Saturday, March 18, 2006

Macon Thunder

Even though the sun kept trying to poke out every so often, it was a fairly dreary day weather-wise, but still warm and dry enough to do plenty of Cherry Blossom activities. I spent the afternoon checking out the Dixie Disc Dog Championships and Macon Thunder before heading into work for the evening. I had not been to Macon Thunder last year during its first year, so I didn’t know what to expect besides what I had seen in the paper. There were plenty of families crowded around the make-shift catfish pond, and the little kids weren’t the only ones dangling slimy things off the end of their fishing poles — there were plenty of moms and dads enjoying themselves as well. With some families, it was hard to tell who was having more fun, the kids or the parents. There weren’t many booths set up when I visited the trail in the early afternoon, and the music stage was in the process of being set up, but there were plenty of those inflatable type rides for the kids to enjoy. Those really weren’t that popular where I grew up when I was a kid, so I’m always kind of envious of the kids jumping around inside those big inflatable trampoline contraptions. I even saw the little teeny Cherry Prince and Princess running off to the inflatable slide and waving a bunch of money in the air.
I also grabbed some Fincher’s BBQ while I was at the trail and I finally saw a cow, though it was only a Chick-fil-A cow. I didn’t have time to go in search of the real thing today, but maybe tomorrow or later this week. It really was a great family atmosphere in the afternoon with plenty for the family to do, but if you’re in your twenties with no family like me, it might not be the most interesting activity for you during the Cherry Blossom Festival. And as a little side note, I do think the kids’ chalk contest is a better match with Macon Thunder, but I’m going to miss seeing all the chalk-drawings on Third Street throughout the week — that’s just one of the little things that made it Cherry Blossom to me.
I didn’t get a chance to go back out to the trail for the fireworks because of work, but I did catch them from The Telegraph building this evening. I also wish I’d been able to check out the evening portion of Macon Thunder to catch some of the music acts and find out if the atmosphere was any different at night than during the day. Maybe others who got to go to will share their comments with me and fill me in.

No comments: