Great American Food and Music Fest: FAIL!

I love to eat and I love to cook. Post-Norah, I watch a lot of cooking television and actually cook very little, so I thought it only appropriate that we go to the Great American Food and Music Fest. We went with our fun friends Josh, Suzy, and Caroline and looked forward to a great afternoon of food and cooking demonstrations by the Food Network personalities.

To say that the festival sucked was a serious understatement. First of all, it was at Shoreline Amphitheatre, which is a venue we have been to many times, mostly for sold out shows. We've never waited in line to get in more than about 5 minutes. On Saturday, however, the line wound around the entire parking lot, at least 500 people deep. There were at least 100 parking attendants directing traffic in the lots, but apparently only 2 people taking tickets. It took us almost an hour to even get in the front gates.

Once we were in we found WALL to WALL people.

So, in true GVZ fashion, we immediately found the beer tent.

Norah took it all in stride. I knew she was a great kid, but after this experience I have a whole new appreciation for her. It was no fun for her. It was hot, it was crowded, and she was confined to the stroller for much longer than I intended her to be. She never complained, she never fussed. She just smiled and laughed and flirted with people. She ate a bagel with creme cheese and smoked salmon and couldn't have been happier.


BVZ had 3 giant beers and couldn't have been happier.


The biggest problem with this FOOD festival was that it was impossible to get any food. Every vendor was 100 or so people deep and the poor people working there just simply could not deal with the crowds. We decided to take our chances and get the Philly Cheesesteaks, and waited in a non-moving line for about 45 minutes before I wised up and figured out what the problem was. Apparently, they made each sandwich after it was ordered and their ovens could only handle five at a time. They each took 20 minutes from start to finish. So, based on the number of people in line, I think it would have taken approximately 10 hours for us to get a sandwhich.

Ironically, there were no lines at the beer stands and so people kept drinking, but were unable to eat. The general drunkedness created a great sense of commrodery amongst the starving crowd and we had a lot of fun chatting with the people around us. Turns out a woman who was in front of us was the cousin of a woman who used to be an intern at my office (long story as to how we figured that out, but what a small world!)

We eventually got some food (not Philly Cheesesteaks), and found a lovely patch of grass in the shade where the girls could stretch their legs and practice their walking. Despite the fest's adversity, we had a fabulous time with Josh and Suzy and the awesome Caroline and it turned out to be a great, great day.

Doesn't Caroline have the best hat?