This weekend the small town of Dillsboro in western NC was finally back to holding their annual Easter parade on the day before Easter. We were there in 2018, our first drive event with the Appalachian Mountain MINI club, and I posted about it then. See the cars and the parade from that year here – Dillsboro Parade. So, the following year, I knew we needed to make a good effort, so I made my Easter Bonnet to wear. You can see the construction of it on my Easter Bonnet post. Unfortunately, the parade was rained out in 2019, and canceled in 2020. So, it has been three years, and we are excited to finally get to be a part of this fun club event again.
The merchants in the tiny three block downtown area go all out with decorations.
Rabbits and eggs, along with lots of flowers were in planters and on the sidewalk.
We met up in a parking lot just across the train tracks from the parade route.
Car decorations were put on after we had lunch. Unfortunately, our lunch went long due to really slow service, so we had to hustle to get the cars decorated and lined up.
Next time we are bringing a picnic. But everyone was ready when the time came. Just barely.
There was a line of antique cars in the parade ahead of us.
Then it was our turn, we slowly drove the scant three blocks, waving to the people on the sidewalks. They were waving back, too, so fun!! I jumped out at the end of the block to take some photos.
We had nine cars in the parade. Aren’t these pink ears and nose cute? This one also had pinwheels on the mirrors.
I loved this one, a blow up dragon in an Easter egg. Behind it, the blue MINI was decked out in sparkly rabbits.
Another MINI with ears and a pink nose, with eggs hanging from the mirror.
Back at the parking area, we formed up again to remove the decorations. I knew you’d want to see me in my hat, so here I am.
Then we set off on a short drive. We were leading the way, so the only shots I have of the cars on the road is in the mirror. Lovely mountains frame our route.
We drove on River Road, alongside the Tuckasegee River. The name is a Cherokee word meaning turtle, as the river flows slowly. This little section had small falls over tiered rocks. Very pretty.
The river was high, due to recent rains. It is a big fishing river for small mouth bass and trout.
We had the top down, so at a stop sign I could turn around and get one shot of the group.
We ended at a neat ice cream shop called Jack the Dipper, which boasts fresh made waffle cones and Hershey’s ice cream. It has a heavenly aroma in the shop! I got Cappuccino Crunch, with a chocolate swirl and toffee chips. My Sweet Babboo had Brown Butter Bourbon Truffle.
So, a few glitches on the day, but overall a fun time. Our car clubs are finally coming out for fun, and we have a drive every Saturday in April. I hope you are having some fun safely this weekend. Happy Easter! I’ll be slow cooking a ham today, and relaxing, chatting with readers and friends online.
What are your plans for today?
From My Carolina Home 
That’s a fancy Easter hat. Thanks for sharing all the pics. Looks like you all had a good time.
What festive fun!!
What a fun Easter Parade, which would not be complete without your bonnet! Thanks for a sweet ride on a beautiful sunny day. I thought of your car club yesterday as we drove by our local Mini dealership. I sandwiched the last two flimsies I had from last year, put aside when I got into holiday sewing. One of them was the Autumn Jubliee quilt. It was a bit unusual seeing harvest colors at the start of the growing season, said my DH. I’ll be quilting today.
Thank you for sharing such a fun and beautiful day with all of us! I’m so inspired by the spirit in a small town to host a short but sweet parade on such a lovely spring day. You look adorable in your Easter Bonnet, a reminder of the days of new outfits and shoes and hats and gloves that we wore for Easter sunrise service (Of course that was back in the covered wagon days of my youth!). No new clothes this year, and we are having an abbreviated ham feast for dinner, but imho Easter is about hope: I’m holding onto hope for more normal times and a tableful of family for NEXT year! Enjoy your day!
What a fun parade and day! Happy Easter, Carole!
looks like a fantastic fun day – Happy Easter to you
Happy Easter to you and yours, All of you have got to be having the time of your lives on these beautiful trips, Thank you for sharing your trips with all of us. I so would have loved taking part is such wonderful Adventures. My better half and youngest son simply didn’t like the cold so we only got to Fayetteville, Ga. Wondering how in the world your better half could see with that big bunny on the front windshield. I’m staying at home catching up on some chores I have neglected for a-while and so far I have divided them up into about 4 days of things to achieve so wish me luck, didn’t Realize I had let so many things get put onto the back burner. Looking forward to visiting ya’ll on all your trips this month. Phyllis
Thanks for sharing all your great photo’s. Loved your hat and of course I always love seeing the GB cars 🙂 🙂
Oh by the way your hat is adorable.
