Small Town Fun

The first Saturday in June is Barbeque Day in RockCrawlinChef's hometown.  It's a town-wide celebration that begins at 4:30 am with the town's volunteer fire department driving through town with sirens wailing.  My first exposure to Barbeque Day encompassed the whole experience, sirens at O'God Thirty and all.  This year, 4:30 came around super early, but I was home snug in my own bed.  The alarm went off and we crawled out of bed.

Yeah, the picture's a little blurry, but so am I at 4:30.

I stabbed my contacts into my eyes, pulled my hair into a ponytail and stumbled into some clothes before heading one town south and one town east for the much-acclaimed Fireman's Pancake Breakfast.

5:00 am and at least it's pretty out (and less blurry).

We passed the fire department on our way to RCC's parents' house and at ten after five, there was already a line of cars parked along the street.  Arriving at his parents' house, we roused everyone (apparently the sirens weren't very close to the house this year) and loaded up to go to breakfast.

The line wasn't too bad when we got there, but by the time we left, it was down the block.

Those firemen do it up right!  Pancakes, eggs to order, hash browns, sausage, and ham.  Even though this is a new tradition to me, I love it.  After breakfast, a nap.  The parade didn't start until 11:00, so there was plenty of time to sleep off the food coma from breakfast.

The parade had a little bit of everything: marching bands, cheerleaders, horses, politicians, churches, high school programs.  Heck, even the Chick-Fil-A herd.

Unfortunately, I had to head home after the parade.  I've got a ton of homework (yes, I know I'm supposed to be doing it right now instead of blogging) that I have to get caught up on.  However, the party's going on without me.  There's the big water fight between the neighboring fire departments.  A big barbeque/craft show in the town park.  A fishing derby.  A homerun hitting contest (in which you can bring your own pitcher.  My question: the kind of pitcher that throws you the ball or the kind of pitcher out of which you drink a frosty beverage?).  And to top it all off, after the sun goes down, a fireworks display.

And here I am, trying to be studious.  Next year, I'm staying for it all.  Period.  Homework be damned.  Of course, if I am a good girl and stay on schedule, I'll be finished with my Master's by then anyway.

Don't forget to hop on over to Think Tank Momma's and join in on the Duck Fest.