Michigan Fiber Festival

Last Saturday my friend Sue and I headed out to Allegan to attend the Michigan Fiber Festival.  It started out cloudy and drizzly but by the time we arrived it was warming up and getting a bit muggy.  Before too long my hair looked like this guy's:

The fairgrounds had several barns used for the fiber artists that were filled to capacity and we managed to make our way through all of them.  It was really crowded when we got there at 11 AM and far less so when we left at 4:30 PM.  Yep, we spent 5 1/2 hours there.  We had lunch with my friends Eddie and Tracy who had arranged to meet their friend Kim, from Chicago.  I saw several of my vendor friends there: Kris, Deb, Suzanne, Liz, Rita, Rose, and Terri.  There were vendors from all over the country, which is why it's so much fun to attend this show -- you get to see a whole lot of new and beautiful things.  

Here are some shots from the show:

That's Kelley and Dawn from the Black Sheep Knitting Guild in the upper right-hand corner.  The man in the bottom photo?  Just a nut with a wacky felted cone hat.  Sue had to try drop spindle spinning on her brand new Trindle.  Don't you love the 'for sale' signs by the hand dryer in the women's rest room??!!

All in all Sue and I didn't buy too much.  I left with several hanks of beautifully dyed roving and some dyed locks, and a cute T-shirt.  While driving out of the fairgrounds we passed the critters and realized we hadn't visited with them!  They were so eager to see us:

And my personal favorite:

From the fairgrounds we headed northwest to Holland to spend the night.  We went to a fabulous Irish restaurant called Curragh on the recommendation of my co-worker Martha.  Excellent choice!  The food was wonderful and it felt so good to sit down for a while after wandering all over the fiber festival.

We started with a glass of beer and this: 

Toasted Seafood Bruschetta

Toasted onion poppy seed Ciabatta blanketed with shrimp and crab marscarpone spread. Topped with tomato bruschetta and Balsamic reduction. 

Three words:  To Die For.

I had the: 

Corned Beef & Cabbage

We cook fresh brisket everyday. Corned beef served over savoy cabbage with mashed potatoes. Topped with horseradish sauce.

And Sue had:

Cottage Pie
Chicken, peas, carrots and onions in herb sauce. Topped with mashed potatoes and baked golden brown. Served with seasonal vegetables and soda bread.

We were full and well satisfied and will definitely be back the next time we're in Holland.  We walked along the downtown area for a bit, taking in the scenery of beautiful flower pots, statues, and exquisite architectural details on the store fronts.  The items inside the stores looked intriguing but we were too late to step inside.  Next time...