April 24, 2010. One of our annual trips is Shad Fest and the weather was perfect. Paddy and I had earlier made a reservation at the Lambertville Station Restaurant and we took advantage of their parking lot at the center of everything. They charge $15 for parking and you get back $10 when you eat at the restaurant.
Having never eaten Shad, I finally tried the blackened Shad and it tasted good. Paddy had a chicken and walnut salad.
After lunch, the first thing we noticed was the large number of folks who had dogs as pets. They were everywhere and I only took photos of but a small sample.
There were street musicians at various locations in town.
The fest also had scheduled bands and this 17 year old alto sax player was excellent.
The Indian re-enactor entertained and enlightened the crowd on the history of Shad, the Delaware River, the Lenni Lenape Indians and the Lambertville area.
With large crowds of visitors, people watching was a requirement of being there.
In the very middle of all the food vendors, the music, and the noise of the crowds, was this lady who seemed out of place, quietly reading a book.
For the kids there were many things to do including "painting a shad" and face painting.
Vendors were in abundance and some wore silly "Shad paper hats".
The "Kettle Korn" must have been very good because there was a very long line of waiting customers. While I did have Shad for lunch, I passed on having Shad Punch.....
From the Lambertville - New Hope bridge, we saw the steamboat and decided to take a ride. We strolled down to the Ferry Landing, purchased a ticket, and came aboard.
We had a very nice half hour ride up and down the Delaware River passing under the Lambertville-New Hope bridge and seeing familiar sites.
The crew of the Steamboat SPLASH, told the history of commerce on the river when barges of coal came down the river and unloaded at this stone entrance way.
After our steamboat trip we walked over to the River House brewery to check out the "beer crowds". They had a live band and It was a packed house as usual.
On such a nice day, a stroll along the canal in Lambertville proved to be relaxing and picturesque.
There were some funny T-shirts and an occasional a person just flopped down on the sidewalk for a rest.
April 25, 2009. Fantastic warm weather brought out thousands of visitors to the Annual Lambertville, NJ Shad Fest.
This year, everyone got a treat as the shad hauling demonstration, off of Lewis Island, netted about a dozen shad. The crowd was told that because of numerous factors, not every demo would yield results. When the shad appeared in the net, the crowd cheered.
The media was also present to record the unusual event.
Always a favorite pastime at festivals, was people watching and plenty of interesting, as well as good looking candidates were enjoying the warm weather.
A large crowd gathered at one point and upon investigation it was a visit by none other then New Jersey's governor Corzine. Last year, Senator Lautenberg visited the festival.
Another event well worth the visit.