Try Something New Tuesday New Boston Pioneer Days (8/23/2011)

UPDATE! The first ever Aunt J-Me's Jam was a bragging success! I took it home this weekend and gave it to my friends and family. We ate an entire jar in one sitting (granted there were 10 or more of us making haste). Yay! Sarah says make a PB&J and let the jam set on the bread first.

After trying pomegranates, making jam, and adventuring into Russian cuisine, MySarah (and Hubby Dearest MyChad) said the wallet was getting a little thin, and we weren't very far into my new adventures. Therefore, we struck out to do something new that was also economical...FREE IN FACT! Since we had all caravanned to east Texas to spend the weekend with MyMama and MyDaddy, we decided to try out the New Boston Pioneer Days (fun factoid: MyMama dressed as an Indian princess for the first ever of these fun and sun-filled days almost 40 years ago so it was only new to the rest of us! We didn't dress up though...that would have been funny too!).

Daddy, Jeremy, Mama, Mike, Sarah, Darby

Mama, Jeremy, Me, Mike, Sarah, Darby (Daddy's first attempt at taking photos with a camera phone!)

Sarah's hand is a good 20 feet
below the fan!
Everything is bigger in Texas!

The three-day and night festival is touted as the "Hottest Festival in Texas" (NO $%i+ Sherlock! It's freaking August in Texas...107 degrees of sweaty fun, people watching, Jumbo Corndog eating, and jumping from shady spot to shady spot!). We started out with a stop at Sonic to make sure everyone had a cold drink. Everyone included the following supporters of adventure: MyMama, MyDaddy, MyDarby, MySarah, MyMike, MyJeremy and...hmmmm....there was one more....oh yeah! ME! I don't know if it's always a good idea to mix this little group with heat and a festival in small-town, east Texas (sun-punch-drunk), but it was a riot! We looked at all the little vendor booths, I bought DarbyDoo a hat that said "Native Pride" (she's half Chippawa/Ojibwe), we roamed around the antique cars and trucks, and I danced the jitterbug with MyMama.






At one point, we were walking back to the ginormous pavilion in search of shade, the 20-foot wide ceiling fans, and home-grown band music, when the following exchange took place:



Mikey: "Darby, you should write your name on the tag of that hat like Minnie Pearl."


Darby Doo: "Who?"


Mikey: "OH MY GOD! You don't know who Minnie Pearl is! You, know! Hee Haw!"


Darby Doo: "What?"


Mikey: "Where oh where are you tonight?"


Mikey, MyDaddy, and MyJeremy: "Why did you leave me here all alone?"


Mikey, MyDaddy, MyJeremy, MyMama and Me: "I searched the world over and thought I found true love! You met another and PBBBBLLLTTTT you were gone!"


MySarah (as Darby Doo looks on mouth agape and mortified): "How the heck do y'all all know that?"


ME: "How do you NOT?" (We educated her and Darby later...THANK YOU YOUTUBE!)

I think I wish I had tried some of the
fried green tomatoes since I cannot find them
anywhere around here and am not able to
make them myself without burning them.

I guess it's okay to mortify your teenager as long as her grandparents and your best friends are taking part as well.


The heat won that round! We gave up pretty quickly and headed to the cars, stopping to purchase a funnel cake and some Jumbo Corndogs. Darby said the funnel cake was good, but I wouldn't feed those corndogs to my puppies! Sarah took one bite, decided it was gross and asked if I wanted it. Not paying attention to her gag face, I said, sure. I too took one bite and went to throw it away. Mama said she would try it if I was done. Her one bite finally landed the rest in the garbage. I still ask, "Why was the meat dyed red?" Blech!

I will say this for small-town festivals, I love the fact that I can run into my extended family, who I haven't seen in months, and it be just a comfortable visit while out doing nothing. That part makes me lament moving to "the city." Also, small towns let all the fun people out on those days, don't ya? That was some of the best people watching we have done in a quite a while. The following teen takes the prize though. It's a little difficult to tell in the picture, but she had to have been almost 6-foot tall and four of those feet were just her legs! Darby said she could have made the PeopleOfWalmart.com site if we had been at the store instead of a festival. I am saddened that someone had to have told her that those Daisy Dukes were a good idea, especially with a long-sleeved western shirt and boots! She better just be glad I am not her Mama because those cheeks would have missed Pioneer Days all together if I were in charge!


The list continues to grow:

• kayaking
• 5k training to eventually RUN a 5k
• mud bath
• banya (not just food; they have a spa too)
• Zumba
• Ballroom dancing class
• Watch a Bollywood movie at a Bollywood theater
• Quilting
• Take Darby to see a Midnight show of Rocky Horror
• Participate in a flash mob
• Boot Camp
• Art Class
• Dance on a Bar
• Puerto Rican food
• Meditate at a Buddhist temple
• Volunteering at a homeless shelter
• being a tourist in my own town
• snow skiing
• order and eat hash browns "all the way" at Waffle House

What do you suggest?