cider making, ice cream making (both with tasting!), Civil War re-enactments (Unionand Confederates both), wool spinning, and others.  There were wagon rides and tours of great old buildings including two 1800s churches and a jail.   Half a dozen picker groups played at various spots in town so we were rarely out of earshot of some really good foot stomping music.

And the food, oh my gosh.  We sampled soup and beans and ham with cornbread and a perfect apple dumpling.  The biscuit ofKent’s country ham biscuit was actually made with bacon grease.   If we were still eating we couldn’t have possibly tried everything.

New for me.  I got to fire a black powder muzzle loader.  45 caliber with 60 grains of powder – I know only because the great guy who owned it showed me exactly how to load it.  He says it is so accurate that he can hit the stick of a lollipop at 250 yards.   You wouldn’t know it based on my shot.  I said, “I missed”.  He said, “No, you hit the dirt.”   The targets were set back in a cut out in the hillside.  I am not much of a gun person but there is something intriguing about the black powder weapons.