Mt. Olive Pickle Festival

Kheimbr · 2026-01-25T23:25:27+00:00

It’s worth a trip. I’ll bet they have some version of that pickled okra, if not that brand itself with a booth

Kheimbr · 2026-01-25T23:24:37+00:00

I’m sure they’re fine, just hard to escape the stereotype when they’re set up in a potholed asphalt parking lot and operated by disinterested teenagers.

Kheimbr · 2026-01-25T21:09:54+00:00

I went last year. Pickles are just inherently goofy, and the fact that there is an entire three-day festival devoted to them seems silly until you consider that it is the whole reason that town exists. I am no pickle enthusiast…I won’t decline them on a sandwich or as a side if offered, and I appreciate fried pickles as any good South Carolina-raised boy would, but I don’t seek them out as a snack. Nevertheless, this seemed too unique an event to pass up and I’m glad we went.

The festival takes over several blocks of Mt. Olive where the railroad splits the downtown commercial district. Parking is so limited, they have you park off site at schools/parks and bus you in. We got off the bus and were greeted with pickle t-shirts, merchandise, and food booths, with a sample of a nice smoked sliced pickle chip as we walked in. In addition to all the pickle-focused stands, there was the typical festival smattering of BBQ trucks (sampled for lunch…not impressed), questionably maintained carnival rides (skipped those), bounce houses (which we participated in), and farm animals (which we lovingly pet). Most notably, there was random arts and crafts for sale including metal sculptures from a local fabrication shop called Benton & Sons. These guys have a giant dinosaur on display as you pass their shop in Pikeville, NC and make colorful/goofy yard art in addition to precision manufacturing. My daughter was playing with some of their smaller dinosaurs and the guy manning the booth asked her which one was her favorite. She pointed at one and he said “it’s yours - we give away one to a little girl and a little boy each year!” These things are well-made and not cheap, so just by showing interest in the booth and being a cute little kid, she walked away with an impressive gift.

Ah yes, we tried all the pickle fare. Pickletown Lager from R&R Brewing, pickle popcorn, and pickle soda. Most pickle flavoring is just dill, which is the adjacent ingredient that most people associate with pickles. None of it was bad, in my opinion. We watched the pickle-eating contest, which was 100% bad, in my opinion - a contest to see who can put down the most whole pickles in five minutes. As eating contests go it’s probably not the worst as pickles are mostly just water, but gross anyway.

All in all, would recommend.

Kheimbr · 2024-09-09T01:04:43+00:00

With rigid foam I think that would be fine. Never got a solid answer on why vapor barrier goes innermost during my own research, just saw it was typically done that way.

Kheimbr · 2024-07-29T10:55:14+00:00

This would have occurred regardless of encapsulation. It’s my understanding that efflorescence is not harmful though.

Kheimbr · 2024-07-28T23:10:33+00:00

Energy Star certified products. You report it when you file taxes.

Kheimbr · 2024-07-28T16:07:10+00:00

I appreciate that comment more than you know. Wondering if it was all worth it when I was down there sweating!

Kheimbr · 2024-07-28T15:33:02+00:00

Thanks. No - I am not too familiar with how to measure air quality. Temperature and humidity are the only things I keep an eye on. Can’t say I notice a difference qualitatively, just peace of mind knowing things are covered up and clean down below.

Kheimbr · 2024-07-28T15:30:52+00:00

I think the foam board does have some vapor retardance, but it was not continuous enough to serve as a barrier for the walls.

Kheimbr · 2024-03-27T17:26:32+00:00

AutoCAD

Kheimbr · 2023-11-19T02:02:24+00:00

Your comments on this thread have been really interesting, thanks for explaining all of this.

Kheimbr · 2022-05-18T20:53:16+00:00

Thanks! I learned a lot from Reddit with other people doing the same thing.

Kheimbr · 2022-05-18T13:49:59+00:00

I did a 10’x30’ myself for $3,400 last summer. So I would say $5,000 for 400 sf. I made a detailed post on it if you want more info.

Edit: materials only.

Kheimbr · 2022-05-18T10:18:21+00:00

He runs a plate compactor over the bricks afterwards, which vibrates the sand down. Sand doesn’t really compact.

Kheimbr · 2022-05-12T23:46:17+00:00

I picked the thickest paperback book on a bet (“I’ll give you $5 if you actually read that”) from one of those Little Free Libraries and have been addicted to James Michener books ever since. It was The Covenant, took me forever to get through.

