Rick Boucher has been “fighting for the 9th” since 1983. Morgan Griffith, his opponent, doesn’t even live in the 9th district.

It doesn’t make much sense to me to vote for someone who can’t even vote for themselves.

Of course that’s not the real reason I would never vote for Morgan Griffith but it is a nice kicker. The real reason is that he is a part of the “Republican Tea Party” that wants to take our country back about 50 years (or perhaps even further.)

The Republican Tea Party “Contract on America” is frightening:

Letting the Republicans back in power when considering that they wrecked this country the last time they had power and their plan for the future of the country is even worse than what they did last time would be absolutely insane.

It’s important to vote against Republicans every chance we get. Hopefully some people who made the mistake of voting for Republican Bob McDonnell are already seeing that was a mistake. How many times must people be fooled into voting against their own self interest before they stop doing it? It’s never a good idea to vote for a Republican. Never.

Rick Boucher is far from perfect. He is often on the wrong side of the issues in my opinion. But he also clearly works very hard and he’s also been on the right side of many votes. With Morgan Griffith you can be sure that would not be the case.

Register To Vote if you haven’t yet.

The 9th annual FloydFest music festival is starting up in just a couple days (Thursday, July 22.) You can find the festival site off of MP 170.5 on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The location is actually right past the Floyd County line so it’s technically in Patrick County but the spirit of the festival is entirely Floyd (it was created and is ran by Floydians.)

This four day (Thursday-Sunday) music festival has been getting bigger and bigger every single year since it began in 2002 and this year’s to be the biggest yet. There are many styles of music to be heard at FloydFest every year from traditional bluegrass to electronic dance music to everything in between. The focus tends to be on “roots” music but if that’s not your thing, there’s plenty of other music styles of music to keep you interested. There are many different stages going on at once most of the time. And for night owls, the Global Village stage is usually going strong well past midnight.

On site camping is included with all consecutive day tickets. Most campers are there for the full four days (four day passes are $140.) Camping can get quite crowded so you’ll probably want to get there as early as you can to set up your tent if you want to do this.

The headlining act this year is Levon Helm who is most famous as the drummer for The Band. Of course, those who know The Band also know that Helm sang lead vocals on some of their songs including “The Weight,” “Up on Cripple Creek,” and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.”

Levon Helm will be performing Saturday night (he’s scheduled to go on at 9:15 PM.) Among the many other bands/artists performing this year are Old Crow Medicine Show, Railroad Earth, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, and Hackensaw Boys.

Along with lots of music to listen to, the festival also features many different vendors with lots of different styles of food and a large variety of different goods for sale.

Past festivals have featured bands/artists such as The Avett Brothers, Blues Traveler, Los Lobos, Ani DiFranco, David Grisman, Sam Bush, Donna the Buffalo, Xavier Rudd, and Yard Dogs Road Show.

There is a lot of beauty in the state of Virginia and I think that can be seen quite clearly when looking at Dorian Ashe Photography.

Most of his pictures are taken in Floyd County which is one of the more unique counties in Virginia. There’s an interesting blend of “old country” with “new age” (to use two phrases that only scratch the surface of what it’s all about) that makes it quite unlike anywhere else I’ve been.

As I mentioned in my last post there’s the weekly Jamboree / Artisan Market which draws quite a crowd (locals & tourists) but that’s not all there is to Floyd. Judging Floyd just by Friday night would be like judging New York City by Times Square.

The evocative photo you can see below is a good example of Dorian Ashe Photography and the type of beauty you can find in Floyd County.

Friday nights in Floyd, VA during the summer are very busy. The biggest reason for this is because this is the night that the weekly Jamboree featuring traditional bluegrass music is held at the Floyd County Store. Not only is the store itself packed every Friday but there there’s also plenty of overflow of banjo and mandolin players into the streets.

And beginning this summer there’s also been an artisan market right every Friday evening featuring everything from hamburgers (local grass fed) from Oddfellas, to didgeridoos, to ocarinas, to handmade jewelry from Oliver Jewelry. This market is a very short walk from the Jamboree (right next to The Station shopping center which features art boutiques, a toy store, a wine shop, and a music shop.)

