Lots of local tomatoes.

Summer has been good, but now it’s officially over for all the area schools. For our final article in this series, we decided to visit the Davidson Farmers Market, where Emma is a volunteer. On a recent Saturday, we checked out all the produce as the seasons change from summer to fall. We hope you had a great summer and enjoy a cooler fall!

Emma: For me, the day started at 6:30 a.m. with set-up. We had tents to put up, and tables to put under the tents. I also had to set up the information booth, with brochures, T-shirts, and other miscellany. The sky slowly changed from gray to blue. At 8 a.m., the scene was already buzzing with people eager to buy the delicious looking baked goods and produce, as well as the meats and cheeses hidden away in giant white coolers.

The information table, staffed by Kenya Templeton, helps people navigate the market.

I sat at the information booth for most of the market, helping people with their various problems and trying to sell them t-shirts and market tokens. These tokens allow you to use your credit card to pay the vendors, without having to go to the ATM. Each is worth five dollars, and any change you need is paid in cash. If you receive SNAP benefits, you can also use that card to get tokens.

A sunflower for sale as part of a bouquet.

Paulina: When I finally arrived at the market, it was already after 10, and many of the more popular items had already sold to those who got out of bed earlier than me. However, there were still many people around, and lots of items for sale. I found Emma at the information stand, and she took time off from working to show me around the market, since she is much more familiar with it.

We walked down into the area where much of the produce is sold. There were tons of beautiful tomatoes, as well as onions, corn, beans, and lots more. One of my favorite booths was the one selling flowers. The bouquets are huge and it was really cool to see the sellers designing more as we watched.

Local peaches for sale.

We then explored all the stands selling baked goods. Even with the market over half-way done, the vendors still had lots of selection. My favorites were the cookies and other sweet baked goods, although some of the French breads and quiches were quite tempting as well. From there, we swung by the tent selling soaps, and spent quite a while smelling all the different scents. Since it was hot, we moved to sit in the shade of a tent while enjoying the musicians.

Musicans performing for the market-goers.

From the musicians to watching all the people, we couldn’t help but have something to see. The whole Farmers Market has such a community feel. I believe it’s nearly impossible to go there without seeing a least one person you know. We certainly saw quite a few. The music provided a nice background to the chatter of people, from locals to the new first-year students at Davidson being shown around town. I discovered that quite apart from buying anything, the Farmers Market is a great place to explore, and for taking some time to sit and just watch the activity going on around me. I left before the market ended, sending Emma back to her job.

At noon, the market ended, and it was time to pack it all up again. We always need volunteers for setting up and taking down the market. If you are interested, please email info@davidsonfarmersmarket.org. The market runs from eight a.m. to twelve p.m. every Saturday in April through October. Between those months, it goes from nine to twelve every other week. For more information, visit www.davidsonfarmersmarket.org.

Paulina Campbell is a rising senior at Woodlawn School. Emma Boraks is a rising freshman at North Mecklenburg High School (and a volunteer at Davidson Farmer’s Market.) They spent this summer scoping out alternatives to TV-watching and Web-surfing. We hope you’ll see them back in our pages again soon. Leave a comment below, or email editor@davidsonnews.net.

Brightly colored squash.

Bars of soap made by Essential Soaps.

Several kids enjoy a market snack.

Emma with market manager Courtney Spear.

Bread for sale at the Farmers Market.

Emma (left) and photographer Paulina examined an outdoor sculpture.

For this week’s trip, we ventured out the farthest out we have gone all summer, taking the 77X bus into Charlotte for the day. Trying to catch the CATS bus is always a bit of a risk for us, because somehow we are never completely sure we’ve read the schedule right. We rushed to get to the bus stop before 9 am, and then ended up waiting awhile for the bus to arrive. When it finally came, we felt a great sense of relief in being able to sit back and just look out the window for the next 45 minutes or so. Arriving in Charlotte, we mistakenly got off a stop too early, but decided it was better to get off too early than too late since we could simply walk into the city. We eventually came to the city center, where the huge statues of the early settlers stand at the four corners of the intersection. From there, reluctant to actually consult our map, we followed signs and our memories to the Levine Museum.

