Corndog

The Fourth of July spectacular was a blast, as Ribfest was also a party, but Asheville’s festival-of-all-festivals, Bele Chere, was in town last weekend, and it brought out some of our mountain’s finest artists, musicians and, of course, mullets. Bele Chere is boasted as the biggest street festival in the southeast, where they close down a large chunk of our city’s downtown and set up stages and booths, and also deem it legal to drink on the streets - Woot-woot! Nothing like mixing Budweiser, southern rock, funnel cakes and a gazillion hot, sweaty rednecks to get a party started.

And, like the majority of smart Asheville locals, the Amys fam steered clear of the downtown on Saturday, making our trip south to see my extended Blackwell family in Cashiers. But Friday, Taylor and I made an appearance as the festival kicked-off at noon, joining some of my old Kimmel colleagues for our annual Bele Chere carnival food luncheon. And after the Ribfest fiasco, I made sure to keep baby-T securely fastened in her stroller. Ruined pulled pork is one thing, but dropping a corndog on the ground? That’s unforgivable.