Highland Maple Festival

The first weekend in March I made the trek with a group of friends to Highland County (right next to West Virginia) for their annual Maple Festival. It was a beautiful day, and so nice to get out in the country. (Except a billion other people wanted to enjoy the same thing, so we sat in traffic for a long time.)

Our first stop was in McDowell, to check out some crafts and buy a jumbo bag of caramel corn. (I love caramel corn.) That bag sustained us until we got to the next town, Monterey. That's where we had our pancake lunch with giant bottles of local syrup. I had a combination of buckwheat and plain pancakes, plus sausage. So good.

In line for pancakes (and looking at kid art)

 After stuffing ourselves we walked around the town and checked out more craft booths. Monterey seemed like a nice little place, though crowded for the festival.

Monterey (and its traffic)

 

  

 Then we climbed back in the car and drove to a sugar camp. It was neat seeing all the tubes getting sugar water from the trees.
 

Notice the blue tubes connecting all the trees?

On our way home we stopped back in McDowell again. I got a cup of Brunswick stew and a maple doughnut. I also tried some maple cotton candy. (I love cotton candy.) Treats that other people enjoyed included maple ice cream and milkshakes, and various forms of maple candy or fudge.

Fun times.