Memorial Day Weekend Part II

So Don and I have lived up here 4 years come July 20th, but yesterday was our FIRST time attending the Rose Festival. For the City of Roses, this is THE event of the year. Huge parade, fireworks, and a 2-week-long fair that stretches all along the waterfront. Basically, if you take the Mid-Way at the Kern County Fair and elongate it, throw in a mini-circus and this cardiac arrest-inducing concoction called an Elephant Ear (see picture 2nd from top), it would look something like this.

And since they begin hyping the Rose Festival months and months in advance, Don and I headed downtown to see what all the fuss was about. It was a beautiful, sunny day in the mid-70s. When we pulled up onto Naito Parkway (the street that runs alongside the waterfront) we were greeted by a Seurat-style scene: people reading books, lovers strolling hand in hand, families complete with dog with wagging tail--all sprawled out, basking in the sun. (As seen in the picture directly above.)

Just a bit further up the street, right past the Hawthorne Bridge, was the fair. We spent the rest of the day walking past all of the "Step right up! We have a winnah!" booths; stopped by the big (small) top to see the resident juggler; visited the petting zoo where I made friends with a little pygmy bunny; ate what might just have been the best ice cream bar ever--freshly dipped in chocolate and peanuts--and gazed at all of the young families...smiling, knowing that we would most definitley be here next year pushing our stroller, introducing our little Portland native to the festival.