Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘Events’

Feeling peevish over pudding #SundayStories

Posted in Travel, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 29, 2026| 4 Comments »

Dear Organizers of the Georgia State Banana Pudding Festival:

As soon as I found out about this festival and realized it coincided with the day my son Dominic and I planned to drive from Atlanta to Savannah, I knew it was on the agenda.

I’ve been to many festivals and fairs. I have expectations. I can manage those expectations depending on the scope of the venture. Claxton Rattlesnake Roundup? It’s an annual, small-town, lookie-loo event. No expectations. McMinnville UFO Festival? Bigger event with a parade and a weekend of planned speakers. Higher expectations.

The banana pudding festival appears to be an annual state event with enough social media presence to get on the radar of someone in Oregon.

I had expectations.

I did not expect to wait 20 minutes on a two-lane road to be directed into a field to park — one of three, all off this same two-lane road.

I did not expect to wait another 30 minutes in line to pay a $10 entry fee. (Who charges an entry fee at a festival like this?!)

I did not expect to wait another hour in line to pay $10 to sample banana pudding along the “Puddin’ Path.”

This is the line for the Puddin’ Path.
Dominic is so happy to finally be able to eat some pudding.

What — and I mean this sincerely — the fuck?!

One hour and $10 to sample eight versions of banana pudding, two of which were inedible? [One was “sourdough” (What? No. Stop.), and one was pecan praline (so sweet that I immediately contracted diabetes).]

And that’s it. Those eight samples equaled the only banana pudding available at the Georgia State Banana Pudding Festival.

You are deeply unserious festival planners. Clearly.

So what did our entry fee get us?

A vendors fair with all manner of offerings, including “sassy sewing.”
A variety of wood creations and whatnot for sale.
A few people with festival spirit.
Hate crimes in merch form.
An obstacle course driven by a blindfolded tractor driver.
The ability to take this photo.

Not pictured: the 30-minute line for two porta-potties. Yes: TWO.

Also not pictured: The person running for Secretary of State who talked to us about his immigration stance, assuming we had the same political beliefs. Sir, I’m not your target audience, for a variety of reasons.

You know what WAS worth it: Spending this time with Dominic grousing about how lame your festival was. We are two of a kind and ended up having a great time.

So thanks. I guess.
Beth

Read Full Post »

Savannah Craft Brew Fest: A missive from the front line #sanctioneddaydrinking

Posted in Random, tagged , , , , on September 2, 2018| Leave a Comment »

 

A battle must-have: Pretzel necklaces for stamina

Dear Good Friends*:

I write to you today of the skirmish we experienced at the Savannah Craft Brew Fest — the battle we have fought for lo 11 years now. We left camp at 12:30 as the time for our forces to move on the Savannah International Trade & Convention Center.

There were many troops assembled before ours could arrive, owing to the traffic impeding the movement of our Lyft.

We marched to the General Admission line under a galling sun. I was in command of our company, and planned to meet Gen. Candline and his battalion. Good men and women had already started to fall when we arrived to the battlefield.

Though we were equipped for a mighty fray, we found other soldiers with more supplies than we had. ‘Twere truly shocking in complexity.

Sweet and savory! Remarkable!

Next-level ammunition

Dear Friends, the sights we did see beyond these displays of weaponry! A man even sang the song of a woman to entertain the troops.

A fellow warbles “Ironic” by Alanis Morissette. High marks.

We have come into contact with men of every grade, and have made special associates of those whose influence on our character was felt to be good. Some of these men love to tell extravagant stories, to indulge in vulgar wit, to exult in a swaggering carriage, to pride themselves on their coarse manners, even to sculpt hair into special creations.

Some signs of battle for us, Dear Friends, were quite simple.

Others were too convoluted for us to understand. I do declare we met a commanding officer who spoke of provisions tasting of pink peppercorns, Asian pears and French oak. His talk made no sense to us. We decided we were too tired and battle-weary to comprehend these words of comfort.

Two officers told tales of strange ingredients.

Even Gen. Candline became crazed from the heat and the strength of the enemy forces. He became worn down and delirious.

Late in the evening, I tried to write to all of you to share with you news of the fracas. Yet, the light was fading and my eyesight poor. I could barely decipher my writings. ‘Tis true they were garbled and misspelled.

Yet, I am nothing if not honest to a fault.

Today, I’m sad to say all were wounded in the affray. We fought with great disadvantages and in consequence lost heavily. Lieut. Edwin was perhaps the most afflicted, but doctors say he will recover in due time.

Please pray for our continued strength.

Yours truly,
Beth

*Homage to Civil War letters

Read Full Post »