Brunswick Fest 2012

Most of you (all 3 of you) know that I grew up in Brunswick County, VA. And I'm sure you've heard of Brunswick Stew. Many of you have probably eaten what you think is Brunswick Stew. ;) No offense, but unless someone from Brunswick County made said stew, you have never had real Brunswick Stew. It's a big deal back home. Such a big deal that for Pleasant Hill's (my home church) Homecoming, we have BBQ and stew for lunch. We have a cookhouse and stew pots and everything! Everyone brings a vegetable to go with the meat and stew, Grandma Colon brings fried cornbread (yum!) and there's always a caramel cake for dessert. Several of the men start a day or two before Homecoming to prepare the BBQ and the ladies prepare the ingredients for the Stew. I'll always remember how the men who work the cookers and stew pots smell like smoke when it's time for church. And I'll always remember Ms Glennie tasting the stew a little at a time and adding a pinch of this or a handful of that. And every year it comes out juuuust right. Anyway...I digress. This is not a post about PHCC or their Homecoming menu. 


Josh and I went "home" to Gasburg for the Brunswick Fest last weekend. I've never been to one and since Mama and the other ladies from P.S.A.L.M.S. were singing the national anthem there and since I love (love love) Brunswick stew, Josh and I decided to tag along. :)


The JROTC from the High School presented the American and State flags. (Go Bulldogs!) The lovely ladies of P.S.A.L.M.S. (Prayerfully Singing and Loving My Savior) sang the national anthem. I love hearing them sing in harmony. Patty has been my Dad's right hand at work since we moved to Gasburg and she's affectionately known as PatPat to Josh (and all the other kids in the church), Esther (Mama E) is Ms Glennie's daughter and is so funny and kind; Kathy was my teacher in middle school (bless her!) and is quiet but very funny; and Mama is Mama and I love her the most. 

 

There was a lot to see and do at the festival. There was a car show, a tractor show, several animals to touch and feed, a bunch of vendors and all of the stew-masters cooking away. I brought the stroller for Josh so we wouldn't have to carry him around when he got tired of walking. We haven't used the stroller in over a year and don't need it for trips to the store, etc but I knew that after a while of walking around that huge field we would hear "I can't walk...." and would have to endure the whining or give in and carry him. So to save us all some sanity I just made him hang out in the stroller. He didn't mind a bit so it was all good.

We walked around to see everything with PatPat and Logan (her nephew) and waited for my Dad, Matt, Megan and Jackson to get there. In the meantime we held baby chicks,

Fed a pony, sheep, goat, and donkey. We tried feeding the cows but they wouldn't come over to anyone.

 

Logan rode the mechanical bull and did pretty well! I would have fallen off right away but he held on for quite a while.

We ate stew cooked by Aaron Gibson & crew. Aaron and I went to middle and high school together. His Dad won the paddle several years ago and I'm glad to see Aaron out there carrying on part of his Dad's legacy. It was delicious, Aaron!

Josh checked out the motorcycles and made friends with a couple of the riders so he could test them out. He is obsessed with motorcycles right now.

This man had a cd player, radio, satellite radio, gps holder, cup holder, sunglasses case, and a few other gadgets on his motorcycle. Who needs a car?

Josh rode the "train" and turned the steering wheel the same direction the train turned. It's amazing how he understands which way is the correct way. He'll be driving on his own when he's 13! (He already steers down Poppa & Grammy's driveway mostly by himself. He even parks it on his own!)

There were a pair of horses at the festival that are owned by a logging company. The loggers use them to pull downed trees out of the forest to the trucks so they don't have to cut a path into the woods. Buddy and Bob are their names...the horses, not the loggers. They're HUGE. An average horse wears a size 7 horse shoe. Buddy wears a 13 and Bob wears a 14!!! It's hard to imagine that any animal that size would do anything you wanted it to. They could easily hurt or even kill a human. But they're big babies. Buddy just nuzzled the man working with them and he said when they take the harnesses off of them after working they'll roll around on the grass like dogs. ;) He also said they love to eat crackers with peanut butter...but who doesn't love that?!

After being on "show" for a few hours they hooked the big guys up to the stage coach and gave rides....bumpy rides! I can't imagine several days of riding that way. Josh loved it, though.

We ate stew cooked by Ricky & the Gasburg Volunteer Fire Department (they won 2nd place this year!) and it was also really yummy. I bought a quart to bring home to David (we ate it that night with Ritz crackers after Josh went to bed).

Grammy got some Jackson snuggles in during the festival. I made sure to get some in, too. (With Jackson...not Grammy) ;) Jackson was a good boy and slept or snuggled the whole time.

Before we left we checked out the new special response vehicle the Sheriff's department has. It's pretty cool. Matt and I joked that you wouldn't even need car seats in that thing. :) (Side note: my kid has the coolest Uncles.)

It was a long day but we had a lot of fun. I'm hoping to go back again next year!