Downtown Floyd has a fun festival atmosphere on Friday. And I haven’t even mentioned the new pizza/bar place (Dogtown Pizza) that only opened up a couple of weeks ago yet. They’ve got great pizza (and beer.) They’ve also usually got live music there on Friday nights. The bands that have played there so far have been “groove” oriented. Decidedly not bluegrass (which adds some much needed variety to the musical choices on South Locust St.)

You should definitely check out Floyd on Friday nights if you haven’t yet done so.

And if you’re looking for a great hotel to stay at in town (that’s located within easy walking distance to the Floyd County Store and the artisan market) then you should stay at the Hotel Floyd (make reservations early, they often sell-out on the weekends!)

Oliver Handmade Jewelry was among the many vendors selling at the Jubilee in Floyd this year. Below you can see a short video of what the Oliver Jewelry table looked like:

If you would like to buy handmade jewelry online: CLICK HERE.

The second annual Floyd Jubilee was held in Floyd, Virginia on June 19, 2010.

Upcoming events in Floyd include the Floyd Fandango on July 3rd and 4th and FloydFest 9 from July 22nd through July 25th. Both of these events are going to be held at the FloydFest site off of the Blue Ridge Parkway (mp 170.5)

Go to HotelFloyd.com to make hotel reservations at The Hotel Floyd in town.

For those Virginians upset with all of the noisy lies coming from the corporate funded extreme right wing “Tea Party Patriots” there is another option: The Coffee Party.

This is the mission statement of this new true grassroots movement:

The Coffee Party Movement gives voice to Americans who want to see cooperation in government. We recognize that the federal government is not the enemy of the people, but the expression of our collective will, and that we must participate in the democratic process in order to address the challenges that we face as Americans. As voters and grassroots volunteers, we will support leaders who work toward positive solutions, and hold accountable those who obstruct them.

If you’re on Facebook you can become a “fan” of the movement on the Facebook page, there is also a page that has been created specifically for Coffee Party members in Virginia.

There are hundreds of Coffee Party events happening all over the country on Saturday, March 13th. Below you will find some of the events scheduled in Virginia on the 13th:

Vienna, Virginia: 9:30AM at the Soundry. 316 Dominion Road, Vienna, VA 22180.

Haymarket, Virginia: 10 AM at the Haymarket Town Hall. 15000 Washington Street Haymarket, VA 20169.

Floyd, Virginia: 2PM at the Blue Ridge Cafe. 113 East Main St., Floyd, VA 24091.

2009’s Floyd Fandango Beer & Wine Festival will be held on the weekend of July 4th (Saturday) & July 5th (Sunday) this year at the FloydFest site which is located off the Blue Ridge Parkway near MP 170.

This year’s Floyd Fandango is a merging of the Wine Down The Music Trail & Floyd Fandango festivals of years past. It combines a wine & beer tasting with music.

The unique Hotel Floyd is recommended for lodging. There is camping space available for those that prefer spending the night in a tent and are attending the event on both Saturday & Sunday.

Wineries

Amrhein Wine Cellars
Blacksnake Meadery
Blueridge Vineyard
Cardinal Point Vineyard & Winery
Chateau Morrissette
Cooper Vineyards
Davis Valley Winery
Fincastle Vineyard & Winery
Horton Vineyards Inc.
Peaks of Otter Winery
Rockbridge Winery
Valhalla Vineyards
Veritas Vineyard & Winery
Villa Appalaccia

Breweries

Blue Mountain Brewery
Brooklyn Brewery
Bull and Bones
Dogfish Head
Foothills Brewing
Magic Hat
River Brewing Company
Rogue
Sierra Nevada
St. George
StarrHill
Stone Brewery

Music

Beleza Brasil Sextet, Robert Jospe Sextet, Basshound, Buckwheat Zydeco, JJ Grey & Mofro, Dangermuffin, & Robin Aigner will be performing on Saturday.

