apple blossom || 2016

This year wasn't my first Apple Blossom festival, but it was the first time we lived downtown in the middle of it all, and it was CRAZY. We did a lot of front porch sitting and people watching throughout the weekend and although the weather wasn't perfect I still had a great time. 

The festival itself is a week long celebration filled with luncheons, parties, and activities around town, but the big excitement comes from the two parades, fireworks, and carnival games/rides. The Fireman's Parade happens on Friday night followed by a firework show on the other side of town, and the Apple Blossom parade is on Saturday afternoon. 

In the Apple Blossom parade this year the Grand Marshall was Wayne Brady, and the Sports Marshall was Cal Ripken Jr. If you don't know who these people are go ahead and Google them. The parade is filled with local companies that design floats, tractors, firetrucks, police cars, and marching bands. My favorite part of the whole weekend is the food though.

At the Midway you can find all sorts of fair and carnival food like funnel cakes, corn-dogs, elephant ears, kettle corn, and chicken on a stick. There are also carnival games and activities for people of all ages. There is also a live band playing in the middle of it all.

I can't wait to see what next year's celebrations bring!!

weekend recap

This past weekend was the very Virginia famous Apple Blossom Festival in Winchester. It is technically a week long festival, but the biggest events happen during the second weekend. 

On Friday there was a midway set up downtown where you can play carnival games and eat just about any sort of carnival food imaginable. Seriously- fried oreos, funnel cakes, turkey legs, corn dogs, cotton candy, etc. Needless to say I had a corn dog and a funnel cake Friday night. After walking through the midway we headed over to find a spot to watch the fireworks. The fireworks show was AMAZING so say the least. We had great seats on the hill next to the high school and had a great view. 

On Saturday we woke up and did the exact same thing. We headed downtown to get carnival food for lunch, but then headed toward the parade route. The Apple Blossom parade always has celebrities that ride along the route for various reasons. The committee picks a grand marshal every year to kick off the parade and this year was Kevin Jonas. Candace Cameron-Burke (a.k.a DJ Tanner) was also there supporting her daughter, who was the Apple Blossom Queen. The parade is an all day event that shuts down most of the streets in the downtown area. We didn't stay for the entire parade, but were able to catch some of the festivities. 

Needless to say Sunday was my recovery day. We spent the day hanging out in the sun and doing some laundry. Here's to the next busy week filled with trivia and hopefully winning hockey games!