Holly Fest (2017)

Hollyfest

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Hollyfest is an annual community celebration each Fall in Holly Springs.  It features vendors (small businesses, charities, private schools, etc.) and plenty of activities for families, such as bounce houses, games, live music, etc.

My aunt and uncle were in town to visit so the five of us went to check it out.

We had been to something similar during the Fifth of July event a few months back and our son really had a blast.  He rode a few rides and went through a couple bounce houses (including a two-story slide that seemed like a good idea beforehand but scared him when he actually started down it) and we all enjoyed walking around and exploring.

As usual, the Holly Springs Fire Department was there with Cinder, the fire dog.  Brian had a chance to sit in a HSFD utility vehicle and “drive” it.

The Rotary Club was selling brisket sandwiches as a fundraiser and we kept getting a whiff of it as we walked around.  They were really good.  It was nice to sit down and enjoy the music in the shade, and spending time with my aunt and uncle is always great.  We don’t see them very often, and now that we’ve moved out of Florida, it will undoubtedly be less frequent.

They had haunted hay rides later in the evening, but we already had plans to cook out on the grill for our guests, so maybe we’ll take that in next year.

Fire Station 1 in Holly Springs

Fire Station Open House

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The Holly Springs Fire Department holds an annual Fire Station Open House each October.  They invite residents to tour the firehouse and learn about the fire department.

There’s a bunch of activities for kids as well, ranging from using a fire hose, sitting in the fire trucks, putting out a small fire with an extinguisher and, of course, meeting Cinder, the fire dog.

We spent an hour or so up there and had a really nice time — Brian especially had a blast sitting in the fire trucks.

He also learned what it was like to use the fire hose to put out a fire.  I wish I had video of how abruptly he turned on the hose.  It was pretty spectacular.

The community outreach of our local fire department seems more pronounced than in Jacksonville, though in all fairness, this is a small town and their presence is much more detectable.  I’ve had a number of interactions with members of the Holly Springs Fire Department and they’ve all been super positive.  They’re very engaging with our son and I can’t count how many times they’ve encouraged me to just drop by the station for a visit with him.  Oddly, given my background in law enforcement, I’ve had virtually no contact with our local police department, though I think they have similar community interactions.

North Carolina State Fair (2017)

North Carolina State Fair

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The North Carolina State Fair was first held in 1853 and has been at its present site since 1928.  It draws a pretty significant crowd each year — last year reaching its second highest ever attendance with 1,028,364 visitors.  The record was in 2010 when it saw 1,091,887 people attend.  It’s held at the State Fairgrounds in Raleigh, about 20 minutes from our home.

Judging by the map, we only saw about 25% of what’s there.  We went after our son woke from his nap, which means we didn’t get there until 3:30 or so, entering the park around 4:00.  We left when he started getting punchy a little after 8:00, giving us four hours to explore and check out what’s there.  We watched a BMX/Motocross stunt show by King BMX (you may have seen them on the X Games, Dew Tour & America’s Got Talent).  We got some fair food (tator tots with ranch and bacon, gyro) and my son rode several of the rides in Kiddie Land.

In general, we didn’t see any of the exhibits or contents, or take in any of the adult rides.  There was a ton there that we didn’t get to see, so if you have a little person in tow, you may want to play to do this in two trips, or maybe even get a babysitter for one of them.

Overall, we had a blast.  The people-watching can’t be overstated.  There were definitely some characters there.  I never went to the fair in Jacksonville, but I assume it was very similar, albeit smaller in size.

More information about the fair can be found on their web site: http://www.ncstatefair.org/2017/index.htm