what about the plastic animals?

Hudson Valley Garlic Festival

If it is the last weekend in September it must be time for the Hudson Valley Garlic Festival.  It had been a few years since I last went so I drove up to Saugerties on Saturday for a day outside the city.  The festival had grown a lot since I was last there.  It seemed like there were twice as many garlic vendors as I remember.  One grower, Ireland Farm from Fulton, NY was selling 26 varieties of garlic. 

One could, and did, sample raw garlic, basil pesto with garlic, garlic scape pesto, garlic dill pickles, chutney with garlic, garlic honey, garlic vinegar, garlic mustard, garlic horseradish, garlic BBQ sauce, chocolate-covered garlic, garlic olives, garlic maple nuts, garlic salsa, garlic relish, and garlic jelly.  A couple dozen vendors each had a number of dried spice mixes that could be whipped up with sour cream or yogurt for a pleasing sweet or savory party dip. 

The food vendors were selling garlic corn on the cob, garlic bratwurst, garlic roast pork sandwiches, garlic popcorn, garlic ice cream, deep-fried garlic cloves, deep-fried garlic pickles on a stick, garlic donuts, garlic caramels, caramelized garlic, garlic mashed potatoes, garlic marinated beef on a stick, garlic knots, garlic pretzels, potato garlic soup, garlic chowder, Cajun garlic blackened catfish, blooming onions with garlic, garlic hot dogs and garlic hamburgers.  Out of all those I chose a garlic hamburger for lunch.  Bad choice.  I got into an argument with a 10-year old girl who tried to charge me for a soda I didn't buy and the burger was terrible.  On the other hand, the garlic ice cream was excellent.

On the arts and crafts front there were lots of garlic themed trivets, pot holders, aprons, tote bags, etc.  I didn't buy anything there.  The one item I regret not buying was a bar or two of garlic soap.  Would your hands smell garlicky after washing?

A couple hours later, after paying respects to the Garlick King and the Garlic Goddess, I was garlicked out and ready to go somewhere with fewer people.

On the Edge

Mr. Met is on the edge of his seat on the last day of the season.  He hopes everyone cheers the team on today as they battle the Marlins.  He's been chanting "Remember Tom Maine and do it again!  Let's Go Mets!" all morning.

Not much to say

Some days I don't have anything to say.  I like this sunset I saw last week, though.

Hedda Update

Hedda and friend.

Hedda takes grooming seriously.

Hedda in a hurry.

Hedda Gobbler, Morningside Park's favorite wild turkey, was busy foraging near 116th Street yesterday.  Renovation just began on a playground in the park.  I suspect she was flushed out of one of her roosting places.  Hedda didn't mind having a photographer follow her around for a few minutes.  The photographer wished she did not move so fast in low light.  More photos of Hedda and her unnamed predecessor can be found on the park website.

Superior Moon Rise

Moon rise and ferry

Moon rise over Lake Superior and Madeline Island.

Jeff and I stayed the next to Lake Superior just outside Bayfield, Wisconsin.  Bayfield has the duel distinction of being Wisconsin's smallest city and northernmost city.  By comparison, more people live on my block than in Bayfield, but Bayfield is the gateway to the Apostle Islands and is a tourist destination itself.  The Bayfield Apple Festival is next weekend!

We started up a fire and cooked dinner.  After eating we wandered down to the lake shore to take in the view.  It was nice.  As we started back to the Rialta we caught a bright orange light behind the trees.  It was the moon.  The rising full moon was an amazing glowing orange.  These photos hardly do it justice as it was one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen.

Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame and Museum

World's largest Musky

Jeff hooks a big fish.  You shoulda seen the one that got away!

Record Arctic Char (2-lb line class)

Outboard motors

The Primitive Fisherman

The trip to Minnesota included a two day side-trip to Wisconsin.   I had never been to Wisconsin before.  My visit there raised the number of states I've visited to 47.  Only Idaho, Montana and North Dakota remain!

If you're going to visit Wisconsin you have to do it in style so Jeff and I stopped at the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame and Museum in Hayward.  The museum has a little bit of something for everyone.  Most importantly it is the official keeper of U.S. and world record fish.  I didn't know this beforehand but records are kept not only by species but also by fishing methods (rod and reel, fly, ice fishing), line weight, and whether or not the fish is catch-and-release or kept.  That's a lot of record keeping!

The museum also has thousands of lures and hundreds of rods, reels and outboard motors.  In fact, there's a whole wing devoted to outboard motors.

The garden of giant fish sculptures is especially pleasing.  At half a block in length and four stories high, that's not just the world's largest muskellunge, it's also the world's largest fiberglass structure.  The gaping maw holds 20 people and the hall of fame would be happy to host your wedding there if you so desire.

Champion: Small Diameter Sausage

Pizza Brats were the champion in the small diameter sausage contest at the Minnesota State Fair.  Pizza Brats are beef and mozzarella sausages.  Would it be redundant to use them as pizza toppings?

Time to move on from the state fair (though I reserve the right to return) and head someplace I had never been before.  If you want a good read about state fair cultures I recommend David Foster Wallace's account of going to the Illinois State Fair, "Ticket to the Fair" that appeared in the July 1994 Harper's and was repubished as "Getting Away from Pretty Much Being Away From it All" in his collection "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never do Again" in 1997.

Minnesota State Fair: Butter Busts

The Minnesota Dairy Queen Princess Kay of the Milky Way and her court have a likeness of their heads sculpted out of butter.  Heidi's not a blockhead, the sculptor creates one bust a day and it wasn't quite yet her turn.  We didn't know why the artist doesn't carve the teeth.  The tradition, as Ann explained to me, is for each person to keep her head frozen until the next summer, when a whole lot of corn gets buttered at a gigantic party.

Newsworthy

News vans have been surrounding the Columbia campus ever since the university announced that the President of Iran would be speaking at the World Leaders Forum on Monday.

Sunset Abstract

'Tis the season for beautiful sunsets.