At the Levine Museum, we paid five dollars to get access to all of the exhibits and could take as many pictures as we wanted. The first exhibit we went to was called Cottonfields to Skyscrapers, and was about Charlotte’s growth from the end of the civil war to today. There was a short film prior to the main exhibit. In the main exhibit, there were boards of information you could read, pictures, mini-movies, and models of houses, factories, and businesses throughout the time periods. The second exhibit was about a court case in South Carolina, which became one of five cases joined in Brown v. Board of Education to end segregation in schools, and how that affected the people involved. After our visit, we were both getting hungry, so we headed around the corner and up the street a bit to Fuel Pizza.

Reflections in the mirrors inside the skull statue.

After lunch, we set out in the direction of the Bechtler Museum. Although we didn’t go in, we really enjoyed the park across the street. The huge statue of the skull at the entrance is both a beautiful mosaic and a place to sit if you go inside the giant head. The moon on the ceiling and the mirrors all around created a magical effect, reflecting parts of the sculpture and our own faces back at us. Wandering around the rest of the park, we noticed all the signs had towns around the world that shared the first or last name with a famous author, and by combining the two signs on the same post would spell out a name like Mark Twain or Lewis Carroll. Our other favorite statues included a mosaic cat, as well as large towers of books that seemed to be blowing open in the wind with their pages scattered around the park. One part of the park also had a fountain with giant fish that squirted out water as kids gleefully played in it.

When we were finished at the park, we still had time until we had to go catch the bus, so we decided to look for the Settler’s Cemetery, a pre-Civil War cemetery in the middle of downtown. We headed past a fountain on the way, where we spent some time playing near the water. Eventually, however, we found the cemetery which had lots of graves and a sign near the entrance listing the names of those buried there. Some of the graves were marked with a Confederate cross, characterizing them as the graves of former Confederate soldiers. We had just enough time to walk though the cemetery before heading towards the Charlotte Transportation Center. We got picked up from Northcross Park and Ride because the bus didn’t return all the way to Davidson until later in the afternoon.

The Levine Museum of the New South is open Monday-Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. More information about hours and prices can be found on their web page at www.museumofthenewsouth.org/.

The bus left Sadler Square (home to Our Town Cinemas and the Healthy Home Market) at around 9 a.m., and was the last inbound morning bus out of Davidson. The outbound bus from Charlotte Transportation Center left at about 1:22 p.m. from Bay X.

Click on any of the photos below to view the gallery

The deserted SpeedPark.

This week, we were eager for an outing at the Extreme Toys SpeedPark in Cornelius. As we pulled up, we saw the go-cart track and several sheds. Unfortunately, the place looked  deserted, with weeds growing through cracks in the pavement. We decided to send a representative to check it out, and see if we had come at the wrong time. When our spokesperson returned, we found out that the go-carts were “done,” according to a large man inside the exercise facility next door.

Time for Plan B. On the way to the the SpeedPark, we had seen a sign for the Cornelius Animal Shelter. So, we headed there to check out the animals. Upon arriving, we discovered that it would not reopen for about 20 minutes. We checked out the (very short) dog trail in the back and loitered around the parking lot, until at last 5 o’clock arrived and we could go in. Animal Control Officer Trey Nodine was willing to show us around, so we headed off the check out the cats.

The Cornelius Animal Shelter.

The room full of cats was at the front of the building. Cages lined the walls, with one or two cats in each. The doors had gaps large enough for the cats to stick their noses out to be petted. Most of them were kittens or still very young, but a few were adult cats. They all looked very soft. Officer Nodine let us take one of them out of the cage to hold. It was still cute and tiny, and had two siblings. We were told that whenever possible they like to keep siblings together, but it doesn’t always work out that way.

One of the cats that was up for adoption.

