DROG – Our Driving Blog | Things we find and do along I-95

DE: Art, Music and Food on the Banks of the Brandywine River

Posted on September 7, 2015 by sandra

Wilmington, DE Exit 8: Each year, up to 20,000 visitors flock to Brandywine Park for the The Brandywine Festival of the Arts end-of-summer celebration. Artists will be joined by local restaurants and musical performers and children’s activities on the banks of the Brandywine River.

Featuring over 250 juried artists exhibiting one-of-a-kind art, the festival is a Delaware tradition spanning over half a century. The plethora of media includes fine art, jewelry, leather crafting, furniture design, woodworking, metal work, sculpture, pottery, photography, and other wearable and decorative art.

There will be an array of live musical performances throughout both days of the festival featuring original music from up-and-coming singer/songwriters, jazz, blues, folk, and world music performers.

A $5 admission allows 2 days of access to the festival, kids under 12 FREE. Dogs on leashes are permitted on the festival grounds.

Location: Brandywine Park, 1001 North Park Drive, Wilmington, DE 19802
Date:: Sept 12 – Sept 13, 2015
Hours: Sat 10 -6:30, Sun 10 -4
Tel: 302-590-5555
www.brandywinearts.com/

Posted in Arts and Crafts, Delaware, Entertainment, Festival, Food, Fun, Kids, Nature, Pets, Shopping, Special Event | Tagged activity, art, artist, blues, Brandywine, celebration, century, children, crafting, Delaware, design, exhibit, festival, fine, folk, furniture, jazz, jewelery, juried, leather, local, media, music, musical, mwetal, one-of-a-kind, original, park, performance, performer, photography, pottery, Restaurant, river, sculpture, singer, songwriter, Summer, tradition, Wikmington, woodworking, work, world | Leave a comment

ME: Wienerfest: A Celebration for Dachshunds…and the People who Love Them

Posted on September 4, 2015 by sandra

Belfast, ME Exit 113: Don’t miss the quirkiest festival on the Maine calendar; a day abundant with hot dogs: not the ones you eat, the four-legged kind. The 12th annual Maine Wienerfest celebrates all things dachshund. This family fun filled day appeals to everyone, not just to dachshunds and their owners.

Don’t miss dogs bobbing for wieners, the Grand Parade of Dachshunds and the entertaining Wienerfest Costume Contest, where a panel of judges pick the most inventive doxie attire: last years winner was dressed as a box of kleenex.

Cheer on your favorite dachshund at the hilarious Doxie Derby, where a sequence of races are run, while animated owners try and entice their dogs to run in a straight line.

The Earthdog events draws quite a crowd. Dachshunds were bred to be hunters and trackers, here is where they demonstrate their natural abilities by going through tunnels to locate their prey; a rat in a cage, unharmed and so unimpressed it usually sleeps through the whole competition.

Their will be food, including of course wieners, and vendors selling all things dachshund. Admission to Wienerfest is $2 for adults, and free for dogs and children under 10.

Location: Steamboat Landing Park , 34 Commercial Street, Belfast, Maine 04915
Date: Sunday, Sept. 13, 2015
Hours: 11 – 3 pm
Tel: 207-338-2160
friendsofbelfastparks.org/maine-wienerfest.html

Posted in Festival, Food, Fun, Kids, Maine, Nature, Pets, Special Event | Tagged ability, attire, Belfast, cage, calendar, competition, contest, costume, Dachshund, demonstration, derby, dog, doxie, earth, family, festival, Food, fun, hot dog, hunter, judge, Maine, natural, owner, parade, prey, race, sequence, sleep, tracker, vendor, wiener, winner | Leave a comment

RI: Pawtucket Comes Alive with Dragon Boats and Chinese Folk Art

Posted on September 2, 2015 by sandra

Pawtucket, RI Exit 28: Since its inception in 2000, Rhode Island’s Chinese Dragon Boat Races and Taiwan Day Festival draws thousands of spectators each year.

