Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2015 - 44

WASHINGTON COUNTY
AG EXPO AND FAIR, JULY
18-25.
Learn about life on the farm
through demonstrations,
shows and games. Event also
includes music, food and
carnival rides. Sharpsburg Pike.
301-582-9494.
C&O CANAL DAYS, AUG.
21-23.
Arts and crafts demonstrations
and displays, canal boat races
and other activities
commemorate the history of
the C&O Canal and its
influence on the town of
Williamsport.
301-223-7711.
NORTH CAROLINA
PIONEER DAY, APRIL 25.
This annual celebration of
mountain heritage includes
weaving, blacksmithing and
pottery turning
demonstrations, engine
displays and vendors selling
their wares. Mountain Gateway
Museum, Old Fort.
828-668-9259.
FOLKMOOT FESTIVAL, JULY
17-26.
Performers demonstrate
cultural heritage from around
the world through dance,
colorful costumes and music.
Audiences are invited to meet
the dancers and musicians
before and after the
performances. Waynesville.
828-452-2997.
NC MOUNTAIN STATE FAIR,
SEPT. 4-13.
In addition to rides, food and
music to enjoy, the fair includes
competitions for livestock,
baking, wood carving, crafts,
clogging and more. WNC
Agricultural Center, Fletcher.
828-687-1414.
44 | BlueRidgeCountry.com
Daddys. Then I returned to
the takeout at Cool River
and became part of what I
call the "Tube Squad."
This is a friendly and
efficient assembly line on the
river banks. "We keep boys
out there all the time," says
Teri Sims, who owns and
operates Cool River Tubing
with her husband, Terry.
"Everybody kind of has their
own job."
Next to frothy rapids, I
shadow a 19-year-old named
Moises. "My job is to get
people out of the river,"
Moises tells me. "Then we
have somebody who grabs
the tube and puts it back in
the tube room."
Helping out, at one
point, I thought I had saved
the day. My eyes caught a
missing item in an empty
tube: a pair of damp socks
belonging to a little boy. I
returned those socks and was
rewarded with a smile.
But my real test came
when I tried throwing those
large tubes over a fence. I
tried tossing. But, more than
once, I had tubes bouncing
back in my direction - into
the river. Then Moises, less
than half my age, demonstrated
how he could effortlessly
make those tubes soar
with a magical spin.
What I didn't try, however,
was the last job of the
day: It's what's called "tube
fishing." Here, you actually
get paid to go tubing. But
you have to start at the top
of the run. And, no, you're
not really floating for fun.
Instead, you're armed with
straps, and it's your job to
float down the river and
catch every stray tube that's
on the river banks or
beached somewhere along
the way.
COOL RIVER TUBING
COMPANY
Helen, Georgia, 706-878-2665,
coolrivertubing.com
While in Helen, Georgia: Have
lunch at Bigg Daddys: 706-8782739;
biggdaddys.com. Stay at
the Helendorf Inn: 706-8782271;
helendorf.com and watch
tubers on the rapids behind your
room.
-Joe Tennis
SECRETS ABOUT
SECRET: HELPING OUT
WITH SECRETARIAT'S
GREATGRANDDAUGHTER
Standing
with Secret, Mary
Wolters advised me to be
gentle. This innkeeper's
three-year-old horse - a
great-granddaughter of the
famous race horse
Secretariat - had once been
abused, just prior to the
time Wolters had gotten
her at nine months old.
Now, a couple of years
after the adoption, Secret
remains unpredictable. Yet
that's why Wolters makes it
a point to spend at least an
hour a day with her horse -
a half-hour in the morning,
a half-hour in the
evening.
"It's really important
that I constantly, in a loving
way, touch her head,
touch her face, touch her
ears," Wolters says.
Next came my turn.
Wolters generously allowed
me to seek her sacred
Secret and learn to brush
her mane at the Red Horse
Inn, Wolters' bed-andbreakfast
near Landrum,
South Carolina. I gently
approached this dominant
mare. And Secret appeared
to flinch. Only, I didn't
Secret is the only horse that
resides at the Red Horse Inn
of Landrum, South Carolina.
stop. I just kept it gentle,
and I kept talking to
Secret, calling her name,
even while maintaining a
bit of a distance.
"Be careful because she's
still a baby and she's still
very mouthy," Wolters
says. "I don't want her to
bite you."
Secret didn't bite me.
She actually moved my
way, no longer flinching,
and let me get a little closer
as I continued to brush her
mane all the while following
the gracious Wolters'
commands.
http://www.coolrivertubing.com http://www.biggdaddys.com http://www.helendorf.com http://www.BlueRidgeCountry.com
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2015

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