Operation: Strawberry Short

A few years ago, San attended a wondrous event in Long Grove called the Strawberry Festival. Since the day he met Tracy and realized that she could eat a quart of strawberries in one sitting, he set his heart upon taking his love there. How could she resist a festival dedicated to a yummy red berry?

Last Sunday morning found Tracy and San on their way to Long Grove, Illinois, anticipating a gluttonous day of strawberries. As they approached the festival, the first clue to their proximity was the fact that the street into Long Grove was lined by parked cars. Even though the two municipal parking lots were already full, San gracefully parked the car in a ditch, between an SUV and a minivan, only a half mile north of the northernmost entrance.

In summary, the festival was a bust. Our heroes wandered through the sprawling mess of tents, which were situated between renovated homes that now sheltered touristy boutiques. They found a reprieve from the kitsch at one tent that served very yummy strawberry donuts, but they were disappointed that the "strawberry/lemonade drink" turned out to be $3 Kool-aid. Questing further past the tents selling corn and kabobs, they finally found one fruit stand that sold tiny little wild strawberries from "Micigan."

Fending off complete and utter dismay, our heroes ventured into a quaint Norwegian shoppe, hoping to find helmets, swords, and busty blonde Valkyries with pigtails wielding warhammers. Instead we found Viking Tour 2009 shirts. And snowglobes. And bobblehead Thor.

We left.

Tracy and San drove home, but made sure to stop by Dominicks to buy large, red, flavorful strawberries from Mexico with which to make strawberry shortcake. It was yummy.