Seattle’s Memorial Day tradition: Northwest Folklife Festival

by Alison Brick on

Folklife–it’s not what you’re thinking. It’s cooler.

At this weekend’s Northwest Folklife Festival in Seattle, zydeco meets storytelling meets taiko drumming. When it comes down to it, folklife just means eclectic, spirited music and art.

And if by chance you run into an act that you don’t like, just follow the advice that someone gave me: keep moving until you find one that you do. There are as many as 15 groups performing at the same time (not counting buskers).

Sure, the big stages may have the microphones and bench-seating, but my favorites are the individual buskers lining the paths–oh, every 20 feet. Move from group to group–guitarists and washboard-players and standing bassists gather so organically that you don’t know if they’re practicing or actually performing. And they just seem to be having fun. To quote the first volunteer I met, that’s what the festival is all about.

The 38th annual festival started yesterday and will continue over the Memorial Day weekend through Monday. It spans the grounds of the Seattle Center, so be prepared for a day of walking to check out all of the music and food and crafts. It’s technically free of charge, but the suggested $10 donation is well worth supporting local music.

Birthplace of Memorial Day offers festival and small town charm

by Jamie Rhein on

Back in 1865, Henry C. Wells, a druggist in Waterloo, New York thought that honoring all American soldiers who died in a war was a fitting gesture. The following year, Waterloo threw the first Memorial Day celebration on May 5. The holiday caught on, and in 1966 Lyndon Johnson signed a Presidential Proclamation declaring Waterloo the “Birthplace of Memorial Day,” something the town takes quite seriously.

Instead of focusing only on Monday, the town includes the entire weekend for festivities. Located in between Cayuga and Seneca Lakes in the Finger Lakes region of New York, this would be a place to head to for a mix of the outdoors and history. Unlike Ithaca that wants you to stay away for Memorial Day festivities because of Cornell’s graduation that adds plenty of people to Ithaca’s streets, Waterloo wants you.

As a person who is a festival hound, Waterloo looks like the perfect way to kick-off the summer season of festival hopping. All the trimmings are there and most activities are free, or budget friendly. Events start this weekend and finish up on May 30, the official date of Memorial Day.

Activities are family friendly and include a breakfast buffet, 5-K run, car show, bike rally, a concert stage with multiple concerts and acts, an arts and crafts show, plus a Memorial Day Commemoration by Waterloo veterans. Of course there’s the parade that anyone can join in and fireworks. For the schedule, click here.

There are also special events for the younger crowd. At the Kids’ Korner there are games, crafts, goodie bags, animals, a clown and a juggler, depending upon the time you’re there.

One item in particular caught my eye. Bubblemania, a one-person performance by Casey Carle will be on the Layfette Stage. According to the info on the festival Website, Carle has been performing in India on a 16-day tour. I’m always curious to find out how performers from various countries end up performing where they do, whether they are from the U.S. and end up overseas or groups from other countries that end up here, particularly on a small town stage. If you see him, ask him.

If you head to Waterloo, also check out the National Memorial Day Museum, and the American Civil War Memorial and take a ride on the Finger Lakes Scenic Railway.

Travel, alcohol consumption up, according to TripAdvisor

by Tom Johansmeyer on

We’ve seen travel predictions all over, such as Memorial Day travel will be up with the summer down. Everyone’s weighing in. The latest from TripAdvisor is that little has changed in a year. Actually, this isn’t TripAdvisor‘s opinion so much as that of more than 1,800 of its readers in the United States. More than a quarter of those taking vacations plan to make them last from a week to 10 days, with 21 percent upping the ante to 11 days to two weeks. Nearly 20 percent are going for up to three weeks.

Just over half of TripAdvisor’s respondents (56 percent) are taking the same amount of vacation they did last year, while 7 percent will spend more time on recreation than they did last summer.

At least these 1,800 respondents are still interested in having a good time. Thirty-six percent of them are more likely to down a bit more booze on the road … and 28 percent exercise less, with 25 percent eating more junk food. Ice cream is the favorite food (44 percent), and margaritas are the favorite drink (44 percent).

This is only one way that we change our behavior while traveling. Respondents also connect to the internet less (63 percent), watch less television (56 percent) and return fewer calls and e-mails (52 percent).

The top destination this summer is the beach, with 58 percent of respondents ready to get some sand in their toes. Hogging beach chairs will piss them off, though. Thirty-two percent see this behavior while they travel often – nine percent always.

