Saturday, July 20, 2013

Rockaway Beach hosts a biker event!

White River Grille
I stopped down at the White River Grille in Rockaway Beach recently, to check out the Bikers & Babes at the Beach event that was scheduled for Friday, July the 19th and Saturday the 20th. (That was according to an article in a publication called the 'Branson Connection'). What the article did not mention was that fact that the event actually didn't start until 5PM on that Friday and then would be going on all day Saturday! Nonplussed by this, I enjoyed a nice breakfast called 'The Town Favorite' that was served to me by a great lady named Toni. It consisted of eggs, home fries, toast, bacon and coffee; all of which was had for under $6! The White River Grille is a good eats place for two reasons; one, they have a great selection of food and two, the prices are really quite affordable! Bill Kitchin, the owner, also made it a point to visit with me for a few moments before I left.

After I finished eating, I wandered around a bit and noticed that a few of the vendors were already
busy at work. I had to give kudos to them for intelligence as they were getting the hard work of setting up done while the temperatures were still this side of bearable (76F). (Anyone who would be setting up later in the day would have to tolerate readings in the mid 90's)!
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Fast forward to the next day (Saturday) at 12:00 noon and things were very much in full swing, at least as far as the vendors were concerned. And there were lots of bikes parked along one side of the street, but few if any people wandering around. The time was about two in the afternoon and I realized pretty quickly why most of the crowd was holed up in the Civic Center or one of the bars. It was the oppressive heat combined with the high humidity that made standing around outside too much to bear for most! After making a circuit up the street (which was blocked to car traffic) and then back down, I was ready to vacate the premises. I'll make a guess that things got more interesting late in the day after the sun went down, but at my age, I really didn't have the desire to wait around. Maybe if they were to hold this event either in the spring or late fall I might give it a try again.