Lost at the Havre de Grace Seafood Festival

Hey, it sounded promising- a seafood festival with a top 10 rating of one of the best seafood festivals around.  I LOVE seafood.  Forget calamari, though.  Hello, quahogs, lobsters, cod, oysters, etc.!  What a washout- in more ways than one!  BTW, WHO gave them that rating?  I couldn't locate it.


Yes, it was pouring on Sunday.  Still- it's only water.  The outside temp was good, and there was a welcome breeze blowing offshore.  However, this did not work for the vendors.  I heard complaints of burners being blown out and saw numerous vendors having to remove/cover wares due to rain.  And some just closed up shop.

Okay, so I'll admit I likely didn't see it at it's best- like when the sun was shining.  I did walk around though looking for good eats.  FRY Heaven.  Name it, they fry it.  Clam strips only.  Yuck!  You want full bellied clams- the good stuff.  Otherwise, walk on by.  Had oysters.  Double yuck!  Fishy.  All the seafood was frozen.  Coakley's (local) was serving up a bar with freshly shucked oysters.  Hearing that local seafood was recently plagued with bacteria, I passed them up.  Not crazy over seafood not fully cooked as I have enough problems without adding hepatitis to the list.  Do I trust Gulf seafood yet?  Pulease!  All that oil has disappeared?  And the cleaners?  Right.  And then a miracle happened.  Like I trust the FDA or the Dept. of Agriculture or any gov't agency at this point regarding safety issues.

Of course, all the humidity didn't help the fried stuff.  Almost immediately it all went limp.  Well, the soft day rains didn't exactly help here.

So what good food did I find?  Not much, really.   Forget the fried frozen seafood gamut- gag me with a spoon.  There was "Sweets by Greeks" with yummy desserts- thumbs up!  I also noticed, but passed up, homemade soda, homemade ice cream, gelato, nuts, and soup.  Coakley's food looked promising, but why would I buy from a local vendor always around?  Silly me.  That was it, really.  A homemade doughnut vendor did attract my attention.  Don't ask me why, but we New Englanders have a love affair with 'em (esp., Dunkin Donuts- like a shop on every corner). There are still plenty of homemade ones around, but u have to look or ask locals.  Yumm, warm dougnuts.  But I digress

The various crafting tables looked interesting, but it got too darn wet & becoming muddy.  Yummy, but expensive from "Pecn Yummies."  Always a good idea passing out free samples.  Got my attention  One political candidate was present (God bless him & his family).  Don't believe he's in my district though.  Various public/private groups were present.  The new gambling casino vendor at Perryville attracted a lot of attention- mainly because it was sheltered, I think!

So next year- don't come hungry for seafood or be VERY choosey.  And by the way, don't go if it's raining.

Ah, well.  At least there were plenty of bathrooms, unlike the Fourth of July parade.  Oh- good live music, too.  But while I'm still ranting- the city pays a tourism director (full-time).  What a crappy website for this event.  It's not even completed.  I would have listed vendors I like, but no-go.  They should have been posted up along with their websites.  Buty, hey, whada I know- I am still lost, after all.