Travelsmartplanet

Looking for something different?  If you love blues harp, this show is for definitely for you. Harmonica players from throughout the state will battle at the 11th Annual Florida Harmonica Championships. Every October the Florida Harmonica Championships combines performances from more than 20 great harp players with internationally known guest stars. Each year, music lovers from all over the country travel to beautiful New Smyrna Beach to witness what has become a signature Florida music happening.

This combination of raw new talent, a show oriented format, great backing band and internationally renowned guest stars has made the Florida Harmonica Championships and New Smyrna a music destination for fans from Florida, the US and the world. Anyone can compete.

Other activities include a master class, a harmonica repair clinic and a “harmonica orchestra” performance open to all spectators with a harmonica.

Location: Beachside Tavern, 690 E. 3rd. Ave, New Smyrna Beach, FL 32169
Date: Sun Oct 16, 2016
Time: Noon – 9PM
Tel: 386-314-5718
floridaharmonicachampionships.com
For Regional Accommodations, Restaurants & Attractions: nsbfla.com

Learn a lost art from people who have been holding on to hollerin’ for over 47 years keeping the North Carolina staple “Hollerin’” alive at the Worldwide Hollerin’ contest on October 8^th.

“Hollerin’,” a traditional form of communication used in rural areas to convey long-distance messages, is considered by some to be the earliest form of communication between humans. “Hollers” exist for virtually any communicative purpose imaginable. The hollers featured at the World Wide Hollerin’ festival fall into one of these four categories: distress, functional, communicative or pleasure.

Enjoy a wide variety of fun activities and entertainment, including: the Hollerin’ Contest, Paradise Acres BBQ & Chicken, assorted food vendors, live music, crafts and Children’s activities. Visitors are invited to bring their chairs, blankets and coolers and enjoy the contest on the 12-acre Paradise Acres facility.

Eighty percent of the proceeds from the event are donated to Wags4Tags.org , an organization that matches trained shelter dogs with veterans suffering from psychological and emotional injuries.

Location: Paradise Acres, 1965 John McMillan Rd, Hope Mills, NC 28348
(Exit 41 off the I-95)
Date: Nov. 5th, 2016
Time: 10 am to 6 pm
Tel: 910-633-4735
worldwidehollerinfestival.org
For Regional Accommodations, Restaurants and Attractions: visitfayettevillenc.com

The Richmond Folk Festival carry’s forward the 12-year tradition established by the hugely successful National Folk Festival celebrating the roots, richness and variety of American culture through music, dance traditional crafts, storytelling and food. The event takes place at downtown Richmond’s  historic riverfront from 2nd to 7th streets and from Byrd Street to the river – including Brown’s Island, The American Civil War Museum at Historic Tredegar, portions of Federal Reserve parking lots, and Tredegar Street.

Richmond Folk Festival is where over 200,000 festival goers gather for three FREE days of music, dance, food and fun. Drawing in visitors from across the country with an eclectic mix of 40 artists performing on seven different stages with continuous music and dance performances, along with a Virginia Folk-life demonstration area, children’s activities, a folk arts marketplace, regional and ethnic foods.

Among the artists to be featured at the 2016 Richmond Folk Festival are: Gary U.S. Bonds and Gene “Daddy G” Barge, (Norfolk Sound), Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino (Southern Italian pizzica tarantata), The Fairfield Four (African-American gospel singing quartet), Geno Delafose & French Rockin’ Boogie (zydeco), Natalie MacMaster & Donnell Leahy (Cape Breton and Ontario fiddling), Joe Mullins & the Radio Ramblers (bluegrass), Homayoun Sakhi and Salar Nader (Afghan rubâb and tabla), Sheila Kay Adams (Appalachian songs, stories and ballads). Check the website for complete list of performers/schedule.richmondfolkfestival.org/docs/event_schedule

Expect lots of great food: ethnic, regional and traditional foods to delight guests and showcasing a wide variety of tempting foods to compliment the spirit of the festival. From classic festival fare to exotic flavors from around the globe, there’s definitely something to tickle your tastebuds.

Location: Downtown Richmond’s Riverfront, Brown’s Island Park,Richmond, VA 23219
Date: Fri, Oct 07  – Sun, Oct 09, 2016
Time: Fri 6 – 10PM, Sat 12 – 9:30PM, Sun 12 – 6PM
Tel: 804-788-6466
richmondfolkfestival.org
For Regional Accommodations, Restaurants & Attractions: visitrichmondva.com

How many of you know that Henry Flagler of Standard Oil, who was a pioneer of tourism in Florida, appears on some US five dollar bills? His Flagler mansion, which was known as the Whitehall Hotel, appears on the back.

When visiting Fortress Louisbourg in Nova Scotia, you have the opportunity to sleep in an authentic 18th century home. Reach out to Parks Canada to set it up but be aware that in that era, they slept on straw mattresses (you can throw a sleeping bag on top, though). Test yourself to see if you can live without electricity. In Rodrigue House, this is the bigger room, fine for the lady. The other smaller room had 2 single beds.

When dining in 18th century, your napkin is worn as a bib. Great idea. We should start a trend. Here at the Fortress Louisbourg in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, you can dine on a traditional meal in authentic style with costumed servers.

In the eighteenth century at Fortress Louisbourg, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, the lower class diet included locally prepared bread, spruce beer, meat or fish. Staples like butter, cheese, and rum were imported. Here I dined on pea soup and an apple tart for dessert. They ate with spoons. Gathering for a meal was not only for sustenance but also for news, companionship and games of chance.

Fortress Louisbourg, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, is producing smooth rum – a drink that would have been downed by rich and poor in the 18th century. Don’t forget to bring it home as a souvenir. Every time you feel the smooth liquor go down, you’ll remember your trip – and how lucky we are to live in this century. To buy it, just ask for Fortress Rum, what else?

Before you enter Fortress Louisbourg, Cape Breton, NS, you can visit a fisherman’s cottage and learn about their lives in the 18th century. Perhaps they were the lucky ones living outside the walls, for the aboriginals said you could smell the fortress before you arrived as soldiers rarely bathed and there were no toothbrushes. Aboriginals stayed way outside the fortress. Now we know why Louis XV court was called the “perfume court” as they needed to cover up the human aromas.

Etienne Verrier was chief engineer for Fortress Louisbourg from 1725 to 1745 and lived here, in one of the most imposing homes. The military engineers were town planners, architects and construction engineers. They laid out the streets, planned the fortifications, designed all the colony’s public buildings and influenced military tactics in the sieges. He was wealthy enough to be able to serve cocoa to his guests. A pound of cocoa cost the same as a pair or shoes. The cocoa was served hot with spices and sugar and was used medicinally and for warmth and strength.