And Then What Happened

September 9, 2006
Riverside Park Oyster Festival

And then we went to the Oyster Festival...

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By Jackie Beach

We couldn't have ordered a more perfect day to guzzle Guinness and slurp oysters in Riverside Park. The sun was toasty, the breezes tonic, the beer was cold, and the salty mollusks slipped and slid down our eager throats.
Spirited bands Bill Popp & The Tapes, Enda Keegan, Finn's Fury, Joe Hurley and Rogues March, and The Creamsicles rocked the day away while the mixed crowds piled around green and while gingham covered tables and amassed on wide concrete steps. Clear cups of Guinness, Harp, and Smithwick's were properly poured in great numbers as plates were piled high with juicy, fresh-shucked oysters.

Families, couples, and friends mingled together taking advantage of summer's last freewheeling days. The mood was crystalline
fun - gangly adolescents and hard-bodied men and women tested their upper body strength on a line of hanging rings, swinging their bodies above the sand amidst claps and cheers. A group of men exuberantly bumped, set, and spiked a soccer ball back and forth over an asphalt volleyball court.
O’Hurley’s waitstaff was supremely friendly and helpful as dozens of children danced around, swathed in sand and sunshine.
Somehow even the sludgy waters of the Hudson River sparkled in the horizon.
All forces of weather and energy had conspired to create the magical ambience of the 2nd annual Guinness and Oyster Festival. See you there next year!