A casual invitation from my sister to check out the Winona Peach Festival today. We grabbed a coffee, some music and hit the road early, expecting to find farm stands, a chip wagon, maybe a tractor pull. But not this:
The Peach Festival is Winona's New Year's Eve in Times Square. It's Game Seven of the World Series. It's Boxing Day at Sam the Record Man. It is Glastonbury. It is, in short, madness. The little town of 16,000 receives 230,000 visitors over the course of the weekend. People are selling water, Avon and BBQ from their driveways. They are selling $5 parking spaces on their front lawns. The highway is backed up for miles. If it sounds nightmarish, well, it is, but there's a good vibe too. And a damn good $4 pulled-pork sandwich. There's a big crafty bazaar too, thankfully located in a shady grove. It's the usual mixture of good, bad and just plain crazy. I couldn't resist this silly bib that is so bad it's good (I think):
Lovely bird houses made from reclaimed tin:
And a jump on Christmas with this recycled tire swing for my little niece's apple tree:
Now what about the peaches you ask? Well, disappointingly, there was but one crowded stand selling fresh-picked peaches, but a gazillion tents selling peach crepes, sundaes, pies, preserves and crumbles. Yum.
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