Our plan was to arrive early Sunday morning in order to stay ahead of the hungry crowd and it worked. We left our house at 9:30AM, arriving just before 10AM. No signs of the 45 minute backup on the 91 north bound exit nor the 1 hour line to get inside the fairgrounds. Found ample parking,greeted pleasantly by the two front admission ladies. $5 donation per person plus canned goods for the food drive is not only feasible but is a great charity effort before you go and stuff your glutinous face. I could do without the flea market rag tag sale, but I'm sure their rents pay the bills for other stuff to keep the festival going. 
I heard rave reviews about Lobster Craft so I plant myself in front of that truck waiting patiently as they set up. Mrs Wino is not a seafood fan, so her and the little guy head off in their own epicurean expedition.
Just after 10AM a few trucks open with coffee, breakfast sandwiches and what not. Orangeside Donuts is our go to with their devilishly good square donuts. We all share 2 so as not to gorge ourselves early on in the day. Like vultures in the desert, we circle the trucks planning our attack.
Lobstercraft was about 20 minutes behind schedule. I have no problem waiting in line for 45 minutes as the line quickly grows from 5 to now 100+ people deep. The crew on board is feverishly hurrying to make sure that today they are indeed ready to handle the onslaught of glutinous lobster junkies such as myself. Patience is an absolute virtue so are manners, Two things a few lobster zombies behind me forgot about today. Hey peeps...do you complain to the big Mouse when the Tea Cup ride line is over an hour long? Smile and be happy. Lobster is served after a 45 minute wait. It's very tasty, but not as hot & buttery as I envisioned it to be. Some things are better when not rushed and I'm willing to say that in any other scenario outside of this first annual event that this lobster role would be much better. I'll seek them out again for another try.
My wife, a Texan born & raised, is not too happy with her BBQ brisket from one of the other trucks so I decide on doing a little teamwork to create the Big Country Gotta Pig n Brisket Mac&Cheese bowl!! Which hits the spot and is rib sticking good!
(Photo courtesy of @DishCrawlFCT, thanks friends)
This is a paisanos wet dream on wheels. Alas, we're too full to engage the line after the onslaught we just went through. Next time my little porketta, we'll eat again.
My wife ends up in Bounty Food Truck's line for a bourdaleise burger which is absolutely the best damn burger I've had to date! Farm raised beef burger with caramelized onions, arugala, Gruyere cheese, toasty brioche bun! Delicious!
One more trip around and look who's here late, Vanchetta!!
One last trip to the bouncy house for the little guy and we are OUT! The line for entrance into the fest is now 200+ people deep with another 150+ cars waiting on Route 5 to get into the parking lot. We had timed this foodie excursion perfectly. Absolutely made sure to thank the two ladies at the front for a truly fun family day. Planning ahead paid off tremendously! I thoroughly suggest it for other would be fest goers.
When it's your first event, you can plan for 50 people and either 1000 show up or 10 show. That's the ridk you run. Unless, and the organizers should think about it for next year, they presell advanced admission tickets to gage it all. Even with that concept there's no assurance or concrete way of telling what to expect. With hope, the organizers should review and compare notes to see what worked, what didn't and how they can improve on this event for next year. I'm sure the hamster wheels are turning and buring already for what will sure to be an even better 2015 #CTFoofTruckFest.
Thank you to all the event planners, organizers, workers, vendors and food truck operators...we had a blast and a half. See you on Eats Street!
1 comment:
We had a great time on Saturday and although we planned to arrive at noon, the back up off the highway delayed us by about 45 minutes. The admission line at around 1pm was long, but moved quickly. We headed right to the back of the Fest (just like we do at Disney) and found that the lines weren't too bad then. In fact, for Double Trouble Food Truck, there was no line at all!
I agree, next year advance sales, and maybe 2 seatings a day would help alleviate the crowd.
In any case, we had a ball - and it sounds like you did too!
Thanks for sharing!
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