Happy Easter Carole. This morning old man winter is shaking his fist at us once more.. He never seems to understand that there is a time and place for everything, and it’s time for him to hibernate so spring and summer can have their seasonal parties. Looks as if you folks have the old guy put away for the new seasons arrival..
That looks like it was a fun and beautiful day! Your hat is very impressive! We’ll be having a quiet day here, just visiting with our kids and both moms on the phone or Facetime. Happy Easter!
Happy Easter Carole and hubby! I remembered your Easter bonnet! That’s not a hat easily forgotten! Glad your group got to drive in the parade!
Sweet happy parade.
Happy Easter 🌼
What a lovely day you had! I love seeing the pictures and hearing about the small town. I just might get a little quilting in while my pot roast is cooking! Have a wonderful Easter!
Looks like a fun time was had by all. Love the Mini parade. My recently retired Marine son and DIL have a Mini and love it. He’s 6’4″ and about 230 lbs. I can’t believe he’s comfortable in that small space, but he says he fits just fine and has plenty of room. Ok, whatever he says. So glad you are getting out for your weekend drives with friends again. Such fun outings to look forward to. Happy Easter to you and yours!
Lovely parade and lovely day for it. Your hat is gorgeous – how in the world did you keep it on? My biggest laugh came at the name of the ice cream shop – Jack the Dipper! Is the shop in Dillsboro? Might be worth a trip!
Thanks for sharing your Easter goodies.
Mary Ed
Looks like everyone was having fun for the Easter Parade. Bet there were smiles on everyone’s faces. All quiet here. The weather conditions are calm and sunny, so I think I’ll go out and spray deer repellent on the emerging plants. There were 3 deer in the back yard this morning and a herd of 14 ran through the yard the other day. Happy Easter.
Looks like a wonderful time. Wish our car club would do more outings! Glad you were able to get out and enjoy the sunshine!
Happy Easter Carole. What a fun parade. I’m happy to hear you have car club events every weekend in April. Good to see signs we are returning to normalcy.
Happy Easter! Thanks for sharing your Easter fun. Love your Easter hat! How fun!
To wear your hat, join in the parade, and meet friends, a treat that must have made the wait so worthwhile, Love all those cars with decorations, And for some who cannot get out much, they would have so enjoyed seeing all the bunnies, ears, and more as the cars drove by.
We had church outside today and a small family dinner after that. I enjoyed the car club parade and drive.
I think you all had a grand time, and the ice cream sounds amazing! Love that hat!
So glad you are enjoying your Car Club Days again. Great hat – so good it got an airing on such a lovely day.
‘Warm Waffle Cones’, who could resist that call to lick and slurp?
Let’s hope the weather continues to be lovely for your forthcoming Club days which I hope you will share with us.
Happy Easter!
Such a fun festive event. Happy Easter.
What a lovely day you had, it looks such fun with the decorated cars.
My fav pics that you take are the rear view! And the hat and the cars and the ice cream – not fair – I want some too! First time in a long time that Chicago actually didn’t have bad weather for Easter. Took the dog for 2 really long walks at the Forest Preserve – I found 2 bags of Bunny stuffies and put them all over the yard and a sign that says “Everybody needs some bunny” Hard to stay in and finish the quilts due for the dog auction. So nice out.
Thanks so much for sharing your day and all the lovely scenery.
Looks like a fun event and you had a gorgeous day for it.
What a fun day. I’d be totally down finishing the day with Jack The Dipper too and it sounded like you made a very wise (and delicious) choice. Yummy!
What a fun day, and quite an Easter bonnet! I’m so glad your car club was able to have an event again, they all looked so cute in their Easter fashions!
Jenna
Love a great Easter parade but this one topped off with those ice creamer choices takes the prize!
The parade looks like a lot of fun and it is great to see the community getting behind it.
Carole, I love your Easter bonnet. This looks like it was a really fun event!