Attended night one of the sixty-hour-long Rhythm and Roots Festival at Ninigret Park in Charlestown RI last night. When I was 17 I was the first educational director of the environmental center, as well as a board member of the nature center in the park (as a board member I voted against the observatory being built instead of expanding the nature programming. I lost.). I thought big as a kid.
The park has grown considerably since back then, but it was cool to see that the cement steps I poured back in 1982, that led from the parking area to the pond, were still there 32 years later (I did that carve-your-initials-in-the-cement thing, and you can still see them).
The highlight for me was being right up front for a great hour-long concert by Elizabeth Cook, who’s pretty hot and has an amazing voice (although she talked too much. Shut up and sing, as the anti-Dixie Chicks clowns used to say.)
There were a lot of food trucks to choose from, but the blackened shrimp over jambalaya, by the King Creole truck was worth going back for seconds. I like to try ingesting new things, but I made the mistake of thinking I might enjoy the Auroras Gypsy Cafe’s green truck for a wild boar burger.
It was pretty gross, gamey and I had to smother it with ketchup and mustard to counter the thick pesto sauce they smear on it. Nasty stuff, that wild boar burger, and I chucked it away after a few bites. And it was $12 with no sides. Still, a pretty awesome night.