These festivals range from large scale concerts to regionally important annual events - Patuxent River Appreciation Days, for example. There are various war re-enactments, and loads of smaller church centered dinners - crab and beef, or stuffed ham and oyster dinners. We will DEFINITELY be taking in some of these over the cooler months ahead.
But, today was The St. Mary's County Oyster Festival, which features the National Oyster Cook-off and the World Oyster Shucking Championships. With beautiful weather, I just had to attend, and drag my wife along. Literally drag, because, if she was starving to death, she would NOT eat a raw oyster. Or a cooked one, for what it's worth. I, on the other hand, love them in all their delectable forms - raw, grilled, steamed, or fried. Bring em on!
The festival was chocl full of food vendors (my kind of festival!) and also featured a juried craft show with some outstanding local artisans. Entertainment was featured as well. But the food, specifically the oysters, were the real stars today. (Although the pit cooked beef looked outstanding) My samplings today included oyster stew, oyster shooters (2 chilled oysters in a cup, some cocktail sauce, a splash of hot sauce, and a bit of cold beer. Outstanding!), and a local favorite, a stuffed ham sandwich. Not really sure what this consists of, but it WAS good. My wife got french fries and ice cream. Here are some of the goodies.
The Stuffed Ham Sandwich
Oyster Stew
The wonderful Oyster Shooter
The Oysterfest King!!
