Salvaging Labor Day
We were really looking forward to Labor Day this year. We found a nearby small-town festival to attend and scheduled our travel around naptimes. We would drive up during morning naptime, letting Joshua sleep in the car, and then drive home during afternoon naptime, leaving plenty of time for exploring in between.
Monday morning we got up early and headed to Martin, TN, home of the Tennessee Soybean Festival. Joshua napped well in the car and woke up just as we got into town. We drove through downtown Martin and cruised the perimeter, but just couldn't seem to find the festival. Finally we stopped to talk to a woman sitting next to her produce stand on the side of the road. She explained that the Tennessee Soybean Festival, slated to run September 2-10, had been postponed until the 6th.
Postponed?
Come on, Martin! You're home to the Tennessee Soybean Festival, the official Tennessee Soybean Festival. As far as soybean festivals go, you're all we've got! We're counting on you! You can't just postpone the festival!
On the way into town we passed a huge John Deere store, so after lunching at a lovely meat-and-three (reason #253 why I love the south) we perused the John Deere store for a bagging attachment and fun John Deere toys that someone may get for his next birthday (Come to think of it, there are two people in the house who might like John Deere presents for their next birthdays).
Across the street was a great park, so we spent some time playing there as well. Although Joshua chose not to nap on the way home, it ended up being a great Labor Day after all.
But now I have to wait a whole year for the Tennessee Soybean Festival.
Monday morning we got up early and headed to Martin, TN, home of the Tennessee Soybean Festival. Joshua napped well in the car and woke up just as we got into town. We drove through downtown Martin and cruised the perimeter, but just couldn't seem to find the festival. Finally we stopped to talk to a woman sitting next to her produce stand on the side of the road. She explained that the Tennessee Soybean Festival, slated to run September 2-10, had been postponed until the 6th.
Postponed?
Come on, Martin! You're home to the Tennessee Soybean Festival, the official Tennessee Soybean Festival. As far as soybean festivals go, you're all we've got! We're counting on you! You can't just postpone the festival!
On the way into town we passed a huge John Deere store, so after lunching at a lovely meat-and-three (reason #253 why I love the south) we perused the John Deere store for a bagging attachment and fun John Deere toys that someone may get for his next birthday (Come to think of it, there are two people in the house who might like John Deere presents for their next birthdays).
Across the street was a great park, so we spent some time playing there as well. Although Joshua chose not to nap on the way home, it ended up being a great Labor Day after all.
But now I have to wait a whole year for the Tennessee Soybean Festival.
Comments
And by the way what is a meat and three?
A meat and 3 sides? Fill me in.
Yes, a meat and three serves meat and three vegetables. In the south, however, "vegetables" also includes macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes and gravy, and sometimes dressing, among other starches.
At the particular meat and three where we ate, blackberry cobbler was listed as one of the three. I don't know how blackberry cobbler got to be a vegetable, but I'm all for it!
Sounds very yummy!
And we used to be able to walk from our old house to the festival and not have to worry about parking. Of course, we had to worry about being able to get TO our house around the closed roads -- including the highway that goes through town that they would close for the concert on Saturday night...
A good friend of mine is the reigning Strawberry Queen of Elmwood, IL. Another good friend (and Jay's not-so-secret crush) was the Beef Queen of Stockton, IL.
I think I'd rather be the Pork Queen than Miss Pork Cuisine.