I squeezed in as much last minute fun over Labor Day weekend as I could before going back to work today (Sept. 9).
On Saturday Russ and I met my sister Sheila and a couple of friends at the Orange International Street Fair. This has fast become our annual end of summer event. We enjoy food and music so what’s not to like?
There are a couple of things. It was crowded and hot. I was looking forward to a mild weather day, pretty much like most of our unseasonably cool summer. No, not Saturday, I wasn’t prepared.
I like the street fair and the fact that the proceeds go to non-profit charities in the community. For over thirty years it has been the place where friends family and neighbors get together to experience a wide variety of food, music and dance from different ethnic cultures throughout the world.
This was the third year Russ and I took the OCTA bus up and back. The first year we just thought with the parking situation and the possibility of spending too much time in the Irish section that we would give the bus a try, or have one of the three boys on hand as the designated driver.
Straight shot down Chapman, works for us.
The experience of riding the bus and the interesting people who ride it has proven to be an appetizer to the fair and one we enjoy. The kids think we are nuts, but what do they know?
One step off the bus and Russ is focused: Brats. where are the bratwursts? Irish street, where is Irish street and the Guinness?
Irish street beat out the brats–for now. Bangers, beer and good old Irish music won out.
It’s 3 in the afternoon and it’s really hot, I was melting. Haven Gastropub sits on Irish street so we took advantage of the cool air and window seat.
It didn’t hurt that they had great food and an assortment of beer, wine and other various specialty beverages. The restaurant opened last year during Labor Day weekend to a record crowd of over 500,000 attending the street fair, and have been popular ever since.
This has definitely been one of the better years for the bands. The main stage had entertainment throughout the day as did the individual streets. After listening to one of my favorite Irish bands “The American Wake” we headed over to Mexican street because we heard people talking about the great music playing over there and I figured we could check out the food selection at the same time.
They certainly represented that country well. You name it, they served it.
As we moved from one country to the next I felt as though I was part of a cattle drive being herded to higher ground. I even let out a moo…. when I got a cattle prod–whoa, I had my foot rolled over by a stroller.
We enjoy the fair but there are not enough places to sit. We ate our barbecued pulled pork sandwich standing up, but still worth every last bite.
The Orange International Street Fair was crowded and hot. The food was fried, greasy, and delightfully bad for you. There are drunk people. You will be spilled on and you will be rounded up like a herd of cattle. But it is still worth going to, and the bus ride home is the icing on the cake.
