Until this weekend I hadn't been to Bite of Seattle since I was 10 years old... 20 years later it's still awesome. The Bite finally took the advice of the public by offering smaller portions for a lower price with a selection of "Just Right Bites". Hell yeah... In my mind the "Bite" is an opportunity to sample several small portions from some of Seattle's favorite restaurants as opposed to stopping at one booth and filling up. I myself sampled Catfish, Hush Puppies, BBQ Chicken Pizza, Blue Lemonade, Crepes and some kind of Asian noodle dish. The Seattle Center was packed (as expected) with Sunday being just as busy as Saturday.
I'm having a lot of fun with the different festivals this year with Pride Parade, Mercer Island Days and The Bite of Seattle under my belt so far this Summer I have to say that Pride Parade has been untouched leading by far as my favorite. We'll see what the remaining Summer Festivals have to offer!
Monday, July 19, 2010
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Mercer Island Festival 7/10-7/11 2010
This year's Mercer Island Festival marked the cities' 50th birthday while also marking the 20th anniversary for the Summer Celebration Festival. The event boasted "live music", "kid's fun zone", "arts and crafts street fair", "car show", "3 on 3 basketball", and "fireworks".
Saturday at 10:00am the "Parade of Decades" began in downtown Mercer Island. There was nothing spectacular nor noteworthy about the parade. In fact, I am struggling to write anything at all as the entire event proved to me to be incredibly lame. There were many vendor booths and good food but that was about it. Sunday's crowd paled in comparison the the group that showed up for Saturday's festivities.
The one thing that I will remember most about the Mercer Island Festival is the fact that the 'rich' Mercer Island folks don't tip nearly as well at the Pride Parade crowd.
Saturday at 10:00am the "Parade of Decades" began in downtown Mercer Island. There was nothing spectacular nor noteworthy about the parade. In fact, I am struggling to write anything at all as the entire event proved to me to be incredibly lame. There were many vendor booths and good food but that was about it. Sunday's crowd paled in comparison the the group that showed up for Saturday's festivities.
The one thing that I will remember most about the Mercer Island Festival is the fact that the 'rich' Mercer Island folks don't tip nearly as well at the Pride Parade crowd.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Seattle Gay Pride Parade Sunday June 27, 2010
I had no idea what to expect going into this event but I knew that without a doubt it would be fab-u-lous! I picked up a side job working this event as a cashier for the Gyro booth, I met and worked with some kick-ass people and found that Seattle Gays tip pretty damn well (thank you!)
I missed the parade itself which started at Westlake Park and traveled 4th Ave. to Pride Fest at the Seattle Center, however; as the crowd from the parade bombarded our stand located right by the fountain, I saw things that I could have NEVER imagined things that I literally cannot put into words.... What I can say is that I quickly found that this gay pride event wasn't just a celebration of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender identities -- it was also a place to sport amazing costumes. From the 6'6 Drag queen dressed from head to toe in tight red leather, the dramatically painted faces and large large colorful hair, the cirque du Soleil style costumes, rainbow colored peacock feathers, platform shoes.... to females wearing nothing but a bandanna and two stickers along with men wearing nothing but leather jockstraps... then there were the naked people dancing in the Seattle Center fountain or just walking around... I can honestly say that I can see why some people form opinions without delving any deeper.
However; as for myself, I always want to know the how's and whys and so I talk to people and I ask questions and what I learned is that this community likes to have a good time and they LOVE to put on a show, and my favorite part is that they don't give a rat's ass what anyone else thinks of it! This was an amazing bunch of people brought together by an event that falls every year around the last weekend in June to commemorate New York City's Stonewall Riots, which broke out after police raided a gay bar on June 28, 1969 -- an event often considered the start of the gay rights movement. I learned that at least the gays that I met were good people, and even if I don't work at the parade next year, I will definitely be attending just for fun!
I wish I could tell you more about the Festival itself however; I was working and therefore didn't get to check everything out.
Oh, and for my asshole friends... no, I'm not turning lesbian.
I missed the parade itself which started at Westlake Park and traveled 4th Ave. to Pride Fest at the Seattle Center, however; as the crowd from the parade bombarded our stand located right by the fountain, I saw things that I could have NEVER imagined things that I literally cannot put into words.... What I can say is that I quickly found that this gay pride event wasn't just a celebration of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender identities -- it was also a place to sport amazing costumes. From the 6'6 Drag queen dressed from head to toe in tight red leather, the dramatically painted faces and large large colorful hair, the cirque du Soleil style costumes, rainbow colored peacock feathers, platform shoes.... to females wearing nothing but a bandanna and two stickers along with men wearing nothing but leather jockstraps... then there were the naked people dancing in the Seattle Center fountain or just walking around... I can honestly say that I can see why some people form opinions without delving any deeper.