In the back of the building are the cages for all the dogs. Going down a small hallway, we passed six roomy cages, but all were empty at the moment because the dogs were in the outside cages getting some exercise. Currently, there are five dogs at the shelter, four males and one female who has been adopted and will be heading home soon. Officer Nodine told us we could go into any of the cages we wanted. We visited several dogs, all of whom were really excited to see us. They started jumping around when we walked outside, and when we went into the cages, they climbed all over us. The biggest dog jumped up and tired to lick our faces, while the smaller ones merely left dusty paw prints on our legs. They were all excited and very cute, begging for attention the whole time we were there. One of our favorites was a small Dachshund-Pitzer mix. He jumped all over us, but seemed to be really friendly and very happy to have company, and we really wanted to take him home with us.

The shelter as a whole is a really nice facility. The cats and dogs are happy and well cared for, and everything is very clean. The lobby is nice, with a bright colored floor with lots of paw prints drawn onto it. They even provide a small room where anyone considering adopting a pet can sit, and get to know it better in a cozy setting can play with it. On the way out, be sure to grab some of their hand-sanitizer.

A dog at the shelter that has been adopted.

The animal shelter, located at 19110 Meridian St., is open Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m., and opens again from 5 p.m.-7 p.m. On Saturday it is open from 9 a.m. to noon, and it’s closed Sundays and Mondays. You have to be 18 to volunteer, but their website, corneliusanimalshelter.org provides a list of donations they need, and other information.

If you have seen a stray animal, this animal shelter can only take animals from Cornelius. If you live in Davidson, you should call the police at 704 892-5131. These cases are handled by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Animal Control.

Rafting down the whitewater course. See a gallery below.

We picked the hottest day of one recent week to head over to the U.S. National Whitewater Center in Charlotte. Although our adventure kept us outside in the heat more than we wanted, it was well worth it. And falling off your  raft is a great way to cool down fast.

When we arrived at the center, the sight of an angular building that was more overhang than inside greeted us. We had expected it to be more of an indoor facility, but as it turns out, everything but a restaurant and the store is outdoors. We bought tickets that gave us full access the center’s many activities, booked a raft trip time, and were off.

The landscape is dominated by the whitewater course, which stretched out in front of us as we stood on the back deck of the building. It looped in two courses under a bridge and around a central pond where both courses end.

While we waited for our rafting time, we headed over to the MegaZip and MegaJump tower. The zip-line launches from an approximately four-story tower and continues over the whitewater course to a platform on the other side. After a long wait in hot sun, we at last reached the gearing up stage. We strapped into harnesses, and with the sliders for the zip-line clunking heavily against our backs, we made our awkward way upstairs. As we got clipped into the zip-lines, the staff warned us to keep our feet tucked up, because with the strong wind blowing across the water, there was a chance we could get stuck. We had already seen a smaller girl ahead of us come to a stop and wait, dangling over the water, until a staff person could throw her a rescue rope and tow her in.

We zipped across successfully, and got a wonderful view as we flew over the whole center. The walk back up with the gear still clanking down our backs was less fabulous, but we had the promise of rafting to look forward to.

After a briefing on safety and gearing up, we met our raft guide and fellow rafters and set out on the course. After a smooth first run, we caught the raft-sized escalator back up to the top of the loop, which was a quite fun way to get back upstream. On our second run, the guide decided to get more adventurous, and we ‘surfed’ one of the bigger rapids, running the bow of our raft into it repeatedly, so that a wave of water washed over the boat again and again. Once, the front two people flipped out when another boat came by and knocked us off balance, but the water felt refreshing anyway, and the next time we surfed and exited successfully.

On the more advanced run, our guide had us try a tricky maneuver, which was almost successful. In the end, six of the seven passengers in the raft, including the guide, were tossed out when the boat stood up almost vertically and nearly capsized.

