Blues Fest at Buckingham Bar, Fort Myers, FL…

 

The Buckingham Bar is a funky little tavern down the road a piece from North Fort Myers. Occasionally the bar has a Blues Festival and there was one on a Saturday while we were there so off we went…

The Buckingham Blues Bar claims that the they are world famous and after reading the stories about how the owner spent $80K to buy a run down bar,some surrounding property and converted it into what it is today.  It is now a funky bar with a beautiful outdoor patio/garden area where a good sized stage can host bands for a wonderful outdoor concert experience…

If you go to the Blues Fest grab a couple of  folding collapsible chairs so you can sit anywhere you want. Make the short drive to the bar, park (free), and make your way to the gate to pay your $7 per person to enter. Now the bar is nothing special as it would always be classified as a dive bar but I say that in a good way since we both love dive bars more than the chains since the people you meet in them are always way more interesting!!!

The day we were there we got to hear there the music had just started and we heard a fun and energetic band named Diddley Squat getting down… The saxophonist was fabulous and made several forays into the audience to serenade several of the ladies in the crowd. Of the three bands that played this day, we felt they put on the best show.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You never know what cast of characters will show up on stage but you bet whoever shows up will be able to play some pretty mean jazz…

If you are ever in this area you really need to check out the World Famous Buckingham Blues Bar. Why, they even have a beer drinking mule named Bucky but if you want to see Bucky partake in an adult beverage you will need to buy an Amber Bock since that is apparently the only beer Bucky drinks…

Seafood Festival, Hampton Beach, NH

 

Labeled as "One of the Top 100 Events in North America" the Hampton Beach Seafood Festival just had their 22nd annual event. This three day festival marks the transition of moving into fall and signals the end of the summer.

The festival started as a means of promoting Hampton’s local restaurants and allowed you the opportunity to taste some of the local seafood specialties. Entrance fees are only five dollars per person per day and parking is free.

Of the several highlights of the festival we most enjoyed the Culinary Chef Demonstrations where we got to watch some of the local chefs prepare their signature dishes.

We also got to listen to some golden oldies played by a couple of bands called the Soulmate and the B Street Bombers. Lots of folks enjoyed the music and a bit of dancing. Another fun event was to watch was the all-you-can-eat lobster roll competition which exemplifies America’s fascination with gluttony… the winner consumed 14 lobster rolls in ten minutes!

Scattered throughout the festival were Arts & Crafts vendors promoting locally made products and hawking cheap bulk goods.

The local restaurants sell all kinds of delectable treats so you can try out the various seafood products. Prices for the seafood are very reasonable with whole grilled lobsters being sold for $10 each and if that was too much lobster you can just get claws for a buck each.

It is a fun to spend some time exploring the festival at Hampton Beach and partake in the food and entertainment along with the other 25,000 plus people in attendance. The evening culminates with a spectacular fireworks display.

Windjammer Festival, Camden, ME…

The three day Windjammer Festival is a community-led celebration of Camden, Maine’s maritime heritage and living traditions. The first day of festivities had the arrival of the windjammers along with a Maritime Heritage Fair with booths and displays of maritime history, traditions and skills. The first day ended at dark with the sky full of pyrotechnics as fireworks lit up the sky.

Saturday’s festival highlights  were the Lobster Crate Race and the Schooner Open House in Camden Harbor. The Lobster Crate Race is an event where lobster traps are strapped together end to end in the sea and children get the opportunity to run across them as fast as they can without falling into the water. Lots of fun was had by all watching these kids try their best to beat their rivals. A few even made it across several times without falling in the cold North Sea waters of Camden Harbor.

The Schooner open house was held on both Saturday and Sunday as festival goers were allowed the opportunity to board the schooners and windjammers. Once on board you could tour and explore the ships to better get a feel for what it is like to journey on these vessels. There are some really nice ships here that have been restored and are now active commercial cruise liners of sorts. They take 3-6 day sailing tours of coastal Maine. Pricing varies but seemed to be about $150 per day per person and the sleeping quarters are near as luxurious as the less than $100 per day price of commercial cruises on lines such as Royal Caribbean, Princess, and Celebrity.

Other Sunday highlights were the Sea Dog Show, the Build-a-Boat race (where contestants built a boat and tried to race to the finish without sinking – not all were successful), and the Boat Parade. The Boat Parade marked the end of the three day festival and what fun it is as the boats sail by one at a time while the harbor master tells details about each one of them. Great fun at this festival – Don’t miss it!!!