Remember the LaMardi Gras parade? To benefit the Lamar Volunteer Fire Department? Well, Fulton has one too. A Volunteer Fire Department that is...no Mardi Gras parade. So, Fulton's main fundraiser is the Oysterfest. There's a parade for that too, yes, but after Bailey's melt-down with the LaMardi Gras parade, we decided to take her elsewhere that day. More on that in the next post. For now, let's stick with the Oysterfest. We parked just south of Charlotte Plummer's (yes, we do love that place, have for years!) and walked up to the harbor, where all the action was. The carnival opened at 5 pm, but fireworks weren't due to start till 8, so we went about 6 pm. Yup, check out how light it still is! Love that! Summer is definitely on its way.
I am always mesmerized by the flashing lights and amazed that people can get on these hastily constructed (and possibly LOOSELY constructed) rides. And it seems they all go HIGH up in the air. Yeah, not my thing...moving on....
This ride was called the Sea Ray, and there was a mermaid in the bow...
and a pirate at the wheel...cute. But still too scary for me to even watch.
Now, somebody used their kidneys on placing an ATM right next to the ticket sales booth. Smart marketing.
We breezed through the Vendors tent in about 30 minutes. Saw lots of jewelry and tee-shirts, metal art, acrylic pours, more jewelry and more tee-shirts for sale, but didn't buy a thing. We live in an RV, remember, and there's only so much room in it. Besides, there's a quilt shop here in town, and there's a shop hop coming up this weekend...
So we moseyed on over to the other tent. This one held the beer, oysters, and for lack of a better term, entertainment. And, obviously, more people. Apparently, this was where the action REALLY was.
Dick went to check out the offerings, and this dude decided that the seat next to me was the only one appropriate for him to sit in. Really dude? There were others...LOTS of others...
Anyway, Dick came back and we listened to the band for a few minutes. Thankfully, it was just a few more minutes. Like, one more song. They really weren't very good. About 20 minutes till 8, we noticed people picking up their chairs and walking outside, toward the water. I asked Dick if maybe we shouldn't think about doing the same? Yup, let's do it. We followed the crowd (bet you've never heard me say THAT before! Pretty sure that's never HAPPENED before!!) out to the water's edge and set up our chairs by the bulkhead. Signs. Always warning signs. This one is letting us know we shouldn't be using the ladder. What ladder? I guess there's one on the other side, but the only place it could possibly go is down into the water. ??
(Sittin On The Dock Of The Bay)
My new phone has a Night Vision mode, so I figured I'd play around with it while we were waiting.
Ring around the moon! Pretty sure that means we'll be getting some precipitation soon, right?
Right before 8 pm, the band quit and everyone was encouraged to join us outside by the bay for the fireworks show. Right AT 8 pm (no Island Time tonight!), the MC started the countdown and when we hit number one, the first rockets exploded, right on cue.
We had an awesome vantage point, right in front of the barge from which the show was launched.
I was able to shoot a little video at the start of the show. Click HERE if you don't see the video below.
The finale was really something to see! Click HERE if you can't see the video below.
I'll spare you still shot after still shot of fireworks, truly, that's one of the things, you just have to be there to appreciate the show. And speaking of the show....what's a carnival without a clown? I hate clowns. Thankfully, once he was done with the guy in the front row, he just moved on, leaving me alone. Whew, another bullet dodged.
And Driver finally got himself some oysters. Slippery, slimy things, but he loves 'em!
He enjoyed slurping each and every one. Took him about 5 seconds to make all 6 disappear. And loved 'em all!
Signs...more warning signs. These were posted all over the tent! Just in case you didn't already know, I suppose. I'm pretty sure that everyone, everywhere, knows that eating raw oysters carries a risk. What physician is going to ok or condone the eating of raw oysters?
Oh, and don't eat on the condiments table, either. The Health Dept objects. Either that, or they just don't want you to eat on the table by the Health Dept. A little punctuation could make all the difference here. Just sayin'
Hmmmmm....pretty sure these should be on ice, no? Ah, what the heck...they're moving out of here so fast, there's no chance they're going to reach room/tent temperature before they're sold...
These young men were working just as fast as they could. They were working hard and efficiently. For no pay, I was told. I bet they will have sore forearms by Sunday night!
By this time, we'd seen it all and done it all, and at least ONE of us had to find a bathroom. Quick as possible, too. So it was time to call it a night and head back to the car. Oh, wait, Charlotte Plummer's has a bathroom (2, actually), and they were on the way back to the car!! Off we went! Signs, more signs, but who had time to photograph, at this point. I'll just tell you, they said, Restrooms for Customers Only. UGH. Well, we were previous customers, did that count? nope. OK, so let's go upstairs and get a beer. So, the Driver went upstairs to the bar, and I went straight to the bathroom. Then I went upstairs to the bar, expecting Dick to be nursing a beer, but secretly hoping he had ordered an iced tea. To Go, would be even better. Aaaahhhh.....but there he was. Sitting at the bar. By himself. Waiting. Waiting? Yup, waiting. To get served. The single waitress was also the bartender. And she came by with 3 tickets to cash out and told us, she'd be right with us, there was one more table in front of us. A party of six. And 3 of them were kids! Soooo, as she went to take their order, we did something despicable. For us, anyway. We headed back downstairs, and scooted out the door, as quick as we could. Felt like worms on the way out, but, hey, even worms gotta pee every now and then!
Next up, the Junk Museum and Port A Market Days. Find your paddle, there's a water crossing involved!
You won’t catch me on one of those rides, but I will have some oysters please.
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