Young Snowbirds » festival

Day 82 – Oysterfest in Fulton, Texas

Darlene — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 16:08:19 +0000

I had planned our entire Texas stay in Portland to make sure we stayed long enough to go to the Fulton Oysterfest, about 30 minutes north east of Sea Breeze RV park. I had no idea what the Oysterfest was all about, but I love raw oysters so I wanted to find out for myself.

Fulton Oysterfest Parade

We dragged our butts out of bed late as usual and headed out to get there for around 11am or so. I had read on the official festival site that there was a parade and free parking at the old Walmart lot, which we just happened to stumble upon a few days ago. So we parked there and got in line with the 200 or so other folks waiting for the free shuttle bus. It came and took about 12 people, and round trip is 15-20 minutes, so we figured we were gonna be in line a while.

When we finally got to the festival site the parade was still going down the street, so I rushed to catch up to it. I do love a good parade – Rob is indifferent to them. As it was coming up to St. Patrick’s Day soon there was lots of green, and locally made floats and school marching bands, and some uniquely Texan things.

Notice it says "adult day care" - what it means is it's a bar! LOL

Love the headline on this one

Only in Texas! Guy in a pick up playing a guitar in a parade

And then we entered the festival grounds!

Let the eating commence! And so we did. Rob started with the BBQ turkey leg – I think I got one bite. Then we each had a dozen raw oysters, then another dozen later. Rob thought we were going to have like 4-5 dozen each. They were fairly cheap at $8 a dozen – and really tasty – but that’s still a bit costly, so we stopped at 2 dozen each.

Rob’s comment: As far as I’m concerned, any “fest” requires large amounts of the “fest” item to be consumed. If it’s a beer fest, one consumes large quantities of beer. If it’s an Oysterfest, the same should be true. That’s my opinion anyway.

First round

We even got filmed by a local TV station and ended up on their blog eating our oysters

This is how the shucking is done

They had a whole row of guys shucking non-stop and still couldn't keep up to the demand

The entertainment was pretty much non-stop too

Eating Oysters On Texas TV

We even got on local TV (of sorts). The Corpus Christi Caller Times, a local paper, had a camera crew out to the fest. She came by while we were eating and video’d us. She must have liked us because she came back 5 minutes later saying that her “white balance” was off and wanted to video us again. Later that night Rob checked the Caller Times website and found the video of us eating oysters.

After satisfying our oyster needs and listening to some country music, we went to browse the other tent with crafts, art and stuff for sale. I actually found cowboy boots on sale for $10, so I had to buy a pair. There was a photographer with some great bird shots from the area, and some great art.

Me trying on boots. Not my best look

Thought about getting this for my brother-in-law but not for $350 - sorry Troy

A typical Texas style outfit, mini-skirt and boots

Oysterfest Oyster Eating Contest

Next we saw a crowd gathering around the stage as the men’s oyster eating contest began. We couldn’t really see that well but Rob got a few photos over the tops of everyone’s heads. I’m not quite tall enough to do that without a ladder. There were about a dozen guys in the contest and it lasted about 5 minutes.

Oyster eating contest - mens

Notice the plastic beer jugs with grey stuff in them? That's the oysters - they're basically drinking them

After the time limit was up, they had to sit and wait another 5 minutes to make sure they kept them all down. Any that come up don’t count, or maybe that guys gets disqualified – not sure. So after the waiting was done they announced the winners. The top oyster eater swallowed down 200 of them in the allotted time! WOW! Impressive. We didn’t get back the next day to see the women’s contest but I’m curious to know the numbers from that one. That is a LOT of oysters.

Texas highway patrol - cool looking hey?

Bikes and boats by the marina

We bought this for the RV

shrimp boats

More shrimp boats

I thought this was a cool shot - this is all I got of him

Lots of birds overhead so I tried to get some good shots of them flying. This one above I thought came out kinda funky with only half a bird. The one below is one of a bunch of them we saw playing sort of leap frog. They all sat on their own post, all in a row. Then when a new bird came in for a landing, he’d almost land on the bird who was last in the row, who in turn would get up and fly up one to land on the next bird and so on until the one at the front got bumped off and had to go find a new spot. We watched them do it again and again – our video camera batteries were dead so didn’t get video. Animals do the funniest things – I’ve said it before but will say it again – if you have animals you don’t need TV!

This is one of the leap frog seagulls

Me with leap frog gulls in the background

Fulton Mansion

So we decided we’d had enough and headed back via shuttle to get our car. On the way out of Fulton we took a detour to drive by Fulton Mansion. It was closed already so we put it on our list to come back and tour next year. The Fulton Mansion was built in 1874 it had features that were highly innovative for that time period including: gas lighting, central heating and indoor plumbing with hot and cold running water. Rob was interested in their water saving and recovery system – we’ll be going back for a closer look when we have more time.

Fulton Mansion

Great porch

All in all we had a great time at the Fulton Oysterfest and plan to do it again next year when we return to Texas.

