Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2014 - 24

Country
Roads

The reasons? Well, we Mountain Easterners
have several:
1. The infamous parkway crack, which
appeared in July near milepost 374 north of
Asheville, which ran to 300 feet long and six
inches wide, became a walk-to "attraction"
in its own right and closed the parkway for a
20-mile section for more than a month.
2. The Asheville Citizen-Times in March quoted
parkway officials on broken traffic counters
contributing to the low visitor numbers, with
one noting in March that of 42 counters, 11
were functioning.
3. The October shut-down of parts of the federal government was timed nearly perfectly to
the parkway's peak visitation time - leaf
season.
4. Golden Gate Park has, of course, no leaves
to see. Plus they have, you know, that giant
city there next to them.
Plus, of course, the usual things that compromise parkway visitation: bad-weather
stretches, heavy rains, repeated closures for
snow/ice and construction.
Hey, we'll get 'em in '14. -KR

SH EN AN DO AH

Nearly 100 pages
take you milepost
by milepost.

"The Second Bud:
Deserting the City for a
Farm Winery,"
by Martha Ezzard. Mercer University
Press. $25 Hardback.
When a late frost kills that first, large
grapevine bud in the spring, the second bud may in part redeem that
season's growth. Writer Martha
Ezzard didn't suffer a killing frost,
but the vineyard that she and her
husband John started late in life provided a new
start, one very different from the life she had
enjoyed in Denver and Atlanta.
"The Second Bud" is Ezzard's memoir of the
move from big-city lawyer and journalist to a
vineyard wife, doing "deliciously dirty work,"
coping with blisters, achy shoulders and
weather woes. As the story of a woman facing
a significant life change later in life, the book
provides a gentle insight into relationships, challenges, and adjustments.
The book is also the tale of a vineyard and winery - Tiger Mountain Vineyards in north
Georgia - yielding a perspective that can escape
the casual wine drinker. After all, tours usually

Parkway

TO T H E GR EA
T SM OK Y M OU
NT AI NS

B LU E

R I D G E

VIRGINIA NO
RTH CAROLIN
A TENNESSEE

involve the more glamorous
aspect of the business.

BOOK REVIEW:

Here, the reader sees the process from the very beginning,
granting a fuller understanding to the wine business saying, "Good wine is made in the
winery, but great wine starts in
the vineyard." Grapevine
choice, pruning, sludge pots,
partnerships, solicitations and
sales, clubs, events, hard work
and sleepless nights - the book peeks behind
the scenes to add depth to any winery visit.
If I would offer one warning before beginning
the book, it is this: be sure to have some bottles
of fine wine at hand before you start, preferably a Tiger Mountain Norton, Viognier,
Cabernet Franc, or other that pleases your palate. After all, reading about life in a winery will
have you thirsting for the fruits of the vine.
Ezzard's book is sprinkled with metaphors,
progressing through the seasons of life and the
vineyards. As she shows how the grapevine's
second bud can resurrect a frostbitten vine, she
demonstrates that her family's new life on the
farm has a second bud, too. -ANNIE TOBEY

YOUR
ROAD
TRIP
BEGINS
when you open
this guide
Click for your
FREE guide
BlueRidgeParkwayUSA.com
Photo by RonAndersonImages.com

24 | BlueRidgeCountry.com

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Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2014