We went to our second RC Cola & Moon Pie Festival today in Bell Buckle, Tennessee. It’s a great day filled with a craft fair, the RC King and Moon Pie Queen, music and, of course, plenty of RC Cola and Moon Pies. Now, I was always okay with Moon Pies. But there’s something wrong with the ones bought at a gas station or grocery store. They taste much like cardboard. Not that I have actually consumed cardboard…this friend of mine, he ate cardboard. Or so I hear.

But a Moon Pie shipped in fresh from Chattanooga to Bell Buckle for the annual festival is something special. It’s like pineapple in Jamaica or Hawaii. Or coffee in Seattle. Or gumbo in New Orleans. They taste totally different than what you normally find. I don’t like coffee unless it’s tastes like Seattle (Tully’s preferred), I don’t like pineapple unless it’s absolutely fresh, and I don’t like Moon Pies unless they come from Bell Buckle in mid-June. That may threaten my status as a Southerner, but I’ll take the hit.

One special occasion occurred today much like what the arrival of Jesus will be like, possibly. I tried a deep fried Moon Pie.

(Yes, I think I just compared Jesus to a Moon Pie, but if hearing “well done” is half as good as that deep fried goodness then Jesus can’t arrive soon enough). But they don’t just deep fry it. And Jesus just won’t show up at your door and say “hi”. First they dip it in some sort of batter, a soul-soothing mixture of who knows what. Then, after it’s passage through hell (this comparison is hereby officially gone too far), it’s sprinkled with powdered sugar and drenched in chocolate syrup. I nearly wept at the sight of it, and then Noah, Elijah and I, all took a trip to Heaven beneath a maple tree in Bell Buckle.

Now, you might say “I’ve had a better treat that that” and name any variety of sweet concoction.

But you would be wrong.

RC-Moon Pie Festival ™ 2008 Schedule of Events: 7:00 am RC-Moon Pie 10 Mile Run ™ 9:00 am Art & Craft Fair/Food Court – Open All Day 9:30 am Cloggers 10:00 am RC-Moon Pie 10 Mile Race ™ Awards 10:30 am-10:55 am Bluegrass Express Cloggers 11:00 am RC-Moon Pie Recipe Cloggers 11:30 am-11:55 am Southern Country Cloggers 12:00 pm-12:15 pm Contests--Family who traveled the Farthest, Oldest Person Present, Youngest Person Present 12:15 pm Synchronized Wading "A Midsummer's Nightmare" 1:00 pm Uncle Tom's Band 2:00 pm-2:15 pm Coronation and Opening of Olympic Games 2:15 pm-3:45 pm People's Bank of Bedford county Games--Moon Pie Toss, RC Dash, Moon Pie Hoops, Watermelon Seed Spitting Contest, Hog Calling Contest 3:45 pm King and Queen select Knights. World's Largest Moon Pie Cut & Served by the King and Queen and Knights of the Moon Pie Round 4:00 pm-until Uncle Tom's Band