"Last Food Truck Friday of the Season!" That is how Arrington Vineyards bills Friday, Oct. 30, on its event page. The outdoor season keeps going after that Friday. It moves to a different day. From November into late December, the area's two biggest weekend draws, the vineyard on the hill and the county nature park on Giles Hill Road, both build their schedules around Saturday afternoons. Friday nights mostly drop off the calendar.
The Last Friday on the Hill
The Oct. 30 send-off is a full one. Business hours run 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Chang Noi Thai-Lao and Steaming Goat serve from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m., and Simply Living Life and The Derby Desserts & Coffee serve from noon. The music runs on three stages at once. San Rafael Band plays Jazz on the Hillside, Downriver Collective plays Bluegrass at the Barn, and songwriter Reed Pittman plays the Wine Club Lounge from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. The Barn and the Wine Club House are both open for the night.
The two weekends before it follow the same pattern. On Friday, Oct. 16, the property is open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., with Dough Box and Salsa Franklin Taco on site and Johnson Jay performing. On Saturday, Oct. 17, The Lilliston Effect plays jazz and Howlin' Brothers play bluegrass from 3 to 7 p.m.
The vineyard's homepage describes the change that follows. It lists live music every weekend from April through November, and Food Truck Fridays from May through October, with food trucks on Saturdays in November. In practice, a Friday evening at the vineyard is an October habit. In November, the same lineup of trucks and music shows up on Saturday afternoons.
Where the Trucks Land in November
The November Saturday pages follow a steady pattern. The property opens at 11 a.m., trucks serve from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m., and music starts mid-afternoon:
- Nov. 7. Open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Rice to Meet You and Salsa Franklin Taco serve from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m., and Simply Living Life Cottage and Derby Desserts & Coffee serve from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Live music runs from 3 to 7 p.m. The page lists two different acts for that slot, so check the band name closer to the date.
- Nov. 14. Open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mac Shack serves from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m., and Sean Z plays a songwriter set from 3 to 6 p.m.
- Nov. 21. Steaming Goat serves from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m., and Johnson Jay plays from 3 to 6 p.m.
Sundays are shorter and quieter. Nov. 8 has 9 Volt Romeo playing jazz from 1 to 5 p.m. Nov. 15 runs noon to 6 p.m., with Scarlett from 1 to 4 p.m. Nov. 22 has Reed Pittman from 1 to 4 p.m. None of those Sunday pages lists a visiting truck. The food listed is Simply Living Life and The Derby.
Seasonal property hours on the vineyard's Visit Us page are posted as an image, and the vineyard notes that business hours change seasonally. The posted hours for each event are the most reliable guide for any given day.
Peacock Hill Fills the Hour Before the Trucks
Across the township at Peacock Hill Nature Park, 6990 Giles Hill Road, Williamson County Parks and Recreation is shifting its fall programs at about the same time. The color hikes come first. A ranger leads a 2.5-mile Saddle Ridge Hike, described as going to one of the park's most scenic vistas, on Saturday, Oct. 17, at 11 a.m. A Fall Foliage Hike of two to three miles follows on Saturday, Oct. 24, at 11 a.m. The county's registration listing shows that hike as free. After that, the calendar moves indoors and toward history.
The county's program schedule has these Saturday programs at 1 p.m.:
Date | Peacock Hill, 1 p.m. | Arrington Vineyards that day |
|---|---|---|
Sat., Oct. 31 | A Taste of History: Fire Baked Apples, $5, preregistration required | No event page reviewed |
Sat., Nov. 7 | A Taste of History: Fire Baked Apples, $5, preregistration required | Rice to Meet You and Salsa Franklin Taco, 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. |
Sat., Nov. 14 | History of Log Structures in Mid TN | Mac Shack, 2:30 to 6:30 p.m.; Sean Z, 3 to 6 p.m. |
Sat., Nov. 21 | History of Log Structures in Mid TN | Steaming Goat, 2:30 to 6:30 p.m.; Johnson Jay, 3 to 6 p.m. |
At the apple program, participants prepare their own fire-baked apple and hear some of the area's history while it bakes. The log structures talk takes place inside the park's nineteenth-century one-room cabin. It covers how frontier families built their cabins and then expanded them and their outbuildings as their homesteads grew, along with the items on display in the cabin exhibit. Six days before the first apple session, on Sunday, Oct. 25, at 1 p.m., there is a Traditional Basket Weaving program in the visitor center using giant river cane. It costs $5 and requires preregistration.