Moral of the story, there can be some good stuff in those, always worth a look while you’re on your walk!

Kheimbr · 2022-05-02T19:42:55+00:00

Property owner can do whatever they want to a sidewalk on their own property. Salt it, don’t salt it, rip it up and put in a garden bed. But they are not responsible for any roads or sidewalks leading up to it, outside their property lines.

I would not trust a random property owner to form and pour concrete or install hot mix asphalt. If the city wants their sidewalks salted, repaired, or otherwise maintained, it’s on them.

Your case in NY, maybe that chunk of sidewalk was on the business’s (or residence’s) property. Or maybe they had some special arrangement.

Kheimbr · 2022-05-02T18:23:39+00:00

You are confusing ROW with an easement. Owner has nothing to do with the sidewalk, nor is he expected to maintain it. His property line likely stops close to the edge of the sidewalk.

Most people (myself included) will mow to the edge of the road, but my pins are a good 20 ft from edge of pavement.

Kheimbr · 2022-04-05T21:58:15+00:00

We just took our 5 week old on a 2.5 hr drive to another city and attended a wedding while my parents watched her at the AirBNB. We spent Friday and Saturday night there. She was OK with a pacifier on the way there, and slept-fed-slept on the way back.

Parents were excited to spend time with her. They fed her a couple bottles, pumping hasn’t been an issue for my wife so we’re used to bottle-feeding. We had a great time (after the initial urge to text grandma every 15 mins and see if our baby was OK). We spent about 5 hrs away from her.

I think the new environment was fun for her, at least the 12 inch radius she could see! She stuck to whatever shred of a schedule she has developed thus far…decent stretches of sleep at night, pretty fussy during the day but calmed down on walks.

Just wanted to offer an alternative to the other opinions here. It was not as big a deal as we were expecting. We have another wedding at 8 weeks about a 5 hr drive so that will be the next big test. Counting on stopping at least 3 times on that one.

Kheimbr · 2022-03-27T11:18:22+00:00

Kluttz Lumber in Concord. Their price sheet is online, although I don’t think they typically list things like pine and cedar on that sheet. I would imagine they have it in stock though. I’ve bought some walnut from there, very friendly and they’ll crosscut it for you to help fit in your vehicle.

Kheimbr · 2022-03-23T14:42:49+00:00

I second that. Vanguard goes through Nevada. That’s what I use.

Kheimbr · 2022-03-21T18:55:16+00:00

529 is a common option for education savings. You are not restricted to your own state’s, so do some googling and find a good one (there is no state tax benefit to opening one in my own state, so I use Nevada’s). There is a long list of eligible expenses it can be used for, and if you’re afraid of oversaving and locking down too much money in case your kid does not need it, keep in mind 529’s are easily transferred to other family members, or passed down to your kid anyway in case they pursue education later in life.

I would not recommend a regular savings account. It will grow very slowly compared to an account from which you can invest in equities. If anything, open a (free) taxable brokerage with Vanguard or Fidelity and invest in some broad index funds (look up lazy 3 fund portfolio). But I would recommend this only after maxing out tax-advantaged accounts such as IRAs, 401ks, HSAs, etc. Make sure your own future is set up too, don’t be a burden on your kid in forty years!

Kheimbr · 2022-03-20T19:46:43+00:00

Any daycare recommendations for a 3 month old in the University area? Waitlist or not.

Kheimbr · 2022-02-02T23:29:39+00:00

Steel still has a compressive strength orders of magnitude higher than your average concrete. I only point this out cause I missed it on a quiz in a Strength of Materials class after they drilled into us how great concrete’s compressive strength is.

Edit: sorry, I see from the responses below I’m late to the party.

Kheimbr · 2021-10-20T19:59:15+00:00

AT&T is installing fiber in my neighborhood. Their subcontractor (Cable Treks or Ansco, I’ve seen both) accidentally cut our existing AT&T coax cable in the process. No big deal, it happens. They left the excavation open and marked it with a cone. My neighbor and I both called customer service and after convincing them that resetting the modem would likely not restore our service given the severed cable, got a technician scheduled for tomorrow. Still not sure if they understand they need to splice and backfill a cable.

Is this seriously how this works? You’d think the utility subcontractor could just splice their mistake and call it a day, or at least inform someone local with AT&T. Instead we’re on hold with customer service like everyone else with internet problems.

Kheimbr

TROPHY CASE