A Weekend of Festivals

We decided not to go camping over Columbus Day Weekend as we had tentatively planned. I had an event to attend at church on Saturday night and schoolwork that needed to be done. We did the take the time for some family fun, attending festivals on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

On Saturday we drove down to Marshfield for the South Shore Celebration, a sustainable living festival at the Marshfield Fairgrounds. It was an enjoyable afternoon for everyone. We learned about green practices, ate some tasty local food and wandered around a bit. I parked myself near the music stage to listen to the music provided by Boston area band Melloteen. They played great high energy rock music—a mix of originals and well-done covers, many with environmental themes. Their show also featured a bicycle powered sound system. It worked very well as long as they had a few enthusiastic peddlers to keep it going. Near the stage a vendor was selling handmade hula hoops and she had a dozen or so out for people to try. Maura spent about an hour learning how to hula hoop and now she wants to get one for herself. The fun of the afternoon was worth the ten dollars per family admission. It would be an even better deal for a larger family.

On Sunday we headed into Boston for the Local Food Festival on the Rose Kennedy Greenway. It was a much bigger event than the one in Marshfield and admission was free as it always is for events on the Greenway. It featured local food producers, distributors of locally grown produce, restaurants that use locally produced food in their cuisine, and food related non-profit organizations. There was live music on several stages to give the festival a soundtrack. We had a wonderful time. Our visit was a wandering open air lunch. We sampled a great variety of foods ranging from pumpkin crab apple soup to locally produced chocolate. Some of what we ate was free samples and some we bought, though the prices were reasonable. We all enjoy eating a variety of foods so the festival was great fun. For me the highlight was trying raw oysters. I had them for the first time since I was six and Maura tried one for her first time ever. Maura enjoyed her oyster, which is no surprise since it came from the sea. Maura loves all kinds of seafood. I also enjoyed mine. It was a very different experience for me than the first time I ate a raw oyster. Then I definitely did not enjoy it. Of course, now I know that raw oysters are swallowed whole and not chewed.

Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway, Saturday October 4th

Saturday was the official opening of the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway on the site of what was once the elevated expressway. We went down for the outdoor events that took place all day. We had a great time. The weather was nearly perfect for early October and there was plenty to do and see along the Greenway.

Maura and I headed down after her soccer game in the morning. Jennifer was already downtown and met us outside of South Station around eleven, after we had come in on the Red Line.

We decided to do a treasure hunt. By finding the clues to answer a set of questions that in turn gave us letters to spell out a phrase we could win a prize. It was an excuse to wander up and down the Greenway and explore while we searched. Along the way we sampled some food (quite enough for a good lunch), heard some music, watched some dancing and learned a bit about Boston. Maura was able to make several art projects while I tracked down the clues. The neatest project was a flag for a flag tree. Flags made by visitors to the Greenway Opening were hung on lines from a pole. Together they made a very colorful display which grew throughout the day.

At the North End end of the Greenway we saw a display on Boston’s archeology and heard a fife and drum band perform. The Archaeological Institute of America is headquartered in Boston and had a booth where they were highlighting the finds that were made during the construction of the tunnel running under the Greenway. They were also giving away copies of their magazines and Maura picked up a copy of Dig, which is their kids’ magazine. It would make me very proud if she took an interest in archaeology. It wouldn’t surprise me, though. She seems to enjoy many of the things that I do.

From the North End we walked back down the Greenway to the other end, in China Town. In the beautifully landscaped park at the edge of China Town they were putting on dance and martial arts demonstrations. While Maura and Jennifer watched, I finished the treasure hunt and left Maura to collect the prize. I headed home on my own to be sure to make it in time to get to work by four.

There will only be one official opening of the Greenway but I hope that the Greenway continues to see lots of use and that the opening event is a model for things to come. The Greenway needs to have people on it to be fully appreciated. Empty it is still an improvement over the shadowed wasteland that was there before the highway was buried but without events to draw people it could quickly become a place to cross and not a place to stop.