Yes, they have Czarnina! What is Czarnina? I didn’t know, so I had some, and it’s totally not what i expected to taste. I am not telling you what it tastes like, go try it yourself. Kids got free balloons. He posed for me for a split second. Lining up for a photo of their balloons. I asked to take a photo of her and her ‘hat’. She said I have to give her commission when I earn some money. Alright, well, anytime now, you guys can start paying me so I can pay her. Shadows. I know it’s not Polish, but they have Cannoli, freshly ‘making’. They also have volunteers, I assume, that play with the kids. In Michigan, we have CORN HOLE. How do you not want a photo of that? They put them on to let people know there are free balloons. Stoping right in front of me to talk to people? Works perfectly. Plenty of sidewalk chalk also.

Saw a poster at the local Biggby the other day – “Muskegon Polish Festival”. Well, it was labor day weekend I didn’t have much to do, and It was lunch time, and what’s better than hoping for some authentic Polish food? So down the road I go. Now, I am always very supportive of local events (I try to be, anyway), so the following is not trying to make it look bad.

Well, there was live Polka music and beer, (not free obviously) but I was only looking to get some food with the family. Well, for adults, they charge an entrance fee, which I can understand trying to make an event happen, ya know? But when my goal is just to go in there and get food and have a look-see, it became quite pricey. Why? Good food also comes with a premium price. So, if, for some reason, any of the event people are reading this, maybe you guys can figure out a little better math next year, after all I am nowhere near Polish but, I would LOVE to come check it out and support local, fun events, especially ones with good food!

Now, we got that part over with. Let’s talk about the good things. I would have to say that some of the best polish sausage I’ve ever had was at this festival. And, that Czarnina? Well, I can tell you it’s duck soup, but it totally did not taste like what I thought it would. It was nicely cooked, the kids thought it was weird but I thought it was interesting and had to be quite authentic. It was enjoyable. Also, I would like to mention, they have the freshest horseradish known to mankind, second only to the wasabi you get at a real Japanese place. Boy, was that good on the polish sausage with sauerkraut. Well, obviously, I wasn’t going to just eat and run, so after lunch we were walking around, checking out the live band. They were good, and that’s coming from being “a guy who is known to play some instruments” myself. Love that accordion! Then we decided to get some sweets. A local establishment was catering to the sweet booth. CANNOLI, freshly made in front of my eyes! I know that’s not polish, but it definitely finished my lunch on a high note, it was also surprisingly good.

Alright, so now I was full, and walking around with an Olympus XA (original) that had recently fallen into my possession, I started to notice there are a bunch of elderly people with hats made out of balloons. Some of them were volunteers, and they wore them to let us know that there were free balloons available for the kids. We went over that side of the park, and found not only free balloons, but also free face-painters, and there are games like “CORN HOLE” ( it’s a Michigan thing and it’s not rude, maybe its called bean bag toss or some sh!t like that where you are from, but we call it corn hole), also volunteers were playing with the kids. My boy went back to the balloon guy for a second time. he got a ridiculous hat and a dog with a leash.

It was a neat festival, I am not polish but I was clearly welcome. If they could do it a tiny bit more economically, it would be awesome, so maybe I could also afford some film to document this. As of right now, I have one roll of 135 left. Either way, count me in next year I’m coming back. Man, that horseradish, I’ll remember you.

While I was no where near the ‘bar’ at 11:30 am, I have to say you guys did quite well entertaining the kids, especially at a festival setting, keep up the good work.