45 maple stops. Two weekends. It’s the Ohio March Maple Madness Driving Tour, as sugaring operations across the state have joined together to present Ohio maple at its finest. Each of the 45 stops will participate in their own way. Here are some of the maple activities you’ll experience depending on which sugar houses you visit: taste sap fresh from the trees and syrup fresh from the evaporator, enjoy an AYCE pancake breakfast, take a sugaring tour, enjoy a hayride or horse-drawn wagon ride, purchase maple products, listen to live music, or enjoy maple products by a fireplace. Sample maple candy, try maple biscotti, a maple latte, or maple wine. See how maple candy and maple cream are made. Continue reading
Category: Festivals and Fairs (Page 7 of 7)
The Kalamazoo Nature Center celebrates their 50th annual Maple Sugar Festival this coming weekend, March 14th and 15th. Start your visit with a pile of pancakes drenched with Michigan maple. Follow that up with a maple sugar tour through the woods with a naturalist, which departs every 15 minutes. At the DeLano Homestead you can see how sugaring was done in the 19th century, take a horse-drawn wagon ride, and observe blacksmithing, spinning, and fiber art demonstrations. When you catch your second wind, enjoy some ice cream topped with more of that sweet elixir. Continue reading
Original Marathon Seafood Festival, Marathon FL, March 14th through 15th 2015
Coral and black stone crab claws with mustard sauce… fresh lobster tails… fried fillets of mahi mahi… steamed and spiced Key West pink shrimp… ceviche and fritters of conch… all these prized sea creatures, and many more, are caught locally in the waters around Marathon in the Florida Keys, and they’ll all be available (along with lots of ice-cold beer) at the 39th annual Original Marathon Seafood Festival on March 14th and 15th. If you love fresh, local seafood this is one festival you want to get to eventually. Continue reading
“Everybody is going to tell you they taste like chicken. That’s a lie.” So says a local at the Bucket of Blood Saloon in Virginia City, NV, while waiting for the Rocky Mountain Oyster Fry (formerly known as the International Comstock Mountain Oyster Fry) to begin. Traditionalists like ‘em deep-fried but they might also be served with bordelaise sauce or as, gulp, sushi. We don’t recall Hoss or Little Joe riding into Virginia City for a mess of testicle sushi, but times have changed… Continue reading
As soon as late winter days see above-freezing temperatures (and as long as overnight temps drop below freezing) sugar maple sap is flowing and trees are tapped in maple sugaring country. That’s also when the regional maple festivals begin to pop up. This year’s 25th annual Hebron Maple Festival in Connecticut has been postponed from this coming weekend to March 21st and 22nd, because of heavy snow in the area. When that weekend arrives you’ll get the opportunity to immerse yourself in all things maple. Continue reading
Oysterfest, Fulton TX, March 5th through 8th 2015
The oyster shucking contest is Sunday afternoon. The oyster eating contests are tomorrow and Sunday. There are cash prizes for the winners, up to $700 for the master shucker! Yes, we’re talking about Fulton, Texas’ 36th annual Oysterfest, co-sponsored by the town and its fire department, which began yesterday and continues through Sunday. Fulton is a Gulf Coast town about halfway between Houston and Mexico, perfectly situated for obtaining the Gulf’s freshest oysters. Continue reading
Central Florida Fair, Orlando FL, February 26th through March 8th 2015
It began last Thursday and will continue through Sunday. We’re talking about the 103rd annual Central Florida Fair in Orlando. The first fair, celebrating the region’s agricultural industry, took place in 1910. Continue reading
Pennsylvania Maple Festival, Meyersdale PA, March 21st through 22nd & 25th through 29th 2015
One day in early 1947, Kate Smith mentioned on her radio show how much she would enjoy a taste of Vermont maple. The local citizens of Somerset County in Pennsylvania, inspired by this comment, sent her some of their own Pennsylvania brew. Kate’s response? In April, she proclaimed on her show that Somerset County maple syrup is the sweetest she ever tasted! And so the seed was planted for the Pennsylvania Maple Festival in Meyersdale, which was first held the following March. Continue reading
Buzzard Day, Hinckley OH, March 15 2015
It happens Sunday, March 15th, in Hinckley, OH: the return of the buzzards! Yes, the first sign of spring appears like clockwork (or so they say) on March 15th of each year, as that most unlovely bird, also known as a turkey vulture, shows up at the Hinckley Reservation in Ohio. How is it that the first buzzard appearance is always March 15th? Simple, really: no sighting of the bird is official until the Official Buzzard Spotter spots the first buzzard on the morning of the 15th. Continue reading
Fort Myers Beach Shrimp Festival, Fort Myers Beach FL, March 14th Through 15th 2015
“World Famous Lions Shrimp Dinners”: that’s the big draw to the 57th annual Fort Myers Beach Shrimp Festival in Florida, scheduled for March 14th and 15th. Lions shrimp is not some variety of shrimp, cousin to tiger shrimp, that you’ve never heard of; rather, the festival, and shrimp dinners, are sponsored by the Fort Myers Beach Lions Club. Continue reading
Strawberry shortcake, strawberry shakes, strawberry sundaes, strawberry cobbler, strawberry ice cream, chocolate-covered strawberries, strawberry cookies, fresh strawberry lemonade, fresh local strawberries by the flat… if strawberries were their own state, the Florida Strawberry Festival, which opened this past Thursday and continues through March 8th, would be its state fair. First held in 1930, the festival celebrates the more than 5000 acres of strawberries grown in the Plant City region. Continue reading
What started as a fish fry for a couple hundred people in 1966 has turned into a two-day event for 50,000. It’s the 49th annual Grant Seafood Festival in Grant, FL. There’s music and arts and crafts, but what you’re really here for is seafood, and lots of it! Continue reading
How’s your smelt jigging? The waters around La Conner, WA used to be thick with smelt (there was once a fish processing plant in town), but ya gotta be pretty good with the jig these days to collect a worthwhile haul (no license is needed to jig for smelt). If you fancy yourself the Yo-Yo Ma of the smelt jig you might want to try your hand at the Fishing Derby Saturday at this year’s 50th Annual Smelt Derby in La Conner. Prizes will be handed out. Continue reading