The event is composed of dragon boat races for professional and amateur teams. Each dragon boat crew consists of 20 paddlers, a drummer, a person at the helm and a flag catcher who must grab the flag at the finish line. The drummer’s role is to establish the rowing pace for the paddlers.

The Taiwan Day Festival celebrates the Chinese culture and history through many cultural and artistic undertakings. Featuring traditional Taiwanese & Chinese music and dance, arts and crafts, food, a Chinese dumpling eating contest and other family activities.

Don’t miss the Lion Dance, breathtaking performances with delightful costumes and storytelling, learn how to make origami lotus, FREE crafts for children; from learning to write their name in Chinese to discovering about bonsai, and delicious Asian cuisine. This FREE festival is an educational, engaging cultural event for all ages.

Location: Festival Pier, off School Street (Route 114 South), Blackstone River, Pawtucket, Rhode Island
Date: Sat Sept. 12, 2015 , Rain Date: Sun Sept 13
Hours: 8 am – 5 pm
Tel: 401-724-2200
dragonboatri.com/

Posted in Arts and Crafts, Entertainment, Festival, Food, Fun, History, Kids, Nature, Rhode Island, Special Event, Sports | Tagged activity, age, amateur, art, artistic, arts & crafts, Asian, boat, catcher, celebrate, children, Chinese, contest, costume, craft, crew, cuisine, cultural, culture, dance, discover bonsai, dragon, drummer, dumpling, eat, eating, educational, event, family, festival, finish, flag, Food, free, History, learn, lion, lotus, music, origami, paddler, Pawtucket, performance, professional, race, Rhode Island, rowing, spectator, storytelling, Taiwan, Taiwanese, team, traditional, wirite | Leave a comment

GA: Feast on Mouth-Watering, Southern Fried Catfish Dinners with all the Fixing

Posted on September 1, 2015 by sandra

Kingsland, GA Exit 3: Enjoy this down-home festival with crispy southern-fried catfish and all the fixings, we’re talking hushpuppies, grits, coleslaw, and sweetened iced tea. Festival goers can feast on this and much more at Kingsland Annual Catfish Festival.

There is something for the entire family: browse hand-crafted arts and crafts booths, antiques and collectibles exhibits, sample the incredible selection of eats from the various food vendors, a children’s amusement area, 5K run, dunking booth, and a motorcycle & boat exhibition.

Be prepared to be wowed by outstanding musical performances: Season 12 American Idol Winner Candice Glover and finalist David Willis, as well as other local entertainers. As the sun is setting on Saturday, enjoy the Night Parade at 7 Pm along US Highway 17. Guaranteed at this festival you are in for a great time. Admission Free.

Location: Downtown Kingsland’s Historic Royal District along US 17 and Highway 40, GA
Date: Sept 4 – 5, 2015
Hours: Fri, 5 – 9 PM, Sat, 9 AM – 9 PM
Tel: 800-433-0225
visitkingsland.com/content/view/117/2/

Posted in Entertainment, Festival, Food, Fun, Georgia, Kids, Nature, Special Event | Tagged 5k, American, amusement, annual, antiqu, area, art, boat, booth, browse, catfish, children, coleslaw, collectible, craft, crispy, dunking, entertainer, exhibit, exposition, family, feast, festival, Food, fried, Georgia, grits, hand-crafted, home, hushpuppies, idol, Kingsland, motorcycle, musical, night, parade, performance, run, sample, selection, Southern, sweetened, tea, vendor, winner | Leave a comment

PA: Taste Mushroom Ice Cream at the Mushroom Eating Championship

Posted on August 31, 2015 by sandra

Kennett Square, PA Exit 4A in DE: Over 100,000 visitors come from far and wide to experience this “Small Town America” Festival held on the weekend after Labor Day. The 30th Annual Mushroom Festival celebrates the Mushroom Capital of the World.

The blowout stretches a mile and features culinary events, growing exhibits, farm tours, children’s entertainment, Antique car show, parade, cooking demos, dance party, street festivities. and nearly 200 vendors: try fried mushrooms, grilled mushrooms, stuffed mushrooms, mushroom burgers, mushroom mac & cheese, mushroom spring rolls, mushroom soups and mushroom ice cream.

