Saturday, Mom and I went to the Hopkins Raspberry Festival. It is the eighty ninth year, but Mom has never gone, despite growing up just a few miles from it. I’m the best dog to bring to events like these because I’m big enough that no one will step on me. Being polite with other dogs and people is one of my strong points, and I am well mannered overall. We could not find a nice sign anywhere, so we took this banner over the street photo and put it on the photo of me on the street.
After having huge luck in finding a great parking spot, we headed off to find the world’s largest raspberry. The giant raspberry measures 11 feet tall, 10 feet wide, weighs 1,000 pounds and hangs from a 22 foot tall vine. It is on the list of things everyone needs to see in their lifetime, I’m sure. This jumbo berry came to life on July 8th, 2017 through community donations. Did you know Hopkins is the raspberry capital of the United States? Mom loves raspberries and I enjoy them too. Because of the festival, there was a crowd at the giant raspberry, so Mom and I took a quick selfie and went on our way.
Hopkins also has a farmer’s market which was going on amidst the raspberry festivities. We took a swing through there but didn’t buy anything. Mom has always wanted to give us pups duck or quail eggs but has never seen them sold anywhere. Well, the farmer’s market sells them. Safely carrying eggs in the midst of this festival seemed doomed to fail, so she will find and buy them another time.
We came across this dog bakery, Morey & Me. The owner is very nice and the humans did their usual chit chat thing. She actually makes cakes, so Madison is going to look into that and maybe get her birthday cake from there next month.
Not only was the festival super crowded, but it was hot and humid out. I was panting quite a bit. So many places were dog friendly and had water bowls out, but Mom doesn’t like us to drink from community bowls. I was going to drink from one bowl, but then I decided not to on my own. This super fun truck actually gave out free shaved ice to dogs. Since I’m not a fan of ice, I didn’t have any, but it sure is a nice idea and better than a community water bowl.
We found another dog bakery, down the road. The festival was probably about eight blocks long, so there was a lot to see. Thankfully, Mom didn’t do much shopping, so we got through it all quickly. I did more shopping than she did and was super interested in these bakery treats. The cookies from Murphy’s Bakery smelled fantastic. After chatting with the owners I decided to buy the blueberry oatmeal cookies. We tried them last night at home and even picky Madison chowed hers right down!
Of course, the Hopkins police department was at the event. I didn’t stop to chat with any of them, but I did take a photo with their banner. Being a cop these days is a really tough job, but we are thankful some people still want to do the job.
I saved the best for last, a new Adirondack chair! The Hopkins Raspberry Festival is even painted just over my head on the chair back. You know Emma started finding and posing with jumbo Adirondack chairs back in May of 2014 and we all carry on the tradition. It is crazy how many of these jumbo chairs are out in the world! This one is super cool since the back is in the shape of our great state. Wednesday, we have another one we just found to show you. Hope you enjoyed my quick tour!