The Soap Lady Should Clean Up Her Act

I thought I would mosey on down to the Lilac Festival this morning.  It's been almost four years since I first moved to Rochester, and it would be a shame if I never experienced its famous flower festival.

I decided to walk there since it's less than a mile and half away from my home.

I thought maybe I had made a mistake when I saw this.  Slightly ominous, no?

But the forecast said no rain until 1:00!  And thankfully, they were right!

I wandered around the park admiring the blossoms.  

Inhaling the sweet smells.

 Cursing myself for not checking my camera batteries before I left...

Sorry about the low-quality, blackberry shots. But you get the idea, right? Beautiful flowers!

After about an hour, my allergies told me it was time to head over to the food and craft fair across the street.  I had high hopes to score some lilac wine, lotions, homemade jewelery, jams. Maybe even grab a snack.  Unfortunately, the food fair did not live up to my expectations.

There really was not a great selection of vendors.  Perhaps this is due to the extremely wet weather we've been having?  I'll give them the benefit of the doubt...

There were a couple interesting booths, though.

Artichoke French.  Don't know what that is, nor did I see anyone order one, but sounds promising...

SWEET POTATO FRIES. Yummmm. I love me some sweet potato fries, not so sure about smoked turkey legs though...  I've never seen this at a food fair before.  There was another booth selling baked sweet potatoes too! Wild Rochestarians and your sweet potato treats. :)

Lobster and Prime Rib?! What the hell is going on?  I am at a food fair, right?  This booth is definitely trying to class it up. 

I tried this lotion on.  It smelled pretty good.  Very lilac-y.  It just didn't scream homemade, support the local economy to me, so I didn't purchase it.

Lilac soap.  Once again, nice smelling, but BAD experience at this booth.  I was browsing, smelling the soaps, minding my own business, and stopped to take this picture.  The vendor-lady came rushing over and got all up in my face, demanding to know why I was taking a picture of her soaps.  I told her I was just documenting my trip to the Lilac Fest.  She huffed and said, "well as long as you are not a competitor."  Really lady?! As if taking a picture of soap, of all things, will reveal all your secrets on how you get it to smell so good. Ugh.

On that sour note, I decided to head back home.

The verdict?  Check out the beautiful, delicious, fragrant flowers, but skip the craft fair AND the soap lady.