Feast-ival Seafood fest thrills hungry attendees - Foster's Daily Democrat
HAMPTON BEACH ¿ It was heaven for seafood lovers at Hampton Beach on Saturday with the smells of freshly fried clams, fish and lobsters lingering in the air.
At the 22nd annual Seafood Festival, 60 of the Seacoast's best restaurants presented their finest dishes featuring scallops, shrimp and many other seafood dishes the New England area is famous for.
For those not too crazy for lobster, there were also 80 arts and crafts vendors, live musical entertainment, culinary demonstrations and a beverage tent serving beer and wine for the thousands who showed up.
With the program in hand, Maura Moore, of Chester, and Barbara and Dale Crowley, of Raynham, Mass., had been visiting each food tent and marking them off as they went. Around two o'clock, they had to take a break to figure out which direction to go to next.
"We're debating which lobster roll tent to go to," said Moore.
Where the three couldn't agree on the next food tent to tackle, they did agree on one thing: that it was great advertising for local restaurants.
"When we come to New Hampshire you pretty much know what to eat before you come," Barbara said. "Sometimes you see something new come and you've got to try it."
"It's good for the local economy, too," Dale added.
Moore agreed.
"I live in New Hampshire and we need all the revenue we can get," she said, with a laugh.
Moore said she discovered the seafood festival from driving around with her kids and stumbling on it. She has been going to it for several years now.
"I like the whole atmosphere. I have never not come and the weather isn't like this," she said, eyes drawn to the crisp blue, almost cloudless sky.
The Crowleys have been coming to visit Hampton Beach for over 40 years and said this is the second or third seafood festival they have been too.
"It's something to do on a Saturday in September," Barbara gave as the reason for taking the hour and a half long trip up.
Having gone to other seafood festivals, the Crowleys said the Hampton Beach one was by far their favorite.
"We went to one in Florida," Barbara said. "Oh god, it was not as good."
"Not even close," Dale chimed in. "¿ (Hampton Beach's is) a whole lot bigger."
Even though it is larger, coming an hour away from Alton, Kathy Randall and her daughter, Krystal, 19, said that parking wasn't that bad.
"We found a free parking spot and then took a shuttle over here," Kathy said.
Having gone to the beach before, this is the Randalls first time at the seafood festival.
"It's a great way to end the summer," Kathy said.
For Krystal, the best part of the festival was the $1 lobster claws and the variety available.
"There are a lot of things set up to look at," she said. "I love the seafood¿ It's home grown and fresh."
Paige Wells, 18, came all the way from Clifton Park, New York, an almost four-hour drive to not only visit her friend, Alisha Jangel, 25, of Canaan, but to come to the seafood festival for her second year in a row.
"There's so much seafood and the vendors are cheap," she said. "¿ When you think of vendor food you think carnival food. Everything here is cooked really well and is really good."
Wells said some of her favorites were the clams and chowder that she tried.
This is Jangel's third year in a row and she wasn't afraid to admit she enjoyed "people watching" the most.
"It's interesting to see the different type of people who come," she said. "The way people are dressed different and some are from different cultures."
The diversity didn't just end with the people present, though.
"It's cool that they have other stuff like crab Rangoon and Italian food," Jangel commented. "There's a little more variety. Not just seafood."
But despite the crowd exceeding thousands and the busy boardwalk and beach, Wells said she would still come next year.
"You can chill on the beach, go swimming, and if you don't feel like doing that you can go walk around," she said. "¿ It's a relaxing weekend."
The seafood festival continues today from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults and free for children under 12 years.
11 Sep, 2011--
Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNHOKeMVGkAEvMh0RyIBMdGikf2E_g&url=http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110911/GJNEWS_01/709119869/-1/FOSNEWS
~
Manage subscription | Powered by rssforward.com
