Central Florida Veg Fest 2011 - Part I

 "So, where's the Cannes Film Festival being held this year?"

 - Christina Aguillera

Hello everyone!  May your day be filled with hope, health and happiness.  What more may one ask?

Yea!  Finally... a blog post.  Something besides a fat (er... "strategic weight challenged") dude putting his weight out there for everyone to see.  Not only is today's a new post but it's a multi-part entry.

Tiffany (the cute slender one) and I did something on Saturday that we've both been looking forward to all year long.  It was the annual Central Florida Veg Fest 2011 held in Loch Haven Park, Orlando, Florida.  This was our first time attending the wonderful event!

The yellow line?  I'm sitting in the "beer garden" area, of course.

Okay, for those of you who are historically savvy and have deducted the logical...  Yes, Tiffany and I became vegetarians before last year's annual event.  However, on that particular weekend we had the tough choice of either attending a MET Live in HD opera or Central Florida Veg Fest 2010.  The latter was passed aside as we were newly vegetarian and wished more experience under our belts before attending.  After all, we did not wish to come across as "newbies", do we?  (Note:  The event is targeted towards interested, new, experienced and just-thinking-about-it vegetarians alike.  Newbies most welcomed, of course.) 

Um.  Where do I start?  The beginning perhaps?  All week long I was soooo excited looking forward to our first attendance.  After all, the Vegetarians of Central Florida put on such a wonderful Central Florida Earth Day 2010 that this simply had to be great.  Every morning I would rise and remind Tiffany of the wonderful Saturday which we had planned.  The speakers, the vendors, the food demonstrations, the wonderful fellow vegans & vegetarians, the education, and everything in between were going to be awesome!

Yep.  Still inside the "beer garden".  More about that later.

We packed up (camera, fresh batteries, lots of cash, comfortable clothing, sunglasses, etc.) and headed out early to beat the crowds.  We are going to spend the entire day at the event, from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM until they close shop. 

I drove downtown, found the same wonderful parking garage that we used for Earth Day, and we walked the block to Lake Eola Park, Orlando, Florida.  "What?"  "Huh?"  Did they move the event to the other side of Lake Eola this time?  "Oh... Yes."  "I can see hundreds of other people on the other side of the lake."  "Let's just walk around, okay?" 

What?  Did Chucky & Tiffany spend the entire day inside that "beer garden"?

Guess what I noticed my friends?  There were huge crowds walking around the lake and adjacent streets all wearing royal purple t-shirts.  And, the crowd I spotted across the lake?  Hmm... I was witnessing lots of royal purple color over there and kept hearing crowds cheering.

Even we vegans and vegetarians know that crowds don't cheer for carrots!  A bunch of broccoli certainly can't garnish that much attention.  An organic avocado, even on it's best day, simply cannot excite a crowd so.

Finally... We're outside the "beer garden".  Better watch out vendor booths!

Uh-oh!  Tiffany and I soon found ourselves surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of people walking in royal purple "Walk to End Alzheimer's" t-shirts.  The cheering?  That, my friend, was obviously people cheering when walkers crossed the Finish line.

Guess what?  Chucky could not remember where the Central Florida Veg Fest 2011 was being held so he accidentally joined an Alzheimer's walk instead!  My motto... "I cannot remember whether I have Alzheimer's." certainly held true this day.

Hmm... Perhaps this is the veggie pathway of life which Chucky always refers to?

Know what's even worse?  I drove Tiffany right along side of Loch Haven Park just to get to Lake Eola Park!  We even noticed crowds building at Lake Eola Park and wondered to ourselves what event was taking place there.

So... we walked back the parking garage, paid our $2 parking feel, and drove back up to Lake Eola Park.  We only lost about 45-minutes of time and arrived to Central Florida Veg Fest 2011 about 20-minutes late.

Yes.  The Orlando Science Center is that close to Loch Haven Park!

The morale of this story?  Just because one event is held annually in one local park each year does not necessarily mean that a different event hosted by the same organization is held annually in the very same park!  "Duly noted."

The festival?  To be continued...

Hi-dee hi-dee I-am-getting-old-enough-to-excuse-myself-for-forgetting-ho my friend.