A Taste of Croakerfest

Here's the low-down from Oriental's annual party. After Hurricane Arthur blew through town, we had clear blue skies, low humidity, and perfect weather for outdoor play over the July 4th weekend.

A few of us farmer's market vendors decided to have a parade float of sorts.

The festival theme this year was PIRATES. I liked this parade float sign:

The driver of this pirate vessel carried both his wench and his winch along inside.

This mile-long Caddy participated.

And the local band. They're not young and spry enough to walk the parade route.

This herd of Sudan Shriners ride little motorized drink coolers. I do wonder who first came up with that idea! They're called the "Cooligans." Haha!

The Shriners is a group of men dedicated to helping children in need of medical care, a philanthropic group. They do good work. These Shriners rode their mini-cars in the parade.

And ... we had a monster-sized grocery cart!

One of the "cool rides."

Love this get-up -- this little boy rode his antique mini-car, pulling his daddy behind on a saddle, mounted on a water tank.

A few pirates lurked around town.

And some who looked vaguely piratical.

Adam and some church members rode along too.

Sponge Bob made an appearance in his motorcycle and sidecar.

And a dragon boat ...

...and a rickshaw ...

And ... "oh my ... one Chinese dragon!"  (Name that movie quote!)

Lots of ice cream was sold, and funnel cakes ...

... and sausage hoagies.

We had a band, actually quite a few different bands, and many singers.

There was dancing too. This older lady is pretty much our town matriarch. She's lived here all her life and is over 90 years old, and still dancing! I also saw her picking up trash on the road that tourists had thrown down.

Oriental's mass transit system was in full force.

I spent quite a few hours watching Croakerfest from this vantage point: my friend's front porch.

She lives smack in the middle of the action, her porch overlooking the river and catching its breezes, her wide lawn and massive live oak tree shading many visitors. She welcomes them to her lawn. Oriental is open-hearted that way.