On Sunday Blue Mule, Beleza Brasil, Robert Jospe & Inner Rhythm Sextet, Basshound, Rolling Green, & Robin Aigner will be performing.

Tickets

Adult tickets cost $25 each (for one day, $50 for both days) and include one free glass of wine or beer. You can purchase your tickets online here.

The 8th annual Floyd Fest music festival will be held from July 23rd through July 26th. This festival features great bands from all around the world. Along with the great music there’s also plenty to eat and some cool stores to check out (the restaurants and stores are set up in tents.)

This year the festival includes performances by Blues Traveler, Railroad Earth, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, Toubab Krewe, and Donna the Buffalo.

Past performers have included Ani Defranco, Los Lobos, David Grisman, The Avett Brothers, Xavier Rudd, The Hackensaw Boys, and Speech from Arrested Development.

Campground space is available. If you’re not the camping type you can try to book a night at Hotel Floyd.

Go to the Across The Way Productions website to learn more about this festival which is held right off the Blue Ridge Parkway at MP 170.5, which is actually in Patrick County, not Floyd County.

Dixie Caverns was first discovered in 1920 when a dog (named “Dixie”) fell into a hole at the top of a hill. The dog was was rescued by some farm boys who looked into the hole and saw that there was a cavern inside of the hill. Three years later (in 1923) the cavern was opened to the public.

As you will see in the photos included below (original photos taken for this website) the view inside is spectacular. The cavern is probably most famous for the bell-shaped “flowstone formation” known as the “Wedding Bell” where many weddings have taken place over the years.

You can see it all for yourself on a 45 minute guided tour. Tours start at 9:30 AM and go until 5 PM during Winter hours (October 16 through May 31) and they start at 9:30 AM and go until 6 PM during summer hours (June 1 through October 15.) It’s open every day except Christmas & Thanksgiving.

Along with the cavern there’s also camping, a “rock shop,” a gift shop, and a large antiques mall all accessible from the same area.

Directions

It’s easy to get to as it’s right off exit 132 on I-81.

Address

5753 West Main Street
Salem, VA 24153

Cost

$10 per adult for a guided tour into the cave.

Area Hotels

Salem is only about five minutes away and Roanoke is also nearby. If you want to say somewhere unique then Hotel Floyd is highly recommended, it’s about 40 minutes from Dixie Caverns.

Pictures

The Cascades recreation area is a part of the Jefferson National Forest. It consists of a 2 mile trail along a river to the ultimate destination which is an amazing view of a 69 foot waterfall.

The trail actually splits into what is referred to as the “upper trail” and the “lower trail.” The upper trail is easier to hike but the lower trail will get you closer to the river.

You should consider the amount of time the hike will take you when planning a trip to the Cascades. The trail is 2 miles each way so that’s a total of a 4 mile hike and the terrain can be somewhat difficult in places. You probably don’t want to be coming back down the trail after the sun goes down!

The Cascades is visited by about 150,000 people a year so you will likely see many other people on your visit especially if it’s a nice day (which is really the only kind of day we would recommend for a hike like this!)

Dogs (on leash) are allowed, in fact many people bring their dogs with them on the trail.

Location

Take Cascade Drive off US-460 in Pembroke (Giles County.) From I-81 you want to take exit 118 onto 460. Bypass Christiansburg and Blacksburg and head 26 miles until you reach Cascade Dr. in Pembroke. Cascade Dr. is 3.3 miles (the Recreation area is at the end of the road, you cannot miss it. Just keep going until you get there!)

Cost

The fee is only $3 per vehicle (no matter how many people you have in your car.) There is no overnight parking allowed, the Cascades are intended to be enjoyed during the daylight hours.

Area Hotels

Consider staying at a hotel in Blacksburg, Christiansburg, Roanoke, or Floyd. Blacksburg is closest as it’s only about 25 minutes away. The unique “green” Hotel Floyd is recommended if you don’t mind the drive (it’s about an hour away.)

Photos (original photography taken for this website.)