As if falling several times into whitewater was not enough excitement for one day, after lunch we attempted to MegaJump. This starts on the same platform as the zip-line, but instead of gently following a zip-line down, the jump is a straight drop. The staff attached us to a catch line, and then told us to step up to the edge. Looking over the edge to the ground almost made us change our minds about jumping. Grabbing onto our harnesses for some support, we finally took that hardest step off the edge … and discovered it was a ton of fun. There was no feeling of dropping in our stomachs, instead it was closer to feeling like flying for those few brief seconds. We went several times in a row; since most people were not crazy enough to try, there was no wait.

After the MegaJump, we decided to go mountain biking on the center’s extensive trails. Visitors can bring their own bikes, or borrow them from the center. Since we were getting tired, we chose the easiest trail, Green. It went around some small ponds, mostly in the woods, but also through some fields. At some points the trail got so narrow, our handlebars could barely fit between the dense foliage.

The trails were far away from any roads or crowds, so it felt like you were all alone in the woods (even thought that wasn’t anywhere near the truth). It was nice to be able to get away from all that noise for a while. When we got to the end of the trails, we were pretty tired, but decided to check out the climbing wall briefly. Afterwards, we headed home exhausted and sweaty, but having had a fun, action-packed day.

US National Whitewater Center’s main gate and trails are open 365 days a year, from dawn to dusk, but the other activities are open more selectively, depending on the day of the week, and the month. Whitewater rafting isn’t widely available in the fall and winter, but all the other activities are. The AllSport Passes we got were $49 for those age 10 and up, and $39 for everyone younger.

More information is available at www.usnwc.org.

Paulina Campbell is a rising senior at Woodlawn School. Emma Boraks is a rising freshman at North Mecklenburg High School. They’re spending part of their summers scoping out alternatives to TV-watching and Web-surfing. Have ideas or want to reach them? Leave a comment below, or email editor@davidsonnews.net. See previous columns in the “Summer Scoop” category.

Village Rider sign on Main Street. (Emma Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

We’ve seen Charlotte Area Transit System’s Village Rider buses pass by on Main Street countless times, but realized we had no idea where the North Meck Village Rider actually went. So this week, we ventured a bit farther out of the area, riding almost the entire loop of the No. 97 Village Rider, and making a stop at the North County Regional Library on the way.

We stood in the heat outside Town Hall, waiting next to a bus stop sign and wondering when the bus would get there. Every time we heard a loud car going past, we looked up, hoping it was the bus, but it never was. The way the bus schedule works, we knew that it had to come between certain times, but not exactly when. So we stood there speculating about what we’d do if the bus didn’t come, and what passing drivers must think we were doing.

And then it came. We got on, and paid less than we were expecting.  The fare is 85 cents for students in grades K-12, $1.75 for adults and free for children under 5. (We didn’t have quite the right change, so we just dropped quarters in until we had enough. We’d recommend bringing a selection of loose change.) We got our seats and settled back to see where the bus would take us.

The best part about the ride was sitting in the air conditioning and watching the scenery pass by. People-watching was also quite interesting, as they got on and off. Since we were on the inbound bus (southbound on N.C. 115 toward Charlotte), we went through Cornelius first, passing the Food Lion. The bus continued onto Catawba Avenue, across I-77, by the Palace Theatre, then passed through Birkdale Village. Then we headed east on N.C. 73 to the North County Regional Library. We decided to go straight to the library instead, and maybe stop off at Birkdale on the way back, when the bus was on that side of the road.

The library, as seen from the bus stop.

Getting off at the library was a bit scary, since we had to pull the cord to get the bus to stop, and we worried about pulling it too early or too late. When we finally got off, we set out armed only with the bus map and schedule, but no real idea of which bus we had to get on to get back home. We were there for the adventure.

Once we arrived at the library, we were eager to go look at books. We were amazed at the selection. We actually managed to find books we’d never heard of. (Which is somewhat difficult to do – we like books!) Once we had picked out all of our books and spent some time reading, it was time to board the bus–or wait another hour until the next one came.

