THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 8, 1995 TAG: 9510060054
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STEPHEN HARRIMAN
LENGTH: Long : 119 lines
MOST AUTUMN celebrations tend to focus on something good to eat: a crab carnival or an oyster festival or a wine and seafood gala. Also going on are pumpkin pickin' and sorghum squeezin' and cider pressin' because, after all, it is harvest time.
Wonderful time to travel.
But if you're thinking about traveling in a gastronomic direction, skip to the next item.
This is about worms. Cuddly woolly worms.
Down in Banner Elk, N.C., in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains, they're getting set to celebrate the 18th annual Woolly Worm Festival Oct. 21-22. (If you can get there early, the kickoff is actually the Woolly Worm Ball Oct. 20.)
There are a lot of exciting things going on throughout the weekend - more fun than you can possibly imagine, I've been told - but the highlight is the Woolly Worm Race. You, too, can play.
The races are held on a flatbed trailer that has a backboard with 20 strings attached. People either buy local fuzzy brown and black striped worms or bring their own. The worms climb the strings in heat after heat until a winner is determined. The winner's prize sometimes goes as high at $500.
Arguably the best part is that the ``racemaster'' is local-boy-made-good Tom Burleson, the 7-foot-3 former N.C. State and erstwhile pro basketball player, who has been known occasionally to break into a clogging routine that must make him look like the tallest marionette whose strings have ever been pulled.
The most enlightening part is that the winning worm's stripes are ``read'' by the mayor and the town fathers. In case you didn't know, that's actually the way weather is predicted. The Weather Channel people aren't going to like this, but here's how it works:
There are 13 stripes on a worm, corresponding to the 13 weeks of winter. The darker the stripe, the colder the week will be. The Banner Elk worm readers have about a 90 percent accuracy rate for the past 17 years. So there.
Info: (704) 898-5605.
P.S. - No pets, please; especially no aardvarks. SPEAKING OF PUNKINS
The annual World Championship Punkin' Chunkin' competition near Lewes, Del., will expand this year from one day to two days, Nov. 4 and 5. It'll be the 10th year for the contest, in which pumpkins are catapulted for distance; last year's winning lob was 2,508 feet.
The event was begun by a small group of friends as a way to deal with pumpkins after Halloween, but it has grown immensely, drawing more than 20,000 people last year. Info (302) 645-8073. OTHER CALENDAR MARKERS
Yorktown Victory Center will celebrate the 214th anniversary of the American-French victory over the British with military re-enactments and camp-life demonstrations, Oct. 14-15 (9-5 both days). Admission $6.75 adults, $3.25 children 6-12. Info: (804) 253-4138.
The 38th annual Urbanna Oyster Festival is expected to dark between 60,000 and 80,000 serious eaters Nov. 3-4 (10-noon Friday, 8-7 Saturday). Urbanna is about two hours (allowing for traffic) from South Hampton Roads via U.S. 17 on the Middle Peninsula. SNOW DREAMERS
Ski Tripper, the newsletter for intermediate-and-above downhill skiers in the mid-Atlantic and southeast U.S., plans to add trip reports on international ski resorts. The eight-page guide is published November-March, five issues for $18. For a sample copy or more info call (540) 772-7644 or write Ski Tripper, P.O. Box 20305, Roanoke, Va. 24018.
On the cheap? Overnight fees at 34 Hostelling International-American Youth Hostels located at some the the country's top ski areas range from $8-20 per person, per night. Like Breckenridge, Aspen, Snowmass, Powderhorn and Winter Park; places in the Poconos, Vermont and New Hampshire, too. Check it out: HI-AYH, 733 15th St. N.W., Suite 840, Washington, D.C. 20005; (800) 444-6111. ACCESS FOR DISABLED
Shooting the rapids in Colorado, dude ranches, touring the Big Apple and golfers who are blind are covered in the debut issue of Access to Travel, a magazine for travelers with disabilities.
The quarterly that used to be a newsletter is published by the not-for-profit Society for the Advancement of Travel for the Handicapped. Featured are accessible destinations, attractions, adventures, lodging, meeting venues and transportation, as well as personal experiences. Subscriptions are $13. Info: (212) 447-7284. YOUR MONEY'S WORTH
Generally speaking, you get what you pay for in travel just as in anything else, but the following seem to be particularly good values:
Nonstop round-trip flight, New York to the Turks and Caicos Islands, Thursdays and Sundays, Oct. 26-April 25, from $269 with Hot Spot Tours charter. Three-, four- and seven-night packages at Turquoise Reef Resort & Casino or Royal Bay Resort & Villas range from $399 to $849 per person, double occupancy, and include air, lodgings, transfers. Info: (800) 433-0075.
The Westin Resort at Hilton Head Island, S.C., a AAA Five-Diamond establishment, offers a 10th-anniversary package through Nov. 25: from $129 per room per night with a bottle of champagne upon arrival. You also can buy two rounds of golf, receive third free. Info: (800) 228-3000.
Washington, D.C., has a new up-to-date information line - AccuTravel FAX ``Smart City Facts for Travelers'' - which is a faxed miniguide that provides City Happenings, Family Values, Business Savvy, restaurants and events calendars, for a price, of course. Info: (800) 952-2281.
Alamo Rent A Car offers free full-day ski lift ticket and use of ski rack with a minimum three-day rental of Chevrolet Blazer or similar four-wheel drive vehicle at many Western ski destinations, Dec. 1-April 30. Info: (800) GO-ALAMO.
SuperClubs Super-Inclusive Resorts has a surprise for you, through Dec. 16: $799 per person includes airfare, four nights' accommodations, unlimited meals, cocktails, land and water sports and entertainment. The surprise is, you won't know which resort until one week before departure. Info: (800) 859-SUPER. MEMO: Travel-wise is compiled from wire-service reports, news releases, trade
journals, books, magazines and the deepest recesses of the writer's
mind. Send comments and questions to Travel-wise, The
Virginian-Pilot/The Ledger-Star, Norfolk, Va. 23501-0449; phone (804)
446-2904. by CNB