ADAMS AVENUE STREET FAIR WARMS UP

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By Susan Taylor

September 28, 2022 (Normal Heights) - The Adams Avenue Street Fair was back in Normal Heights on September 24 and September 25. This was the 40th year of the annual event and featured 65 musical acts.  The Fair is Southern California’s largest free two-day music festival and is held every year in September.  Included in the fun were carnival rides, beer gardens and beer tastings, arts and crafts and plenty of tasty food.

I arrived just before 1 p.m. on Saturday thinking that parking would not be a problem as it always is as the day gets later, but there I was on the northern edge of the community when I finally found a parking space on Mountain View Drive and 33rd Street.  I was happy to see that two, clean outhouses were on the corner, as it was another six-block walk south to Adams Avenue, and walking back to my car after eating and beer drinking could necessitate a porta-potty visit before driving home.

I met our friends at the closest beer garden, which also served wine and kombucha.  Smiling security guards checked IDs and permitted service dogs into the fenced-in beer garden. My husband had already finished his burrito plate from Zarapes and our sister-in-law was working on an Asian noodle lunch when I found a chair next to them.  We were able to sit in the shade at a table shared by some nice people and spent a good time chatting and listening to some female vocalists and their rock band performing on the stage across Adams. 

Crafts and more food tempted us to leave the garden and we began a leisurely stroll east toward the boundary of the Street Fair, at nearby Kensington.  For anyone who doesn’t know this area, the population consists of aging hippies, young families, pot smokers, churchgoers, immigrants and professionals.  A polite representative of the San Diego Humane Society stopped us to talk about making a donation and to talk about animals.  Our friends had their delicate rat terrier, Roo, in hand, and many other dogs in baby strollers, on thick leashes, and under restaurant tables who seemed to be enjoying the afternoon.

I was on a quest to find a new pair of earrings, and though there were several booths with jewelry,  I came home without any earrings, and also without a big bag of kettle corn which we often can’t resist.-Still, it was fun to look at the many street vendors’ products and to people watch.  The day was quite warm, in the low 90s, so we sought shelter and cold drinks at the Casbah stage beer garden. Everyone there looked grateful to be off their feet, outdoors and maskless, in the company of neighbors and visitors. 

We all decided to head home around 3 p.m.  My brother and sister-in-law. who live in Oceanside, were at the Adams Avenue Street Fair for the first time.  When I asked John if he would come again, he said, “Yeah, the music is great, and the people are friendly.”  Prices for food and beer are about what you’d expect, he said.

It was good to spend time with my husband, Beth, and John, (we left our pup at home this time) and other Festival-goers.  Oh, I did come home with one thing---a desire to put my swollen feet up, drink a tall glass of cold water and have our dog, Duffy, by my side.  

Plus an “I Read Banned Books’ sticker.

 


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