After a short wait, we were back on board. Then we noticed the bus wasn’t traveling back toward Davidson, but farther out toward downtown Huntersville! We later discovered we were supposed board at a stop across Sam Furr Road. So, we decided to stay on the bus (air conditioning!) and see where it took us.

During our ride, we noticed lots of places we could have gotten off, if we had more time, such as Red Mango Frozen Yogurt in Huntersville. We also passed through places we hadn’t expected the bus would take us, like a residential area in Huntersville. We kept riding all the way to the end of the line, where we hoped the bus would turn around, and head back up to Davidson. Instead, we found that it turned into an entirely different bus, the 99, which was continuing on toward Northlake Mall.

Luckily, the bus driver was happy to point us to the correct bus, and gave us transfers (slips of paper representing an already paid fare) so we didn’t have to pay twice to switch buses. When we finally arrived home, we were tired but ready to read our new books and plan for our next adventure. We decided the day was not about the destination, but the journey.

Paulina Campbell is a rising senior at Woodlawn School. Emma Boraks is a rising freshman at North Mecklenburg High School. They’re spending part of their summers scoping out alternatives to TV-watching and Web-surfing. Have ideas or want to reach them? Leave a comment below, or email editor@davidsonnews.net. See previous columns in the “Summer Scoop” category.

RELATED LINKS

CATS Website- ridetransit.org

Charlotte Mecklenburg Library website- cmlibrary.org

Path along the creek at Fisher Farm Park. See a photo gallery below.

Even though it has been ridiculously hot, we decided to get outside to explore this week. We hopped in the car and headed to Fisher Farm, the local nature preserve/park on Shearer Road, in east Davidson. Our timing was impeccable, as a gathering storm cooled the air nicely. It also added a bit of excitement to our trip when the clouds broke around us, letting down torrents of much needed rain.

After stepping out of the car in the parking lot, we picked a trail that led downhill, toward the creek. When the path turned uphill, we decided to bail on that trail, and bush-whacked through some grass to a neighboring trail that also went downhill. However, that one ran out, too, so we gave up on trails.

The good thing about being lost in a grassy field was we could simply cut across the grass toward the edge of the woods which concealed the creek. Although it had gotten somewhat cooler, we still wanted to cool off our feet.

After many exclamations on how itchy the grass was, we finally reached the edge of the creek. However, we had not realized it was several feet below us, and that we would need to find a place to scramble down the bank to reach the water. The creek was tantalizingly close: We knew it was right there, but all the places where others had gone down before us looked too steep or too covered in plants.

As we went, hundreds of grasshoppers sprang up around us, jumping into the taller grass to avoid our feet. At last, right when we were about to turn around and go back to the first, fairly accessible point we had seen, we found the perfect place to go down. The ground was sandy and so soft on our feet, a contrast to the rough gravel in the stream. Barefoot, we explored a bit of the stream, relishing the cold water. As we waded, we listened to the wind picking up in the trees, until, too soon, the sound of thunder forced us to get out and consider the fastest way back to the parking lot before the storm reached us.

We decided just to keep walking, and to keep our fingers crossed. The sky looked stormy, and the thunder kept getting closer, but it didn’t start raining. For a while at least. The trail back was all uphill, which was tiring after being out there for almost 45 minutes.

It finally started to sprinkle lightly, but luckily the large tree branches sheltered the narrow path we were on. We thought we were lost for a while, and got nervous as the rain came down faster. Fortunately, the cars soon appeared up ahead, just across a field.

As soon as we needed to cross the wide expanse of grass, however, it began pouring. We got soaked just running to the car. Luckily, we managed to get inside with no problems. Other than being dripping wet, of course. And we managed to get some great shots of the rain.

Paulina Campbell is a rising senior at Woodlawn School. Emma Boraks is a rising freshman at North Mecklenburg High School. They’re spending part of their summers scoping out alternatives to TV-watching and Web-surfing. Have ideas or want to reach them? Leave a comment below, or email editor@davidsonnews.net.

FISHER FARM GALLERY