Seed-spitting Fun
Watermelon hits its prime in August, sweetening backyard barbecues, lazy-day picnics and beach parties. The 32nd annual N.C. Watermelon Festival in Murfreesboro (two hours from Raleigh) takes place Aug. 2 to 5.

This year's salute to summertime includes entertainment, arts and crafts, food, a 5K race/walk, fireworks and a carnival atmosphere with Cole Amusement rides and games. The craft area features a large market tent that spotlights regional wares.

Featured groups taking the stage are: Aug. 2 – Band of Oz; Aug. 3 – Backyard Groove; Aug. 4 – Steve Owens and the Summertime Band; and Aug. 5 – Pizazz.
For more info, go to ncwatermelonfest.com.

Look! Up in the Sky!
It's not a bird, plane or Superman. A total solar eclipse is occurring over the United States for the first time in 26 years. The once-in-a-generation event on Aug. 21 lasts mere minutes, and seeing it is the opportunity of a lifetime.

Incredible news for those of us in North Carolina: The path traverses Great Smoky Mountains National Park as well as western counties, including municipalities such as Bryson City, Cherokee, Cullowhee, Highlands and Murphy.

Trip-planning tools, destination details and information about
local events are available at greatsmokies.com/2017eclipse. In addition, dark-sky stargazing events, ancient meteorites and NASA history may be found at the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute near Brevard (pari.edu).

Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner
You'll have the time of your life at the annual Dirty Dancing Festival, Aug. 18 to 19, in Lake Lure. Carolina Woman editors have attended in years past, and we guarantee it!
The first night features a lakeside showing of the 1987 Oscar-winning film "Dirty Dancing" on a jumbo screen. The romantic drama was shot in Lake Lure, which served as a stand-in for New York's Catskill mountains.

Set in 1963, the blockbuster focuses on an idealistic 17-year-old, Frances "Baby" Houseman (Jennifer Gray), who falls in love with a from-the-streets dance instructor, Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze), during her family's summer vacation at a mountain resort. A low-budget film produced by a new studio and lacking major stars, Dirty Dancing became a massive box office hit.

You don't know what you've been missing until you're among 2,000 fans who're shouting the best lines of dialogue into the night air!

The festival excitement also includes live music, watermelon games, dance lessons, shag contests, food, vendors and a lift competition in the lake. Go to dirtydancingfestival.com for tickets.