Category: Port Angeles

Fair food

A week or two ago the local newspaper sent out a reporter who asked people, “What’s your favorite thing at the county fair?” If I recollect right, every single one answered, “The food!”

You can smell a brass band of cooking aromas as soon as you enter the fairgrounds: grilled meats, sweet whatevers, popcorn, and fried anything. The fair guide listed a vendor called “Fried Everything” … and everything on the menu was, from twinkies to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I don’t know if this is the Fried Everything stand, but they definitely had a robust offering – and what they didn’t have you could find at other vendors just steps away.

There are lots of food choices at the fair. We kept our distance from the deep fryers, but that doesn’t mean we managed to stay entirely virtuous.

Time again for the County Fair

We went to the Clallam County Fair on Saturday night. It was time for our annual “fair fix”: the rodeo, antique farm machinery put-putting, a review of ribbon-winning entries, animals, carnival, junk food. And people watching. Above was one of my favorites, a fine example of the work of the face-painting booth. Her father consented to my taking her picture.

Her brother volunteered, too. I can’t decide which one is the cutest. They both make me smile.

Sculptors at work

Sand sculptors are interesting to watch since they work fairly quickly in a medium that works fast and shows fine detail. Sue McGraw, shown here at the Windermere Sand Sculpture Classic contest last Friday, sculpted a piece she entitled “Momma’s Baby.” She placed second with this entry in the “Going to the Zoo” theme. Adding texture to the giraffe necks, her tool of choice here was a table fork.

Third place winner Brent Terry is working here on his entry, “Have an Ice Stay,” complete with a hollowed out igloo that wowed everyone. Cleaning up his work here he used a tool that was slightly more robust than a drinking straw.

I’d only seen sand sculptures on the Internet before I moved to the Olympic Peninsula. The Windermere Sand Sculpture Classic each year allows a real time, closer look at this amazing art form.

Today is Theme Day with City Daily Photo. If you’d like to see what participating photographers have made of today’s theme, street lamps, click here.

It’s all happening at the zoo

Last weekend was the annual Arts in Action Festival which showcases sand sculptors in the Windermere Sand Sculpture Classic contest. “Do Not Feed the Bears,” above, by Damon Farmer was the contest winner. It’s amazing what warmth and detail he coaxes out of sand.

This year’s theme was “Going to the Zoo.” Friday evening, at the beginning of the festival, is interesting because the sculptors are often still at work on their creations. Check in tomorrow to see more “artist at work” shots.

Juan de Fuca Festival of the Arts, 2

Here are more shots from the Juan de Fuca Festival. Here’s the fiddler from The Burren Boys, left, the group that kicked off our day yesterday.

I loved the music. If you want to hear audio clips, check out the Juan de Fuca website for links that will lead you to performer music. But I also loved the visuals. This was a play of light against Anna Tivel, a gifted musician, singer and songwriter.

Here’s Anna in the flesh.

There used to be a bumper sticker that read, “Use an accordian, go to jail.” Music snobbery, now dated. This woman from The Barbary Ghosts from San Francisco rocked it with sea chanteys, ballads, and drinking songs. I was completely taken with the beautiful detail of this accordian. It wasn’t your father’s accordian, that’s for sure.