The Watermelon Crawl

Hey y’all! I hope y’all had a great weekend–I know I did–and aren’t having to much of a weekend hangover this Monday! Last weekend I heard about a Watermelon Festival nearby and after being couped up working all week, I convinced Derrek that we really needed to go. I’m a festival junkie…I’m really obsessed with them. I actually have the ones around us marked down in my planner so we don’t miss out on any of the fun. We’ve been to the Pecan, Strawberry, Peanut, Tobacco, Peach, Wooden Boat, and Food Truck Festivials just to name a few. Last Saturday we headed to Fair Bluff, NC and braved the heat for some fun in the sun!

Fair Bluff is like a small town out of a movie. Everything is so gorgeous! You cross over the Lumber River on a beautiful old bridge and are instantly greeted with moss hanging from all the trees and a flatbed trailer filled to the brim with watermelons with a sign that’s says “$5 each, honor system” and a box to hold the money. You can’t get any more Southern than this y’all!

Once we walked up to the festival, we were all given watermelon to try. There were three tables covered in watermelon slices for anyone to walk by and pick up. We must have eaten 10 slices a piece…at least that’s what it felt like when we got up and tried to walk around. If I was stranded on a deserted island, I would pick watermelon as my source of food. No joke, when I was pregnant (both times), I would get Derrek to cut a watermelon in half, and I would eat it with a fork down to the rind. So, for me, being given FREE all-you-can-eat watermelon was like a sign from God we were in the right place.

After we couldn’t eat anymore, we walked around until the kids spotted the bounce castles, and y’all know the magic that bounce castles cast over little kids. We stood there and watched them play and slide down the slide over and over. Nolan started catching some air before we had to retreat to the shade for a little bit. Southern summers are no joke, and it was almost in the triple digits by lunch! Thankfully we found this really cool nature trail and went exploring for a little while.

This nature trail reminded me of the one that I used to walk in Florence, SC before I got married. Being surrounded by nature is something that always calms my soul, and after our crazy work week, we really soaked it up! Nolan and Harper had fun walking and checking out all of the sites on the trail. The best part was when we reached the Lumber River. We just stood there and all of us became transfixed with the quiet and sounds of the river. It’s amazing how God created all of this beauty for us to enjoy. I take time out of every day to thank God for blessing us with all that He has. Simple thank yous like “thank you for this beautiful river,” “thank you for the wind blowing through the trees,” “thank you for this view on our Saturday.” Saying things like this helps me become more grateful of my surroundings and my life.

I hope that y’all read this and see how important it is to get outside and do something that you enjoy after a long work week. It is really important for your soul to recharge your batteries, and what better way than to enjoy the place that God built for us. There are tons of festivals every weekend from this part of the year until well after Halloween. Go check one out, and eat a Funnel Cake for me!