The Beginning
As is the case at any food festival of course you want to try a ton of samples. I was expecting to eat about 10 pounds of BBQ after paying a $12 admission fee just to get in. However, the only free samples as it turned out were at the Safeway tent. Naturally 90 percent of the people at this festival enjoy free stuff as much as the next guy so Ashlee and myself waited in line for what was probably approaching two hours. Then we came to find out that the samples were pretty much what you get on a Saturday afternoon when you reach the end of an isle at Safeway. Ironically none of the free samples had anything to do with BBQ - at a BBQ festival!!!! We loaded up though and made the most of our wait in line. With a stack of unfinished goods in hand when we reached the end of the line a place to sit was next on the list. At the end of the tent they had several folding chairs set up where they were doing food demonstrations mixed in with some sweet live music (a piano and drums).
More Free Stuff
A demonstration just started up after we took a seat. A guy was going to grill up some steaks which had me salivating since being from a landlocked state has stuffed me into the meat and potatoes category of carnivores. A couple sat next to us and through a question the guy asked I discovered that by asking a question you get free gifts. This was my opportunity to get my monies worth from my admission fee so I asked something about why he put the fruit and vegetables on the grill with the steak. I didn't care about the answer but my prize was a set of stainless steel grilling tools in a nice case (pictured below).
Was I Approaching the FBI's Most Wanted List?
After we had our fill of the BBQ festival we decided to skip over a couple of blocks to see the White House. Both of us had seen it before but it is like when you go to Mount Rushmore, you have to go see the faces on the mountain. We began our stroll over and laughed at numerous people getting yelled at by bicycle cops to stay off certain areas of the grounds. We reached a dead end as a fence blocked off what used to be the path to where you go and view the White House from in front of a fence about a mile away with your binoculars or telescope. We turned around and looked for another path to where all the other people were ooing and awwing. We found a long trail between two orange net fences and said "this must be it". It turned out it either rained or they watered the grass way too much because it was muddy and my free sneakers from Duke got ruined (I would like to get reimbursed for the shoes if anyone from the White House is an avid reader of my blog). With mud-covered shoes I could now care less about the White House but at this point I was like the Griswolds in National Lampoon's Vacation and the White House was my Wally World. I was carrying my free set of grill tools with me and set the silver case down on the ground so I could take a snapshot like any American tourist would.
At this point the security on top of the White House doubled in size immediately and although I was over a mile away and my cheap camera as 2x zoom or something like that I could swear they were all pointing their sniper rifles at the two of us. I picked the case back up and we exited the premises before word got relayed to the bicycle cops. As swift a foot as I am, I am no match for an officer on two wheels. I have a feeling in this case it would be a shoot first, ask questions later scenario. The other option running through my mind was spending the rest of my days in Leavenworth prison because I asked a dumb question at a steak grilling presentation.
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