The Big Apple Barbecue

This was another one of those things I just happened to stumble across.

Welcome to the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, which as far as I could tell, was just a fun celebration of barbecue.

 It very much reminded me of a larger scale version of the carnival that comes to my town once a year, minus the hastily constructed rides. Around me were long lines of people waiting to get their mouths around whatever was causing that delicious barbecue smell, full of adults chatting with each other and the occasional kid whining about how hot it is and how their legs hurt.

Seeing all the families around the event reminded me of when I was a kid. I don't want this to get too personal here, but my current family situation is kind of a mess. I have a bit of nostalgic feelings for back when I was young, and I thought my family was functional and normal. Seeing all the children here with no worries at all was just a tad emotional for me. Not in the kind of way where I'd be moved to tears, but it certainly had me thinking about being a kid for the rest of the day.

 I noticed that the park seemed considerably less crowded than the pavement and stone area nearby. I suppose that's because the paved areas had all the tents for food and drinks and merchandise, as well as the live music being played, but I'd much rather sit down on the grass in the shade than wait on a line in the heat any day!

The whole atmosphere here was fun. People of all ages hanging out with families and friends, just killing time and enjoying themselves on a Saturday afternoon. Everything about the whole event just felt pleasant to me. I know I already said it reminded me of being a child, but I think it was kind of supposed to. Not a child in the way where you are super silly and playing around, but just in the kind of way where you don't have responsibilities to attend. One can just sit back and have some pulled pork on a roll.

Are these supposed to be cowboy or something? This almost looks out of place for a city environment!