Fall Festival Season
The Fall Festival season begins this weekend!
Our first stop is the Seafood Festival in St. Marys, Georgia. (No typo. St. Marys doesn’t waste space with apostrophes.)
Since St. Marys is a four hour drive from our house, we’re turning our trip into a camping weekend.
Back to St. Marys
We missed the Seafood Festival last year, but here I am two years ago. Did you notice I wasn’t wearing my usual ball cap?
The kind hat vendor next to us gifted me the hat I’m wearing. I planned to buy it because I was so excited it fit me, but he was happy to get rid of a hat that was too small for most adults.
St. Marys Seafood Festival differed from our usual events because it is a favorite destination for tourists. In fact, St. Marys has so many excellent restaurants and cafés, we’re planning to pick up lunch from a café or food truck and takeout for our evening meals.
I talked to readers who came to enjoy the walkable historic district, its maritime heritage, and of course, its fabulous restaurants. The most common question I hear at festivals, including St. Marys, is “Are you local?”
At St. Marys, a café owner told me how happy he was to see a local author at the festival. When I tried to explain how far away we lived, he told me firmly, “You’re from Georgia. You’re local.” So yes, I’m local.
Two years ago, St. Marys had to reschedule the Seafood Festival because of a pesky hurricane. Even though the rescheduled event didn’t have the luxury of an extended promotion period, there were more readers there than I had expected, and we had a glorious day.
How to Spot a Reader in the Wild
Have I told you my secret to spotting a reader? Their eyes and feet tell me. They slow down and scan all the books. Sometimes twice.
I ask, “Are you a reader?” And we’re in a full-blown conversation about what they like to read, and the last book they read.
Rain Plans and Puppy Plans
We do have challenges. One is weather: the bane of outdoor festivals. Right now, the chance of rain on the festival day is 60%. Fortunately, we have a rain plan. We even have a thunderstorm-with-lightning plan.
If rain moves in, we can pop the books into their bins. I have a clear plastic bag for each Book 1 of all my series so readers who have umbrellas and raincoats can see the cover, pick the book up, and read the back.
If a thunderstorm rolls in, we’ll lower the tent over the tables after the books are safely tucked into their bins, and go find a café.
Our other challenge weighs close to sixty pounds and believes every waking moment of every day should involve fun. Not just regular fun. Exciting fun.
Our sweet six-month-old Lab puppy has become a teenage bundle of wild energy with very little impulse control. He has never been camping.
Toby, our almost six-year-old black mouth cur, is an experienced camper and a very chill dog. The challenge will be making sure Toby gets a break from the puppy when Shadow has his afternoon attack of LIFE IS EXCITING.
At home, Toby can slip out the dog door when he’s had enough of Play with Me. Play with ME. PLAY WITH ME.
The camper does not come equipped with a dog escape hatch. We’ll see how it all works!
And if it rains? We know where the books go. The dogs will be dry. We won’t starve.
You keep reading; I’ll keep writing!
