picnic in the park

fall is the absolute BEST time in savannah. there seems to be 3 different events or festivals every weekend. i think they cram all of their activities into one month of the year, that being october. so this weekend was the afore mentioned junior league thrift sale, oktoberfest, and picnic in the park. last year we attended oktoberfest and it was pathetic. miller light, hip hop... not exactly what you think of when you think german oktoberfest. so this year we sat that one out, but for the first time decided to attend the picnic.

the weather was amazing. 80 and sunny with a cool breeze. this, for people in savannah, is fall weather and warrants flannel shirts. no joke. the picnic was great, jazz music and enough people watching to last a until the next festival at least. many people came decked out in hot pink costumes and decorated their picnic set ups with pink feathers, viking ensembles and even pink couches. there was a contest for the best set up and all the proceeds benefit breast cancer. it being our first year, decided to focus on bringing a smorgasbord of food instead of decorations, but it was certainly fun to watch.

of course the boys brought growlers of beer, i believe they were the people's porter and barrel aged blackbeard from coast brewing for all you beer geeks out there. i enjoyed terrapin pumpkin fest and then apple cider.

earlier in the week we used a little recipe from martha stewart living (oh that martha!) for braised pork butt. some onions, apple cider, beer, salt and pepper for about 5 hours in the dutch oven and it was good to go. for the picnic we picked some of the tender pork out and made a pasta salad. mmm it seriously was delicious, perhaps i'll post a recipe of this later so you all can enjoy!

and, for me, no picnic, or meal for that matter, is complete without a smorgasbord of cheese and spreadable meat. oh yes. i probably don't need to say anymore about that, we can all agree that the mere mention of cheese is enough to get everyone's taste buds going.

mmm, we visited a european grocer to purchase liverwurst, dried and cured sausage, and duck liver for the picnic (and let's face it, mostly for our own late night snacks). so delicious.

it was such a lovely day and a wonderful excuse to sit in the park. :)