Wellfleet Oyster Fest - October 17-18, 2009

Save the Date - Mark your calendar now for the 9th Annual Wellfleet Oyster Fest. An event I don't like to miss and I don't recommend you skip if you can make it to Wellfleet, MA on Cape Cod in October.

For the What, When, Where, To Do's, Who, Why, and all the information about the Wellfleet Oyster Fest, click here.

I can tell you from experience, arrive early on Saturday to avoid a long wait for parking and plan to spend the day as there is lots to see, do and eat. If you don't get to everything or eat everything on Saturday, do not panic. The Fest is two days so wake up on Sunday morning and go back for more!

I hope my favorite vendor returns again this year, W.O. Hesperus. They make great hot sauces and last year I got a Kick in the Nuts and enjoyed it!

I know my father-in-law will be looking to add to his collection with an item from Mike McCarthy's Mattapoisett Bird Works.

For a complete list of artists and food vendors look around on the Wellfleet Oyster Fest website.

See you in October!

Reading Makes Me Hungry

I live in Boston and take a short T ride to Faneuil Hall each day to get to my office. I now use my time on the T to read books about oysters. My current problem with reading about oysters is that it makes me hungry for them.

So after work not too long ago, I decided to go sit at the oyster bar in the Union Oyster House. After all, how can an oyster lover be a few feet away from such a historic oyster bar every day and not go see what it's all about?

I quickly made friends with one of the oyster shuckers named Anton. He was excited to hear that I was learning about oysters. After he placed six Duxbury oysters and a Harpoon IPA beer in front of me, he grabbed his scrapbook to share his love of oysters with me. It was then when I told him I was reading, Consider the Oyster, A Shucker's Field Guide by Patrick McMurray. With a big grin on his face, he asked if I had the book with me. I did and I showed it to him. He scurried through the pages until he found page 142. Not only is this page dedicated to the Union Oyster House, it mentions Anton by name! Anton is a proud shucker who travels to oyster fests to compete in shucking contests, something I hope to do in the near future. Page 143 has a picture of the oyster bar. Once I noticed this I moved my seat two to the right just to sit in one of seats pictured in the book. After a few more beers and several oysters we concluded our conversation and I enjoyed reading more of the book on the T ride home with a belly full of oysters.