Strawberry Festival 2014

Crowds, heat, and — oh yeah — strawberries!

For two weeks, I'm trading cars with my Aunt Kal. She needed one with a back seat while her granddaughter, Gloria, is here. So I've been driving around in her Mercedes two-door convertible, and there have been plenty of judgmental stares and confused double-takes. Okay, so I don't look like your average Mercedes owner — and I'm not. But for two weeks, it's fun to pretend.

Two windblown Lawlers, roasting & toasting Strawberry Fest 2014.

So my mom and I hopped in, top down, and took the back roads to Cedarburg's Strawberry Festival this past weekend. It was a gorgeous day for a drive — breezy, full sun, and blue skies. Wisconsin really has some beautiful scenery if you know where to look. 

When we got to the fest, we ogled all the eats: strawberry pies, strawberry sundaes, strawberry slushes, strawberry beer, and strawberry cakes. The smell of roasted steak sandwiches, cinnamon glazed nuts, and that smokey scent of summer festivals lingered in the air. We sipped strawberry lemonade and stopped to see Adam who was manning a work-sponsored booth and blowing up big blue balloons for the kids. 

But it was hot. Ungodly hot. And the crowds. Oh the crowds! This fest has definitely grown in the past few years. My mom and I stopped at a few shops here and there to cool down and buy cookie cutters and rainbow sprinkles just because. When we ordered fried eggplant, we found a shady spot and scarfed it down. For dessert, a (sadly mediocre) strawberry bar with crumble topping. 

As we walked back to the car, Mom and I decided that we'd definitely return to Strawberry Fest another year — perhaps going earlier or later in the day in hopes of missing the noon sun and the bulk of the crowd. And in the future, we wouldn't bother with the flavored lemonade; it's all syrup, no fruit. As for dessert — next time, splurge on the chocolate covered strawberries.