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.
When you think about hotbeds of Japanese-American culture, St. Louis probably doesn't spring to mind. But it should, because the Gateway City is home to one of the largest Japanese gardens in America, the 14-acre expanse at the Missouri Botanical Garden.
And every Labor Day weekend for the last 32 years, the garden has hosted one of the premier Japanese festivals in the US.
The three-day Missouri Botanical Garden Japanese Festival, August 30-September 1, features a wide array of Japanese cultural activities, including martial arts demos, Zen enlightenment workshops and everybody's favorite, sumo wrestling. Ten bucks gets you admission to everything.
This weekend marks the end of an era for Brooklyn's awesomely (or insufferably) hip neighborhood of Williamsburg.
For the last three years, one of the neighborhood's undeniable summer highlights has been the pool party concerts at the (waterless) McCarren Park Pool, where indie rock faves like The Hold Steady, Of Montreal and the Black Lips have rocked out at free weekend shows.
But the city has decided to turn McCarren Park Pool back into an actual pool, which, to be fair, could be pretty cool come next summer. So indie vets Yo La Tengo will play the last ever pool party, this Sunday at 2 pm. (The non-free Clear Channel series at the pool continues next week with Sonic Youth.) If you're planning to show up for some nostalgia this weekend, plan to arrive early--lines this summer have been insanely long.
When you think of horse racing you immediately think of the big guys like the Kentucky Derby or the Belmont. Or maybe you just picture grumpy old guys bickering over horses and swapping stories.
But at the Del Mar Racetrack and Fairgrounds, outside of San Diego, there's so much going on that they call it the Del Mar Scene.
Most of Montana's small towns are overlooked by travelers rushing to Yellowstone and the state's other Great Outdoors attractions. Lying right at the edge of the Flathead Valley, with Glacier National Park in the background, Whitefish is one small town that is worth stopping by.
If you're heading elsewhere in Montanta for Labor Day, the weather should be just about perfect this time of year to check out this quaint little valley town for a day. And why not? You've got that extra day. Here's what the Whitefish tourist board has to say about the place:
Ask about any Canadian in Southern Alberta and you'll get some kind of story about their adventure in Whitefish.
OK, not sure exactly what that means, but apparently Whitefish has become Montana's Tijuana. Count us in!
Seems we're not the only ones trying to cram in a beach break before summer travel season runs out. Celebs of all stripes are jetting all over in an attempt to catch some rays before, uh, heading back to sunny LA.
You know the drill when it comes to packing for the beach: chairs, towels, sunscreen, trashy magazines and some adult beverages. Well, not so fast. Come this Labor Day weekend, Silver Strand Beach, the last public beach to allow alcohol in San Diego County, is cutting us off.
Apparently, drinking has been causing some unwanted behaviors, including a stabbing over Fourth of July weekend.
But there is a silver lining. Although alcohol is banned on the beach, the campsites at the state park will have the taps flowing, as there are no current plans to ban alcohol for the campers. And if you're really sneaky, you can always go the plastic cup route!
Late summer means one thing to red-blooded American food fans: We're in prime state fair season! No other type of festival truly puts American food inventiveness on full display--and by inventiveness, we mean coming up with new ways to put stuff on a stick and deep fry it.
Without state fairs, we would never have tasted delicacies such as corn dogs, deep-fried Twinkies or deep-fried Oreos. The Indiana State Fair just ended this weekend and pleasantly introduced the world to this deliciousness: Deep-fried bananas foster cheesecake on a stick. Wow.
But surely that won't be the only culinary delight we get to taste this year. After the jump, a big, big list of state fairs currently underway and yet to come.
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by kjb