Still have doubts? Not Michele Perry, senior vice president of global communications for TripAdvisor: “Recession be damned, Americans are preparing to pack up the beach bags and boogie boards en masse this summer.”

Beer travel for Memorial Day: 10 options and more

by Jamie Rhein on

Head to any state and you’ll find a favorite local beer with quite the following. At HalogenLife, Kyle Anderson has come up with a favorite 10 beers in 10 states list to add perfection to a Memorial Day weekend trip. The list doesn’t mean you should drink and drive your way across America. Instead, use it as a guide to the best beers whether you’re beaching it, going on a picnic, or throwing a backyard barbecue.

Read on for Anderson’s suggestions as well as other best beer options.

I’m quite fond of Barley’s Brewing Company in Columbus. You’ll have to go to this microbrewery restaurants to partake, however–unless someone brings you a sealed glass jug of it like a friend of mine once did for her husband. Her main job was figuring out how to keep it cold long enough to make it to Sturbridge, MA. This was back when a glass jug filled with liquid could be a carry-on bag.

My favorite beer and food pairing is Barley’s Pilsner and sauerkraut balls. For a beer lover’s experience, order a sampling of each arranged from the lightest to the darkest. It’s a bit hard to find parking, but here’s a tip. Park at the North Market and head in to buy Jose Madrid salsa and chips. Get your parking ticket stamped, and voila, parking has just become affordable. By the way, this is a family friendly place.

For beer to take on the road, try Great Lakes Brewing Company. Brewed in Cleveland, the beer never disappoints. Burning River is the one we bring home the most. Great Lakes Brewing also has a brew pub in the Ohio City section of Cleveland, but it’s also easy to find at grocery stores and many convenience stores across Ohio.

If you’re driving through Montana, try Bayern Brewing Company, the only German-style microbrewery in the Rockies. The brewery is located in Missoula, but you can find its beer elsewhere. Every summer when we head to Montana, this beer is one thing we look forward to. Not the only thing. One thing. Try Juergen’s Bayern Pilsner.

Karen, the Gadling non-beer drinker vouches for St. Arnold’s Brewing Company in Houston and expressed disappointment it wasn’t on the list. Now it is. St. Arnold’s is touted as Texas’s oldest craft brewery. You don’t have to be at the brewery to partake On Thursday nights from how through the summer, you can quench that beer thirst while listening to a Thursday night concert at Discovery Green. Because this beer is also bottled, you can take it with you when you head out of Texas. Before you go, take in a public brewery tour at 1:00 on Saturday. Tours are $5 and included beer tasting and a souvenir glass.

Here’s Anderson’s list. The article gives a run-down of what makes each beer a standout. Enjoy a beer adventure this Memorial Day. Just don’t drink and drive.

One town doesn’t want tourists for Memorial Day

by Jamie Rhein on

If you’re a tourist, Ithaca, in the Finger Lakes region of New York, doesn’t want you–at least not for Memorial Day. It’s not a snob thing. It’s not that the town wants people who live there to enjoy backyard barbeque’s and parades in peace without strangers–you know, outsider types–from stopping them to ask for directions or take up their parking spots.

Actually, parking spots have something to do with it. The town is not that big for a lot of extra folks for a mega weekend like Memorial Day. Between Cornell’s graduation ceremonies and every day traffic, there isn’t enough room for every Tom, Dick, and Harry (and Mary) who has a hankering to head through this pristine town for a holiday.

Think about having a party at your house for example. Don’t you count silverware, place settings, number of chairs and the condition of your grass and plumbing to decide just how many people you can have tromping through? Ithaca, realizing they are ill equipped to be the best hosts at this time is basically saying, don’t bother.

Don’t think that just because you’re not welcome for one of the biggest pre-summer weekends that you’re not welcome forever. Don’t get your feelings hurt. They did want you for Mother’s Day and offered specials as Karen pointed out. And the town definitely wants you the last weekend in May for the Ithaca Festival, the quirky event that celebrates the town’s creativity. Then you’ll have fun. They promise. Mike, our Sky Mall Monday guru, lived here once and vouches for the friendly attitudes of the town’s people and the charm of the place. I believe him. In my opinion, a guy that dons a hazmat suit to test out the Hotel Carter, the dirtiest hotel in the U.S. can be trusted. [I Love New York]