Day 27 – Native Festival “The Gathering”, Litchfield Park, AZ

Darlene — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 05:36:57 +0000

Today is a great day numerically – 1.10.10. After visiting the local Goodyear Swap Meet (really a big flea market outdoors) and finding some cool stuff, I set out for the Litchfield Native Festival where I was to see the native hoop dancing of Moontee Sinquah, Arvel Bird and Tony Duncan. I love all things native – the art, the dancing, the culture, the stories, the legends – and the people. I was not disappointed today, I got them all!

I paid my $8 admission fee – more than reasonable – and headed straight for the stage at the back of the park. Arvel Bird was playing, he is an award winning Metis musician. His music very much reminded me of what one hears in Quebec or even northern Alberta. I bought one of his live CDs that included stories of the totem animals. I’ve learned my birth animal is the cougar or puma and it was on there, so am interested to hear his story.

Arvel Bird metis musician

As I had wandered up to the stage I notice a man, Moontee with a bunch of hoops. I asked him excitedly if he was going to do the hoop dance – which I love – he said he was, with Arvel, and again at 3pm with his sons. We chatted for a while and I talked to his brother about his art, which was stunning. When he was called up on stage, Arvel Bird said he had won first in the senior class for hoop dancing and that he had the best knees ever – which evoked laughter from the audience and a big grin from Moontee.

Hoop Dancing with Moontee Sinquah

Next up to dance was Violet Duncan, from Alberta no less. She did a metis dance demonstration which was nothing short of cardio endurance for about 7-8 minutes. I found her stunningly beautiful and I wanted to photograph her more.

As I walked around the stage area, I didn’t want to go to far and miss anything, I found the neatest hand made silver jewelry. I bought an ear cuff, a lizard, that sits with his nose just inside my ear as if he’s whispering to me. Most unique. They also made these necklaces that when you’re not wearing them, sit on a little piece of sandstone on a pin. You burn sage and set it on the rock to attract all you desire. I really wanted the eagle, but at $95 I couldn’t do it. I did take their catalogue – maybe another day. They were to perform next also. He dances, plays flute and she dances and writes and reads poetry.

One thing that seems apparent to me is this is VERY much a family affair event. Most of the acts on the stage, and the artists, were not alone but families working together. Father and sons, husband and wife teams, and more. I like that part of the culture very much and think many of us have forgotten family, togetherness and community. Maybe that’s what I seek at native events – a sense of community. It was certainly prominent at this event.

Another thing I notice is that many of these people are multi-talented. They dance and sing, or play an instrument, or create some sort of art or jewelry. Tony and Violet Duncan are one of these. Tony has won the world championship hoop dancing title 4 times. I talked to them later and Violet is from Northern Alberta, but they live in Mesa now. They have a gorgeous baby girl whom Violet carried on her back in a papoose like wooden board, all strapped in tight. She didn’t seem to mind a bit and was quite content in it. Looked heavy though. Here’s some photos of this family. Tony Duncan is also the flute player for the group Estun-Bah, who have played for the First Lady Barbara Bush.

Tony Duncan musician champion hoop dancer (click image)

Last thing I purchased – I had to restrain myself or go completely broke here – was a WonderBracelet. I’ve seen and heard about copper bracelets and magnetic this and that being good for healing what ails you. This one was advertised as all that, but his signs caught my eye. They said “ask me why the Wonder Bracelet is better than these” and he had a pile of the drugstore copper type in a heap. So I asked him and he said his are 97-100% pure copper and sterling, those are about 25-30% copper. The silver added is an ancient way of making the healing bracelets, done by his great grandfather, a medicine man. This is quoted right from their website:

Native Americans believe that copper was introduced to them by the Spirit World of Medicine through songs, fibers, herbs and ceremonies. It was used to treat many human illnesses before the advent of modern medicine. The makers of the Wonder Bracelet™ understand the theory and uses of copper and sterling silver. Only they know the right (and wrong) ways to combine these metals to conjure the greatest healing powers. It is common knowledge that copper helps arthritis but the American Indian Medicine Men know that, if used properly, it can do so much more.

I asked about how it would work for allergies and then thought about my fingers. He pointed to his dad who showed me his arm with a 9-11″ scar on it. He’s a rodeo rider and broke it in many places. He was told he’d never be able to close his fist again. He wore the bracelet for 45 days and now has full mobility again. That sold me – I’ll give it a go! It’s quite pretty too. I opted for the thin $40, even though the $110 one was gorgeous with bears and symbols on it, I think I’ll notice the thinner one less. I’m not really a bracelet person. I love their name too – Skyking!

one of the artists

Last up on stage was Moontee and his sons Scott and Sampson. They did drumming and hoop dancing. Yet another family act.

Moontee Sinquah - he does have pretty cute knees hey? LOL

All in all, it was a great afternoon and it left me wishing I’d not only gone earlier, but the day before as well. I came home and told Rob I wanted to follow the Pow Wow’s around next year and photograph the native dancers and performers. Native hoop dancing is an amazing feat and both Rob and I love to see them perform. How cool would it be to actually follow them around all year?! I’ve actually always wanted to do that, from the first time I saw native village at the Stampede in Calgary as a child.

Stopped in at a Chipotle restaurant for THE most amazing burrito for $7! We heard about Chipotle and there was one on the way home so I stopped in. Had to take one home for Rob too. Awesome food!

Images in this post are available for purchase on the Her View Photography online gallery at Zenfolio.com.