Confluence Pumpkinfest 2014

Confluence Pumpkinfest

Jenn eventually made it home from her date. It lasted long enough and she seemed happy enough that we were confident it went well. Given that we’re over a month on and they’re still dating, we’re going to go with yes, things worked out pretty well. We knew she was going to come back because she wanted to join Chris and me for the Confluence Pumpkinfest.

We’d never been here before but had heard about the festival the week previous while we were at the Preston County Buckwheat Festival. Never ones to poo-poo a gyro, deep-fried snack foods, and other obesity-inducing snacks we were all in favor. Besides, we had been wanting to actually stop in and check out the town for some time, as until now it had just been a cute little bit of eye-candy on the back road to Somerset (which is part of the no-interstate route to State College from Morgantown).

Parking wasn’t too bad. We were able to park for free along the perimeter of a municipal park and walk about a quarter mile to the town square, which is where most of the vendors were. Unlike the Preston County Buckwheat Festival, which seemed very cohesive and had lots of signs pointing folks toward the different attractions, we had a difficult time way finding. Ultimately, we figured out where the vendors and the entertainment tent were, then accidentally came across a square dancing demonstration in the middle of a closed street.

The food vendors were top-notch. We were particularly inspired to come out because we heard they had a lamb vendor, Country Lane Lambs, who did lamb burgers but also had information on buying lamb products (e.g. ground lamb, which would go wonderfully with my homemade tzatziki sauce). My lamb burger was epic. Chris ended up at a different vendor where he ate one gyro and then had to return for another.

Though one thing seemed to be sorely lacking: there weren’t a lot of pumpkins around. Jenn was so disappointed. It turns out she’s got a pretty severe pumpkin addiction and she wasn’t getting her fix. After taking one more pass through the vendors she spotted a woman selling homemade pumpkin rolls, however. That was the ticket. She carried the log of deliciousness with pride.

But not being able to figure out when and where the rest of the festival was (if there even was more), we instead headed back to the car to find some geocaches along the National Road. On such a fine autumn day, there was nothing better.

We visited the Petersburg Toll House and saw the 16-mile long Youghiogheny Lake. Though it was the first weekend in October, the bite to the air in the Laurel Highlands was a hint of the cooler weather to come.

Local Successes: Preston County Buckwheat Festival

Perhaps the most exciting sign of fall for the denizens of the Morgantown area is the Preston County Buckwheat Festival. Besides, Monongalia County (where Morgantown is) doesn’t really do a great job with the whole county fair thing, so this is like the best shot for something as good or better. And though you can find buckwheat cake mix year round in the local supermarkets, there really is something quintessentially fall about the sweet and sour flavor.

There are a few ways to get to Kingwood from Morgantown, most take about a half hour (I-68 to WV-26, WV-7, and Kingwood Pike). On this day, we took Kingwood Pike, favoring the rolling hillsides and pastoral farms coupled with the lack of heavy truck traffic.

Parking could be a disaster, but they handle it well, using a large parking lot on the periphery of downtown and offering continuous free shuttle service on the Buckwheat Express (the local transit agency) from the lot to the center of downtown, which is also the center of festival activities.

The first stop is the Kingwood Volunteer Fire Department Hall, this is the place to gorge on cakes. Many other places around town also sell buckwheat cakes and I’m sure they’re delicious too, but you can’t go wrong here. At the KVFD hall, you pay at the window, walk in, they direct you to a kitchen area, and you can get your first serving of cakes and sausage. The sausage and milk are finite, but the coffee and cakes are not. With true Appalachian hospitality, you can eat until you’re ready explode. We did. Thinking about it, six weeks later, still makes me feel stuffed!

Once you’re so full it hurts to move, you’ve got to move on to the crafts and exhibits. Like a county fair, local children are showing and selling the animals they’ve raised. Chris and I are partial to the goats.

We love a lot of the vendors at these events. Forget about Bath Fitter and that stuff, I love the local businesses. This year, we discovered Mountain State Honey, a honey company based out of Parsons, WV. At the urging of our friends Kelly and Cody, who we ran into unexpectedly while perusing the craft and vendor area, we loaded up on all kinds of tasty of honey. It is true, there are at least two things you should spend the money on: honey and maple syrup.

After taking in a bit of the parade, we picked up the shuttle and headed back to the car. While the parking lot was deserted when we first got to the festival, when the shuttled pulled in on our way out, the line of people waiting to go to the festival was immense. It is so awesome to see such a successful local event!

We decided it would be lovely to go for a hike up at Coopers Rock to top off the wonderful day. We headed out WV-7 to Masontown, where we took Rohr Rd/Snake Hill Rd to Tyrone Rd and eventually got on to I-68 to get to Coopers Rock. Then the strangest thing happened: for the first time ever, we could find absolutely no place to park our car. Not a single picnic area or trailhead had a parking place. When we started noticing the trend, I started counting license plates, almost three-quarters were from out of state. I hope each one spent lots of money in Morgantown!

Somehow, we managed to work off the energy because eventually we made it to Chaang Thai for dinner. The weather was perfect so we enjoyed what would probably be our last meal on a patio in Morgantown for the year.