The schedule doesn't give an end time for these 1 p.m. programs, so pairing them with the trucks is a matter of checking both calendars. Even so, on three straight November Saturdays, a county program starts at 1 p.m. and the vineyard trucks start at 2:30.
Families with younger children get a weekday option too. Toddlers, Tales & Trails, a short hike followed by a nature-themed story time on the trail, runs Wednesdays at 9 a.m. through Nov. 25. The park's Storybook Trail has child-height panels featuring The Busy Tree by Jennifer Ward, funded through the Governor's Early Literacy Foundation and the Williamson County Public Library Foundation. Visitors walking on their own can use the park map, updated in February 2026, which names the Chapel, Grackle Hill, Hogg Hill, Ogilvie, Pond Loop, Storybook and Saddle Ridge trails.
What Remains After 6 P.M.
Peacock Hill is a day-use park, open daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. The county notes it may close for inclement weather, including freezing temperatures, snow and ice. The only scheduled way to be on its trails after dark this fall is with a ranger:
- Fri., Oct. 23, 7 p.m. Legends & Lore of Middle TN. A short presentation, then a night hike covering Sasquatch, Dogman and the ghost lights of Chapel Hill. Preregistration is required, and participants should bring a headlamp, lantern or flashlight.
- Fri., Nov. 13, 6 p.m. Night Hike. A free hour on the Nature Trail with a ranger, listening and looking for animals out after dark. Preregistration is required.
Both night programs are on Fridays. Once the vineyard's Friday food trucks end, these two ranger hikes are the only scheduled Friday-evening outdoor events in either calendar. At Arrington, November Saturdays close at 8 p.m., and the trucks leave at 6:30.
Thanksgiving Friday Runs on a Morning Schedule
The day after Thanksgiving is the one Friday after Oct. 30 when both places are busy, and their schedules line up neatly. Peacock Hill's free Day After Thanksgiving Hike starts at 10 a.m. on Nov. 27. The county describes it as a way to hike out of the "tryptophan-induced fog." Arrington opens at 11 a.m. that day for Black Friday sales. Steaming Goat serves from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Johnson Jay plays covers and originals from 1 to 4 p.m. in what the vineyard calls its heated Pavilion Tent. That listing is the only one the vineyard has posted so far that describes the tent as heated.
December Moves Into the Pavilion Tent
The vineyard's own listings disagree on how long the music season lasts. The homepage says weekend music ends in November. The events calendar runs acoustic songwriters from May through December, and the Visit Us page lists weekend Music in the Vines from April through December. The posted December event pages back up the longer season. Every one of them puts the songwriter in the Pavilion Tent:
- Dec. 5. Scarlett, 2 to 5 p.m. Open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- Dec. 6. Reed Pittman, 1 to 4 p.m.
- Dec. 12. Haden Carpenter, 1:30 to 4:30 p.m., then Johnson Jay, 4:45 to 7:45 p.m. Rice To Meet You serves from 4 to 7:30 p.m.
- Dec. 13. Bronwen Fair, 1 to 4 p.m. Open noon to 6 p.m.
- Dec. 19. Johnson Jay, 2 to 5 p.m.
- Dec. 26. Johnson Jay, 2 to 5 p.m. Open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- Dec. 27. Reed Pittman, 1 to 4 p.m. Open noon to 6 p.m.
Among the December pages posted so far, Dec. 12 is the only one with both a visiting truck and an evening set. The other dates have afternoon sets with Simply Living Life and The Derby Coffee & Desserts serving food.
December 6 could also be busy closer to home. According to the FranklinIs parade guide, the College Grove Christmas Parade is usually held on the first Sunday in December. It starts at the College Grove Community Center, 8607 Horton Highway, and Horton Highway is typically closed to through traffic while it runs. The guide doesn't give a 2026 date or start time. The first Sunday this year falls on Dec. 6, the same afternoon Reed Pittman is scheduled in the vineyard's tent, so check the parade announcement before planning a drive along Horton Highway that day.
The shift to Saturdays and early afternoons is also worth thinking about if you're weighing a property in College Grove, or a sale timed around the seasons. Exceptional Living Group follows the area's calendar along with its listings and can walk you through how a particular road, parcel or neighborhood fits the way you actually spend your weekends. Request a Confidential Consultation.
