Saturday Rob and I decided to load the dogs into the car and head downtown to the local farmers’ market. This market is the equivalent of the bar in Cheers, where everyone knows your name—or in our case, where everyone knows the name of Captain, our Basset hound.
However, on this day, we drove down the hill only to be greeted by large, orange detour signs. Apparently, there was an unexpected parade. (Unexpected by us, that is. I’m pretty sure the people lining the street had some sort of clue as to what was going on.)
We headed down the street, the two Bassets with Rob, Brandy with me. She was taken aback at the marching bands, and as I turned to lead her to a patch of grass to do her thing, she tried to keep going all the way over the hill and through the woods.
As we moved down the street, I heard someone call my name. Looking across a momentary vacant area, I saw a friend of mine with his wife and son. Talk about a small town. We waved to say hello and continued on our way.
This high school band may not have won the prize for the most in tune, but they definitely won for most enthusiasm. Even in the dripping wet rain, they had some sweet moves.
The weather wasn’t the best for a parade—cold, wet, raining … the little shops that set up coffee and bakery stalls were doing brisk business. Along the way, I popped into my favorite Sunflower Fibers yarn store to retrieve my wool that I had left there. (Note to self, must spin that before my lesson on Tuesday.)
This is what I love about living in a small town. The downtown area isn’t as vibrant as some places I’ve been, but it has a fun vibe of its own. There is history, arts, local stores, and even some culture (we have an art house theater as well as a community theater.)
An historical marker downtown, designating the site of the old City Hall of Fayetteville, NC.
Rob and the two Bassets finally caught up to where Brandy and I were setting on the curb, watching the various floats go by. He had managed to snag himself a cup of coffee, although I sadly still had not tasted of the fruit of the bean.
The Cumberland County Library float passes by …
As we waited, a pirate ship float started toward us. The loud cannon fire caused Brandy to start once more with the hightailing it yonder, while foster Basset Droopy decided to show us how violently he could shake with fear. So we headed down the street away from the noise to give the dogs a chance to unwind from all the excitement.
Captain and Droopy decide to search out strange new scents, towing Rob down the street. Note the cup of coffee in his hand. Strangely, no cup appeared for me…
We found some new sights …
Never knew this sky-and-clouds wall existed until we walked by this weekend.
And then we saw these guys …
Who knew we had a detachment of the 501st here in downtown Fayetteville?
So anyway, there you go. I thought I was going to be blogging about a Christmas farmers’ market, but instead snagged some pictures of a holiday parade. It’s always helpful to have some Bassets around to spiff things up, and every so often some stormtroopers.
Enjoy!