There’s an amateur cook off and a National Fried Mushroom Eating Championship where participants vie for this year’s title and challenge the world record with prize money on the line, Painted Mushroom Silent Auction, and a Soup and Wine Event. Local restaurants bring their mushroom soups to battle for the title of Best Mushroom Soup in the Delaware Valley. Visitors vote for their favorite soup after sampling all the offerings.

Visit the Children’s Stage for some great family fun, be amazed by feats of magic, see exotic animals up close, dancing and marching in the streets, or learn a juggling trick.

Location: Intersection of North Union St. and East State St.
Address for GPS: 101 South Union Street, Kennett Square, PA 19348
Date: Sat. Sept 12, Sun Sept 13, 2015
Hours: Sat: 10 – 7, Sun: 10 – 5
Tel: 610-925-3373
mushroomfestival.org/

Posted in Drink, Entertainment, Festival, Food, Fun, Kids, Nature, Pennsylvania, Special Event | Tagged amateur, America, animal, antique, auction, battle, best, burger., capital, car, challenge, championship, children, cook, cook-off, cooking, culinary, dance, Delaware, demo, eat, entertainment, event, exhibit, exotic, family, farm, festival, festivity, fried, fun, grilled, growing, ice cream, juggling, Kennett Square, labor day, local, mac and cheese, magic, March, money, mushroom, National, offering, painted, parade, participant, party, Pennsylvania, prize, record, Restaurant, sampling, show, silent, soup, special, spring roll, stage, street, stuffed, title, tour, town, trick, valley, vendor, visitor, vote favorite, weekend, wine, world | Leave a comment

VA: Learn How to Shoot a Bow & Arrow at Stafford County Agricultural Fair & Hartwood Days

Posted on August 26, 2015 by sandra

Stafford, VA Exit 133: Stafford County Agricultural Fair & Hartwood Days Festival is a Free event that appeals to all ages, and promises to not only be fun but also a learning experience.

Highlights include: rides, Agricultural area with competitions, First Responders area; including exhibits from fire and law enforcement, check out interactive booths where you can partake in games, demonstrations, exhibits. There will also be vendors, food available, and FREE concerts with performances held on 3 stages.

Take a “Walk through Time” in the interactive Living History Area, with camps devoted to different eras. See how they lived and worked, and chat with Living Historians.

Lots of activities for youth including the Trailblazer® Adventure program. This is a FREE event where they can shoot a bow and arrow, fire a BB Gun or Air Rifle, learn about boating, fishing, and other outdoor sports. Kids can earn a FREE badge if they visit all of the stations.Fee for rides @ $20.

Location: Hartwood Festival Grounds, 25 Hartwood Road,
Fredericksburg, VA 22406
Date: Sept 11-Sept 13, 2015
Hours: Fri – 5 -10 pm, Sat – 9 am -10 pm, Sun – 12- 8
Tel: 540-737-8668
www.hartwooddays.org/
www.tourstaffordva.com/events/calendar-of-events/P20

Posted in Entertainment, Festival, Food, Fun, History, Kids, Nature, Special Event, Sports, Virginia | Tagged activity, adventure, age, agricultural, agriculture, air, area, arrow, B&B, badge, boating, booth, bow, competition, concert, County, day, demonstration, enforcement, event, exhibit, Experience, fair, festival, Fire, first responder, fishing, Food, Fredericksburg, free, fun, game, ground, gun, Hartwood, interactive, law, learn, performance, program, ride, rifle, shoot, sport, stafford, stage, station, trailblazer, vendor, Virginia, visit | Leave a comment

NC: Can You Eat a Pound of Collards in Less Than 30 Minutes?

Posted on August 24, 2015 by sandra

Ayden, NC Exit 121: Can you eat a pound of collards in less than 30 minutes? Find out at the Ayden Collard Festival, which is now over 30 years old, and is held the first weekend after Labor Day. Collards are the oldest known greens in the cabbage family.

