Slovak festival

Yesterday we went looking for the Polish festival in Nanticoke but were unsuccessful. But on the way, Miss Garmin sent us down the road that skirts the state forest lands. Beautiful!

So we went to anther festival at the Holy Assumption of Saint Mary Byzantine Catholic Church in Wilkes-Barre. Jolly Joe and the Bavarians were to provide the music and there would be food, flea market, etc. The whole Catholic thing is confusing as this is not a Roman Catholic church but an Orthodox church. In the same block there is a Roman Catholic church and two more Orthodox churches including Saint Stanislaus and the Holy Resurrection Cathedral. In the Wilkes-Barre area there are Antiochian, Ukrainian, Russian, Byzantine, Maronite, and Greek Orthodox churches.

The church we went to was Slovak and we had the Slovak plate which consisted of pierogies, harushki and stuffed cabbage and a free cup of coffee. We ignored the chit she gave us for coffee. Harushki is homemade egg noodles, sweet cabbage (as opposed to sauerkraut), and onions sauteed in butter. We had the food inside the room with games. We wondered what kinds of games they would have. The first thing we saw on our right was a huge wheel of fortune with domino combinations on it and on our left a full-size bar with beer taps. Everything else except the bake sale was a booth that sold raffle tickets. You could buy a raffle ticket to win lottery tickets (does gambling twice cancel it out somehow?) or a gift certificate for the local casino, The Mohegan Sun. There were colored lights everywhere and one booth had real 50 dollar bills hanging from the ceiling. Las Vegas meets dinner on the grounds.

We loved the food and the atmosphere. Outside, Jolly Joe and his Bavarians were a disappointment. No tuba! And we avoided the potato pancakes as being too greasy on top of what we had already eaten.

Afterwards we went to the soft ice cream place we hadn't tried here in Back Mountain. They spin flavored syrup into the soft ice cream for exotic flavors like black cherry and butter pecan. The black cherry soft ice cream was both beautiful and delicious. Why have I never seen that kind of ice cream before? It's amazing. The small ice cream cone was way too big. We'll have to go for whatever they call the smallest size next time. We're thinking the grandkids will really like this place.

The picture of Saint Cyril (who may or may not have invented the Cyrillic alphabet) is in front of Saint Mary's. The domes are not in Damascus but are right down the street at the Holy Resurrection Cathedral.

Altogether a most enriching and fun evening and we didn't go more than ten miles or so from home.