MH Adventure 2013: Catfish Festival

Wow! Another play day. Today we drove to Floodwood (My home town) to experience the wonders of the 31st Catfish Festival. This annual event provides an opportunity for people to get together, drink beer, eat food, play games and visit. We partook of everything except playing games. My favorite event, the cow pie drop, was scheduled for Sunday.

Main Street Floodwood

Tasty Treats?

We said hello to many people from the past, many of whom I did not recognize. Mary purchased a baby dress from Grandma's Attic a delightful store owned by boyhood friend Dennis Jussila and his wife. She also purchased a book, entitled The Harvest Moon Flight, from Carolyn Hosking and illustrated by her daughter Jen Myles. We were family friends of Carolyn's family the Beckmans. Carolyn's mom (age 95) and sister were there as well.

Harvest Moon Flight Book

Jen & Carolyn

Mrs Beckman & Daughter

I bought my mandatory Catfish Festival T Shirt and we spent the requisite amount of time in Mainline Station, the local powerhouse, sipping beer, eating lunch (thanks for the lunch Buck) and chatting with old friends.

Catfish Festival T Shirt

Our quest for excitement not yet satiated, we drove the back roads back to Twin Lakes via a stop at Target in Grand Rapids.

Our dinner was pasties, from Pasties Plus in Grand Rapids, cooked on the grill. We buy them half baked (yes, like me) and finish cooking them when we want them for dinner. Pasties were introduced to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (Yuppers) and the Iron Range of Minnesota by Cornish miners. This treat of pastry wrapped meat, potatoes, carrots, onion, rutabaga, etc was adopted as a soul food of the Finnish cultures in this area. Accompanied by a nice glass of Chalone Cabernet Sauvignon it made a delicious dinner.