When we left the house a bit behind schedule I was sure we had already lost our advantage of being early in an effort to avoid large crowds and impossible parking.

I pulled up in front of the Amherst Municipal Building and wouldn’t you know it, a pure stroke of luck. The parking spot was right at the blocked parking lot that leads to the festival. I got out of our mini van, surveyed the area and noticed a couple of Amherst’s finest directing pedestrians across Main Street. I asked them if my van was fine in that spot and they both agreed I was good to go.

With two munchkins under the age of 4, I can use all the advantages I can get when it comes to parking and walking to any destination.

We made our way over the pedestrian bridge and into the fray. Lights, bells and whistles sang the festival tune and sucked us right into the frenzy as we took up residence at the “I got it” booth. My oldest daughter had never played before and she did a great job for a 3 year old. There were some challenges keeping her red bouncy balls in her box but we giggled and shrugged it off. She had a blast and won herself a dolly. Yay!

After collecting her winnings, we decided it was time for food.

My wife settled on a foot long hot dog for my girls to split and commenced ordering. I took my brood and went for the pulled pork sandwich and a side of salted white potatoes.

The hot dog was a tried and tested regional favorite Shalen’s and always pleases the palate. My daughters gobbled it up in record time. Good thing for an earlier side of french fries.

The bbq’d pulled pork sandwich was from another scout, school, fire dept sponsored by Uncle Soandsuch. The pork was a bit dry and screamed for sauce. I retrieved a small cup of bbq sauce from the vendor and my wife slathered it on the bun and we attacked it once again. This time the sandwich was good and we finished it off. If it had not been for the expense, I may have ordered two but, at $5 a pop only one was to be had.

The salted white potatoes smothered in a melted butter sauce is a favorite of mine and I can’t see how it could be screwed up. They were as fabulous as I expected them to be (also $5 for approximately 8 small to medium sized spuds). Just a bit expensive in my opinion. Maybe I should start charging for my opinion so I can easily afford $5 potatoes. Hrm… I wonder.

As we finished up our selections and began cleaning up our sloppy children another family arrived and sat close to us. I noticed the young man in the group holding what I thought was a large burrito in his hand and it turned out to be a taco from a small trailer labeled “Buffalo’s Best Tacos”.

Upon my inquiry the clan leader, whom I could only assume was the father, was happy to tell me that this was by and far his favorite taco ever. That little endorsement sent me flying to trailer in hopes I too would find the world’s best taco. I returned with the larger than life taco adorned with beef, jalapeno peppers, cheddar cheese, hot sauce, lettuce and sour cream. I bit into the $6 taco and was pleasantly surprised by the richness of the perfectly seasoned meat and the crisp freshness of the accompanying accouterments.

My wife had a couple of bites and agreed this taco was a winner for sure but, not the best in the world we must regrettably report.

After a few more games along the abbreviated midway and ride on the merry-go-round for my clan, we headed home and called it an enjoyable experience.

Cheers!

P.S. Stay tuned for a short ditty on the Sorrento Cheese Italian Heritage Festival, coming soon!

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