Saturday, September 18, 2010

nothing says festival more than funnel cakes and fudge



Sometime in our country's hallowed past, funnel cakes and fudge crept into our consciousness.
It seems that whatever kind of event that Pat and I go to, funnel cakes and fudge are there. Flea markets, county fairs, tourist traps, historical reenactments, and even Oktoberfest all have these seemingly ubiquitous food groups in common. I have visions of George Washington surveying the Ohio region dragging funnel cake and fudge stands with him. Who knows how much faster Lewis and Clark's journey of exploration would have been if it wasn’t for the funnel cake and fudge stands.

Pat and I went to a celebration of turn of the 19th century Ohio, the Yankee Peddler Festival near Canal-Fulton, south of Akron. It is an eclectic mixture of arts and crafts show, giant food court, including the ubiquitous funnel cakes and fudge, period music and historical reenactment. The air smelled of smoke and echoed with fife bands, fiddles, and bagpipes. Blacksmiths, candle makers and other craftspeople were working away, making their wares for sale. We picked up a pumpkin made from horse shoes. There was a huge crowd all seeming to wonder out loud where they were in relation to the car. The festival is spread out over 75 acres. It took Pat and me almost 4 hours to visit all the displays.










There is something really creepy about this, especially when you see someone walking around with one.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Seems like a lot of fun, I would stay away from the sweets.

Gatsbys Gardens said...

Jim, these fairs and festivals are always fun because we step out of our daily lives into something that seems like another century. Glad you had a good time.

Eileen

Kyna said...

What an awesome looking festival, so much fun!

What'd you do to get locked in the stocks? ;)

Lona said...

Hi Jim. Looks like such a fun festival. I love the costumes and re-enactments. Too bad it is not a little closer to me. Hope you had a good time.

Roslyn said...

That looks like an interesting festival & a fun day out. I've never heard of funnel cakes - we don't have them here. We do have fudge.