 |
| Uncle Ben's Remedy At The Great Blue Heron Summer Festival |
 |
| 7:31 |
It's 9:00 and the fog is finally dissipating. I woke at 6:30 to a clear sky but soon the fog moved in, obscuring Long Point and making it scary to paddle anywhere beyond the shoreline. So I hugged the shoreline most of my paddle, venturing across to Long Point just as it seemed to be clearing and ran into my weekend paddle friends, Tina and Jim, out like me for a morning kayaking.
 |
| Kayak Morning In The Fog |
 |
| Tina And Jim |
Saturday was a good day although humid and warm until late in the day. We did our usual, gathering trash and a trip for me to the Transfer Station. We had no worries about dinner because we were going to attend the Great Blue Heron Music Festival in the late afternoon and evening. When I returned from the Transfer Station, it was uncomfortable in the house, so I decided the only place to be was in the water, so I grabbed a rake and went out and cut weeds for an hour and Evie soon joined me. The weeds have become a problem all over the lake with the hot sunny days and lots of rain. We made little headway and quit after an hour. Evie stayed on the dock under the shade of the umbrella reading for the next couple of hours because of the nice breeze. I went in and had my lunch, the leftover sub from Wegman's, watched my show, read some, starting the fourth book, and napped.
It was a perfect afternoon, blue skies and a nice breeze until 5:30 when we were ready to head up to the Heron. A weather alert for the area suggested dangerous thunderstorms and flooding, just what we needed because we would be outside.
 |
| On The Road To The Heron |
 |
| Camping At The Heron |
 |
| Part Of The Heron's Farm |
Fortunately, the rain occurred mostly before we arrived and drizzled some after we go there but we were able to find seats under a tent. The Great Blue Heron Festival usually is a three-day extravaganza over the fourth of July where 5,000 to 10,000 music fans gather, a mini Woodstock in Western New York, but because of Covid, it was canceled and instead, they have bands every weekend in place of the festival. The Heron is four hundred acres of wood and fields, a working farm, and bandstand, various outbuildings, and camping for hundreds.
We went because our favorite local band, Uncle Ben's Remedy was the featured group. I would estimate 500 to 1000 people attended, most of them camping. We felt a little out of place because we were not wearing a tie-dye T-shirt or bell bottoms, nor did we have tattoos, piercings, or smoke marijuana, now legal in New York State.
 |
| All Ages Enjoying The Heron |
Clearly, much of the fun of this festival is people watching. We listened to the opening band, waiting for Uncle Bens Remedy to start, enjoying beers and a delicious flatbread pizza.
 |
| Just One Of The Crazies |
 |
| Yep, He's Crazy |
Uncle Ben's started around 7:45 and to everyone's shock, a guy ran through the crowd carrying a flag on a flag pole, wearing only an apron, his bare bottom exposed. That's how the night really began. At least half the crowd stands and dances in front of the bandstand and we had fun joining them.
Clearly, the band had many fans there because they seemed to know most of their songs. It turned out to be a beautiful night, the full moon rising over the bandstand, everyone enjoying the music and shouting Happy Heron, the greeting at the festival. We stayed until 9:30 when the band began to wind down and drove home slowly because of the rising fog on the backroads of Chautauqua County. It was a fine way to celebrate our 56th anniversary.
No comments:
Post a Comment