Maple Lawn Street Festival 2014

As proof that we are taking advantage of all that goes around us back here in the USA, we'll have a couple of posts this week of summer activities we've already done. First, we went with some friends to the Maple Lawn Street Festival in early July. The festival was the typical street festival. Various businesses, volunteer organizations, politicians, and restaurants had booths along the road selling their wares. We saw Mary Kay and Chick-fil-A and the Howard County Republicans and the Knights of Columbus and etc. etc. The streets weren't filled yet because we came relatively early (trying to get it in before bedtime--the festival ran from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., with fireworks at 9:30).

One side of the street

The other end of the other side of the street

A stage with a live band sat right in the middle of the festival. The band was okay but too loud for J and L. We didn't get too close. I admired the Atari t-shirt from afar.

The stage

We were hungry for dinner and tried a bite here and a bite there. One restaurant was giving out chips and salsa for free, so we sampled that. Another was selling corn dogs, paella, and samosas. L wanted a corn dog but became less enthusiastic about it (yet another disappointing American sausage). J had some paella which he shared with everyone; Mommy had a chicken samosa. They were all delicious but not quite a full meal.

At this point, I think L was just unhappy to have her picture taken

We also ate popcorn from a credit union's stand and Belgian waffles from a cart on the street. The waffle was yummy but not quite enough. J later complained that he wanted a regular dinner where we sat down and ate. I have to admit I did eat some leftovers after we got home, so I should have had more.

J and L wanted balloon animals. We stopped at the booth and got tickets for them. L asked for a dog. The fellow asked what color and she said blue. When it was J's turn, he also asked for a dog though he chose pink. Dark pink. Don't judge!

Two balloon guys and two customers

We didn't stay for the fireworks (which were long past bedtime) but had a good time seeing people wandering around and enjoying a summer evening.