Chambersburg Applefest 2016

Sample fest

Chambersburg Apple Fest has maybe two problems--it's only on for one day, and only from nine in the morning to a head-scratchingly early four in the afternoon. 

That said, couldn't happen on a more beautiful day this year: a warm 68 degrees Fahrenheit, brilliant sun, near-cloudless sky.


O and was the North Square Farmer's Market open at its usual time (Saturdays from 8 till noon)? But of course, and maybe one of the first stands to draw your attention--or to be more precise the first smell to draw your nose's attention--is Bernard's Jamaican Jerk Chicken, which with the closing of Leroy's is the only place you can get the real thing in the area, complete with laid-back musically intoned accent (from Bernard, of course):

We ordered (what else?) the chicken:

 

A quarter of dark meat, rubbed with (we're guessing) black pepper, onion powder, thyme, cayenne, allspice,  grilled till blackened, served with beans & rice and mac & cheese. 

We were late to The Falafel Shack so they were out of falafel, grilled chicken, almost everything except the hummus plate, so we got that:

  A ladleful of creamy hummus (mashed chickpeas, tahini (sesame paste) sauce, lemon juice, garlic and olive oil topped with paprika) accompanied by warm pita triangles. Easy snacking; delicious too.

In the festival proper we found a newcomer, Korean Barbecue:

--ordered their Angus Beef with Rice:

A nice little appetizer: rice with chopped Angus beef in a faintly sweet spicy sauce, accompanied by greens. Pretty too, with the orchid garnish. 

Wanted so very much to grab a satay stick at Kat's Thai House, but we couldn't stay long and the line to order is to put it mildly insane:

What made our frustration all the maddening is the sight of tender marinated chicken thigh meat, roasting on skewers:

And we know from last year just how delicious their oversized satay was:

But alas it was not to be.

We did go to the other Asian chicken-on-a-stick place (yes they had competition)--Teriyaki Chicken, which while boasting of a line, didn't have said line stretch to the next block: 

And yes their teriyaki chicken on a stick over noodles is pretty good. 

Along the way there was a procession of town criers--at least that's what we assumed they were: 

They were decked out in pretty authentic-looking 18th century costumes and one of them had a cool-looking bell (uncaptured by my cellphone camera, alas): 

What they were crying out I wasn't sure:

But it sounded important. 

Finally we got to Big Smokies, complete with big smoker, grilled hotdogs, grilled Italian sausages, and so on:

We ordered the Italian--large juicy sausage smothered in red gravy, with pickled onions that made a nice palate cleanser, tart n sweet, to the rich rich charcuterie meat:

And that was it only on the way back we couldn't help but stop and admire a mural we found in a parking lot off of North Main Street (North Route 11):

Not to mention the view from a bridge:

Not to mention the bridge itself:


And that was it for the festival alas; did not manage to visit old favorites Olympia Candy Kitchen or Don Checko's, or the new Fusion Latin Cuisine (in its snazzier new digs next to the Capitol Theater). Will do better (try new stuff, ask more questions, take more pics) next year.