Some of the festivities include: The Collard Festival parade, the collard eating contest where a male and female are crowned the Collard Eating Champions each year, a collard cooking contest with a $1000 cash prize.

So many family- friendly activities to fit into 4 days: 5K race and 1 mile fun walk, Corn Hole Tournament, Art Show, Live entertainment on two stages with local and regional performers, pageant, Golf Tournament, Horseshoe Tournament, rides, Kids’ Corner, food vendors and Arts and Crafts.

For complete schedule of events: aydencollardfestival.com/schedule.html

Location: Downtown – Ayden, NC 28513
Date: September 10 – 13, 2015
Hours: various – see schedule of events
Tel: 252-746-7080
aydencollardfestival.com/

Posted in Arts and Crafts, Entertainment, Festival, Food, Fun, Kids, North Carolina | Tagged 5k, activity, art, arts and crafts, Ayden, cabbage, cash, champion, championship, collard, contest, cooking, corn, corner, craft, crowned, eat, entertainment, family, female, festival, Food, friendly, fun, golf, hole, horseshoe, kid, labor day, live, local, male, North Carolina, pageant, parade, performer, prize, race, regional, ride, show, stage, tournament, vendor, walk | Leave a comment

FL: Eat Scorpions and Mealworms at Brevard Zoo’s Cold-Blooded Weekend

Posted on August 19, 2015 by sandra

Melbourne, FL Exit 191: Cold-Blooded refers to fish, amphibians and reptiles whose body temperature changes according to the temperature of the surroundings.

Be captivated in Cool Science at Brevard Zoo Cold-Blooded Weekend, its annual Labor Day three-day weekend event, celebrating the world of cold-blooded animals.

Get acquainted with a variety of animals in the Nyami Nyami River Lodge. visit the alligator snapping turtle exhibit open in Wild Florida, check out daily feeding demonstrations including water snakes, and meet the Zoo’s diamondback terrapins.

Highlights also include tortoise races, animal encounters, including the feisty box turtle, Killer, spin for prizes on the biofact wheel, and watch toads play in the toad abode complex. Sample insects including mealworms and crickets. For the really adventurous, there is even a bug eating contest each day that includes giant scorpions and tarantulas.

Cold-Blooded Weekend Free with general admission. For a complete line up of activities, visit www.brevardzoo.org.

Location: Brevard Zoo, 8225 North Wickham Rd, Melbourne 32841
Dates: Sept. 5 -7, 2015
Hours: 10 – 3 (zoo hours: 9:30 – 5 )
Tel: 321-254-9453
www.brevardzoo.org

Posted in Entertainment, Florida, Fun, Kids, Nature, Special Event | Tagged abode, alligator, amphibian, animal, biofact, Brevard, bug, cold-blooded, contest, cricket, day, demonstration, diamondback, eat, encounter, event, exhibit, feeding, fish, Florida, insects, labor, lodge, mealworm, Melbourne, prize, race, reptile, river, sample, science, scorpion, snake, surrounding, tarantula, temperature, terrapin, toad, tortoise, turtle, water, weekend, wheel, wild, Zoo | Leave a comment

MA: Pooch-A-Palooza for Pooch/Owner Look-Alike, Best Bark, Fastest Tail

Posted on August 17, 2015 by sandra

Topsfield, MA: I-95 S to Exit 53 , or 95 North to Exit 50: Pooch-A-Palooza is a unique two-day outdoor festival with a range of activities designed to interest dogs of all breeds and owners of all ages.

This family- friendly environment includes musical performances, cuisine from local food trucks, an interactive children’s area with inflatables, crafts, games and entertainment, dog related activities including an agility course, play zone, dog contests, frisbee trick performances and a large marketplace with goods and services.

Check out Pampering Paws Paradise where your pooch can experience all the luxuries of a spa. Offering nail clips, teeth brushing, hair brushing, baths, massages,etc.

Pure Living Place, a Health & Wellness Pavilion with guest speakers offering tips on various topics such as: nutrition, dental hygiene, obedience, and weight loss.