However; as for myself, I always want to know the how's and whys and so I talk to people and I ask questions and what I learned is that this community likes to have a good time and they LOVE to put on a show, and my favorite part is that they don't give a rat's ass what anyone else thinks of it! This was an amazing bunch of people brought together by an event that falls every year around the last weekend in June to commemorate New York City's Stonewall Riots, which broke out after police raided a gay bar on June 28, 1969 -- an event often considered the start of the gay rights movement. I learned that at least the gays that I met were good people, and even if I don't work at the parade next year, I will definitely be attending just for fun!
I wish I could tell you more about the Festival itself however; I was working and therefore didn't get to check everything out.
Oh, and for my asshole friends... no, I'm not turning lesbian.
Strawberry Festival Bellevue WA. June 26, 2010
My sister and I geared up Saturday afternoon for a fun filled day at the Strawberry Festival in Bellevue WA. This event took place at Crossroads Park and provided a Shuttle Bus running from Kelsey Creek Plaza (the old K-Mart parking lot) with pick ups running every 15 minutes. I decided to ride the shuttle bus and we were lucky as the bus arrived about 3 minutes after we arrived. The shuttle bus driver was friendly and my daughter enjoyed the "school bus ride".
Once arriving to the Festival we browsed the stands scanning the jewelry, Chiropractic exam offerings, Henna tattoos, Mary Kay and many, many others while on my search for coffee. I found the Tully's Coffee booth and was pleasantly surprised to find that they were GIVING AWAY their coffee! SCORE! (Thank you Tully's for allowing me come back 3 times). The event staff were amazing, the coffee was amazing (as usual), I myself enjoyed their Traditional House Blend as well as their Kona Blend.
We then headed over to the children's activities which included a Mini Museum where the kids were able to make Time Capsules! The man running the booth was great with the kids and we all really enjoyed the experience.
Regarding the other children's activities, my sister and I were a bit surprised and disappointed to find that you had to buy tickets for the kids to bounce on the bouncy toys, get their faces painted and participate in miniature golf. My sister lives in Maple Valley and at their Festival these very same activities were all FREE.
However; Crossroads Park does have a kids play area including a big-toy and an area with a large plastic whale along with several baby whales all of which squirt water from their blow holes. This was the happening place to be for all kids as they climbed up the backside of the large whale to slide down his front through the spraying water. There is also a kiddie rock climbing wall and a large really cool spinning ball thing with water running from it. We stayed in this area for about 2 hours and had to drag the kids out as they were having so much fun!
The Strawberry Festival overall was a good time; but only because they were saved by the whales and the big-toy that are a part of Crossroads Park. The Festival itself was pretty lame with the exception of the Mini Museum, Tully's Coffee and of course the whales.
Once arriving to the Festival we browsed the stands scanning the jewelry, Chiropractic exam offerings, Henna tattoos, Mary Kay and many, many others while on my search for coffee. I found the Tully's Coffee booth and was pleasantly surprised to find that they were GIVING AWAY their coffee! SCORE! (Thank you Tully's for allowing me come back 3 times). The event staff were amazing, the coffee was amazing (as usual), I myself enjoyed their Traditional House Blend as well as their Kona Blend.
We then headed over to the children's activities which included a Mini Museum where the kids were able to make Time Capsules! The man running the booth was great with the kids and we all really enjoyed the experience.
Regarding the other children's activities, my sister and I were a bit surprised and disappointed to find that you had to buy tickets for the kids to bounce on the bouncy toys, get their faces painted and participate in miniature golf. My sister lives in Maple Valley and at their Festival these very same activities were all FREE.
However; Crossroads Park does have a kids play area including a big-toy and an area with a large plastic whale along with several baby whales all of which squirt water from their blow holes. This was the happening place to be for all kids as they climbed up the backside of the large whale to slide down his front through the spraying water. There is also a kiddie rock climbing wall and a large really cool spinning ball thing with water running from it. We stayed in this area for about 2 hours and had to drag the kids out as they were having so much fun!
The Strawberry Festival overall was a good time; but only because they were saved by the whales and the big-toy that are a part of Crossroads Park. The Festival itself was pretty lame with the exception of the Mini Museum, Tully's Coffee and of course the whales.
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