So If There Is A Goat Race 5 Minutes From Your House...

You go right?

Heck Yes!!!

A few Sundays ago my husband and I spent the day at the Sly Fox annual Goat Race (technical term Bock Fest) And man it was fun! There was beer, food, music, dogs, and goats galore.

The weather was warm and sunny as we parked across the street from the Sly Fox (off of rt 113 in Phoenixville, PA). We could hear the sounds of a German band floating through the air as we walked toward the white peeked tents that covered most of the parking lot. People with chairs and their own pop up canopies were set up on the hillside. A few groups of people who were clearly goat race veterans were playing bean bag toss and toasting with their glass beer steins. There were old people, young people, and babies jumping up and down to the music from their backpack perches.

The German Band

Notice the empty pitchers in the lower left corner. Also notice they all get a senior discount. I was very impressed with their drinking abilities.

Dogs in t-shirts from Goat/Bock Fest years before.

Friends and laughter echoed through the air.

And then there were the goats….
There were big goats,

Little goats

And itty bitty goats.

there were slow goats, fast goats,

Stubborn goats and happy goats, even a 3 legged goat (The under goat )

As the races began we sat and watched and cheered and laughed at the fact that we were actually at a goat race.

The goat races started at 2pm as the crowds lined the street cheering. 8 heats of 6 goats each, and man it was fun. Everyone shouting and rooting for a different goat. "Come on Toilet", "come on Peggy", "come on Dax", (yep Toilet is a goat's name) Some of the races were over in a matter of seconds, others took up to 4 minutes goats stopping and going as they pleased. One goat from each race was declared the winner and was entered into the finally heat and to our surprise Peggy (the 3 legged goat) was one of the final 8!

The energy and the cheers got louder the restlessness grew as we waited for the final race to start.( Yes I know it sounds ridiculous to be restless for a goat race to start)

And then the goats were off, running like the wind. A loud roar sounded as Peggy the 3 legged goat crossed the finish line like a bolt of lighting. The crowd yelled and chanted for the under goat!!! Yay Peggy the 3 legged goat!!! The band played a joyful tune and raised their glasses in the air. Cheers to Peggy the champion of the 2011 Bock fest the bock beer was named in her honor.

The champion!

One side of her anyway.

It was a fun filled day that I would recommend to anyone and what is the worst that could happen? You get to ask someone "Hey, you ever been to a goat race? I have." So mark your calendar for the first Sunday of May 2012 and see if Peggy the under goat can keep her title.

A trip to Longwood Gardens.

My husband (Pete) and I moved to Chester County almost 8 years ago. We have been talking about going to Longwood Gardens in the Spring for about 7 of those years somehow we've never made it. We would always get busy doing other things, working, cleaning, sleeping, trying to catch our breath, the normal stuff that fills our life. I look back now and wonder where the last 8 years have gone and why can't we make the time to go see some flowers?

So we made the time...

And it was pretty great.

We planned the day about 2 weeks ago. We both had about 3 hours one morning on the same day, which is an amazing event in its self. The weather forecast looked good the night before and so we were excited. When I woke up Wednesday morning, I saw that the sky was dark and cloudy. The perfect kind of day to sleep in, but I got up saying to myself over and over "you want to go, you've been trying to go forever, keep moving, push on through." I packed lunches, made coffee, made breakfast, we ate, showered, dressed and got out the door ( keep moving I chanted to myself quietly). As we started driving the rain began to fall and not a light easy rain. It was more of the down pour kind of rain. Then the conversation of "should we still go?" "It's all outside", I was mad, it was supposed to be sunny and beautiful, in my mind at least.

But it took us this long to get 3 hours and I thought, when will we ever go again? Once again I kept repeating the (You want to see Longwood push on through, let go of the fairy tale) as we got closer the rain calmed down and eventually stopped.

The Fountains

Cheery little pansies

So we had 2.5 hours of walking around Longwood Gardens Oohing and Ahhing at the beautiful flowers and trees, talking about what we wanted to plant in our garden beds back home. We were snapping pictures, and reading the names of the plants, you might saying stopping to smell the flowers... and in our case we literally were.

This picture reminded me of The Secret Garden

The flower walkway was amazing and probably my favorite part. White, purple, blue, yellow, and red. Tulips, Snapdragons, Daffodils, and Peonies were weaving in and out of each other in a wave like pattern. ( and I didn't get a good picture of it, I will have to go back)

Walking through the woods listening and looking at the fountain garden, I felt like I was in another world. Winding through the topiary gardens, we tried to guess what the shapes were really supposed to be.

Then the rain started again, light and cool. This time there was no panic.

So the things I learned that day were, living and experiencing can be hard. If you wait for enough time or the best weather you might never do anything at all.

Weather will get in your way. You will want to sleep in. But it was a great day. A day that we might have missed, if I had let those little hurdles stop me. So if you haven't gone to Longwood Gardens I would go, make the time to stop and smell the flowers...