The Pooch Pavilion hosting exciting dog entertainers including trained pups race through obstacle courses and catching floating Frisbees. There is even a doggie comedian starring Johnny Peers and the Muttville Comix who deliver a can’t be missed show with personality-plus canines.

Pooch Contests at the pooch stage includes: Pooch-Owner Look-Alike, Most Unique Bark, Best Pooch Talent, Best Kisser, and Fastest Tail Wagger. Also a crowning of Prince and Princess of Pooch-A-Palooza; judges looking for the best outfit, best strut, and the most poised.

Parking is FREE, children 12 and under FREE!

Location: Topsfield Fairgrounds, 207 Boston St, Topsfield, MA 01983
Date: September 5 & 6, 2015 -Labor Day Weekend
Hours: 10 – 4
Tel: 781- 890-2645
www.pooch-a-palooza.org/

Posted in Arts and Crafts, Entertainment, Festival, Food, Fun, Kids, Massachusestts, Nature, Pets, Special Event | Tagged activity, age, agility, area, bark, bath, best, breed, brush, canine, children, clip, comedian, contest, course, craft, crown, cuisine, dental, dog, entertainer, entertainment, environment, Experience, family, festival, float, Food, friendly, frisbee, frisbee. catch, game, goods, guest, hair, health, hygiene, inflatable, interactive, judge, kiss, living, local, loss, marketplace, massachusetts, massage, musical, nail, nutrition, obedience, obstacle, outdoor, outfit, owner, pamper, pavilion, paw, performance, personality, pet, place, play, poise, pooch, Pooch-A-Palooza, prince, princess, pup, pure, race, service, spa, speaker, stage, strut, tail, talent, teeth, tip, topic, Topsfield, train, trick, truck, unique, wag, weight, wellness, zone | Leave a comment

VA: Richmond – Road World Championships International Cycling Event

Posted on August 14, 2015 by sandra

Richmond, VA: The pinnacle event of the international cycling season, the UCI Road World Championships will be held in the USA for only the 2nd time in its 82-year history, and Richmond is hosting.

More than 450,000 spectators are expected to line the courses at this nine-day event , that will travel past historic landmarks such as Monument Avenue, Libby Hill Park, Church Hill and Rocketts Landing.

About 1,000 cyclists from 70 nations will participate with the winners entitled to wear the coveted rainbow jersey in other races until the following year’s UCI Championship. The UCI Road World Championship is the only racing competition other than the Olympics in which riders are able to compete while representing their respective countries as opposed to a trade team.

Grandstands, VIP areas and fan zones will be available along the course routes and will be both ticketed and open to the public.

Location: Richmond, VA
Dates: September 19-27, 2015
Tel: 804-788-5820
For schedule and circuits: richmond2015.com/

Posted in Fun, History, Nature, Special Event, Sports, Virginia | Tagged championship, competion, country, course, cycling, cyclist, event, fan, grandstand, hill, historic, History, hosting, international, landing, landmark, Libby, monument, nation, Olympics, park, participate, race, racing, rainbow, Richmond, rider, road, Rocketts, season, spectator, team, trade, travel, UCI, USA, VIP, Virginia, winner, world, year, zone | Leave a comment

DROG – Our Driving Blog

DE: Art, Music and Food on the Banks of the Brandywine River

ME: Wienerfest: A Celebration for Dachshunds…and the People who Love Them

RI: Pawtucket Comes Alive with Dragon Boats and Chinese Folk Art

GA: Feast on Mouth-Watering, Southern Fried Catfish Dinners with all the Fixing

PA: Taste Mushroom Ice Cream at the Mushroom Eating Championship

VA: Learn How to Shoot a Bow & Arrow at Stafford County Agricultural Fair & Hartwood Days

NC: Can You Eat a Pound of Collards in Less Than 30 Minutes?

FL: Eat Scorpions and Mealworms at Brevard Zoo’s Cold-Blooded Weekend

MA: Pooch-A-Palooza for Pooch/Owner Look-Alike, Best Bark, Fastest Tail

VA: Richmond – Road World Championships International Cycling Event

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