Lilacs and Fried Food

Lilac Festival in Highland Park, Rochester, NY

*Highland Park is a completely planned arboretum or “tree garden.”
*There are over 1200 lilac shrubs. (500 different varieties)
*20 acres of gently rolling hills in the middle of the city of Rochester
*Frederick Law Olmstead was responsible for final development of Highland Park. Among his other accomplishments was the design of New York City's famous Central Park.
* A half-million people visit during the annual 10-day festival.

I'm sure I've gone to this festival every year of my life. It's 10 days long, so it's hard to miss unless you don't like pretty flowering bushes, fried foods or a half a million people.

Isn't it funny how festivals that celebrate something as pure and lovely as Lilac bushes turn into a celebration of every fried food known to man? We met up with some of my co-workers at the Lilac Festival. My boss likes to buy everyone food and take a group photo every year. He's the greatest guy to work for. (and not just because he walked all over the festival to find me some fried dough.)

A new combo idea: fried dough and ice cream. I also saw a sign for fried OREOS. What's up with that? I was told they were awesome, but I just couldn't bring myself to try it. An Oreo is good enough (or bad enough) without adding a layer of grease!