Whoever ends up taking the White House this fall, one thing's for sure: He won't be hosting meetings in Crawford, Texas. That has the dusty town a little teary-eyed after eight years in the spotlight.
Says the Washington Post:
Wednesday marks the final day of Bush's last Crawford summer vacation, a prospect [that] has left longtime residents marveling at the changes that have come to their dusty, 700-person town about 20 miles west of Waco--and wondering what comes next.
Tourist (and journalist) traffic is already drying up, and plenty of storefronts on the main drag are empty. And though the president's presence spurred a bit of development, plans for other projects have dissolved.
If your Labor Day to Missouri don't inclue sumo wrestling, then you're probably headed to the 40th Annual Bluegrass Pickin' Time. (Hard to believe that it's already been 40 years!) About 130 miles outside of St. Louis, the small town of Dixon is definitely ready for this year's fun.
Things kick off on Wednesday evening before the holiday weekend with a fish fry, and you're even encouraged to bring a dish to share. Starting Thursday night, the festival will start kickin' with the Bluegrass Pickin' Time Band. After that, things start around lunchtime every day and don't stop until about 10 pm.
In addition to all the music, there will be craft vendors scattered about the park and even a quilt show. [Ed.: Now *that's* Midwestern.] Instrument workshops will also be held so you can get some tips and tricks from the pros to improve your own bluegrass skills. Tickets for the full four days will run you just $35.
This week, NFL quarterback Brett Favre created a firestorm by asking to be released from his Packers contract so he could un-retire and play for another team. Now a Wisconsin couple has honored the twists and turns of the quarterback's career with a corn maze thanking him for Packers glory.
Corn mazes are a traditional Midwestern early-fall entertainment created by trimming stalks in a pattern and then allowing children to run around inside until they cry. (We would know!) Carlene and Duane Schultz of the western Wisconsin town of Eleva do a corn maze every year, but they started planning this 5.5-acre masterpiece when Favre announced his retirement in April after taking the Pack as far as the NFC Championship game.
When it opens on September 1 we fully expect to find Ted Thompson inside, muttering about how things could have gone so, so wrong.
The weekend's finally here! By now you should've finalized some sort of holiday action plan, but here's one last Fourth of July suggestion: Independence, Iowa. With just over 6,000 residents at last count, the town is certainly small, but as they say, "Everybody observes the Fourth of July, we celebrate it!"
David Cook, the winner of the seventh season of "American Idol," may have been born in Houston, Texas, but when the 26-year-old graduated from college he decided to pursue his career in music in... Tulsa, Oklahoma. (To be fair, he didn't audition there but in Omaha.)
We hope the city's borders are prepared for an onslaught of shaggy, sideburned dudes with a weakness for rock ballads. If you are one, or want to meet one, you might do well to look in these hot spots:
Four Aces Tavern :: Live local bands stop by this watering hole every weekend, but you and your friends can also do karaoke there and live your local-stardom dreams. 11035 E. 41st St.
River Park :: Desert, schmesert! Wander along the city's source of fresh water alone or with man's best friend. Hwy. 44 and Riverside Dr.
Don't confuse Madison with the rest of Wisconsin. A small, blue dot amidst a sea of Republican reds on the election maps, this liberal outpost has more going for it than cheese. Home to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the city also boasts its own film festival.
The Wisconsin Film Festival, now in its tenth year, features 150 films and runs April 3-6, 2008. The festival takes over ten downtown theaters, with genres such as documentary, shorts, narrative and experimental. Organizers even throw in restored classics, as well as the work of Wisconsin filmmakers. Events, like Star Wars stormtrooper invasions, are also part of the fun.
Festival organizers claim attendance numbers are growing--nearly 30,000 last year--and more well-known entries keep coming in. Last year, for example, the festival featured Wristcutters: A Love Story and Fay Grim, starring indie darling Parker Posey.
Nothing says fall like ridiculous harvest festivals in small-town America. This week, we'll be mapping the best.
Not much happens in little ol' Circleville, Ohio, a town of 12,000 about 25 miles south of Columbus. You'll find a bunch of OSU Buckeye fans and maybe some Skybus devotees, but other than that, it's farm country. Which is what makes it so perfect for a giant pumpkin shindig.
It's fair season. Across the country, carnies are screwing together old ferris wheel parts and hanging tarps over squirt gun games. Throughout the month of August, while families along the coast lounge on beaches, Americans in the middle flock to county and state fairs.
Up until Labor Day, you can find a place to check out prize livestock, gorge on fried dough, and win a giant stuffed SpongeBob SquarePants within about five miles of any landlocked town. Our personal favorite: the Erie County Fair, near Buffalo, NY.
Most of us ridicule America's gypsies--even if we take advantage of their handiwork. But carnival workers are living the life we can only blog about. They get to travel the country, meet new and interesting characters, and earn a living with nary a cubicle in sight. Where do we sign up?
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