Choctaw Indian Fair

We are always on the lookout for fun/unusual/novel things to do while in the south. Partly because it is fun to do fun/unusual/novel things, partly because it tends to happen naturally that most of the events that take place here are unusual and novel for us, and {generally} fun.

While googling one day, I stumbled upon the Choctaw Indian Fair. Choctaw is about 2 hours away from us, so at first I was a bit skeptical, but knowing that if we didn't go, we would just be watching The West Wing and sitting on the couch {again}, we decided who cares about driving 4 hours to go to an INDIAN FAIR? C'mon, let's be real, that's a no-brainer.

We made our way over to Choctaw and were pleasantly surprised with a fabulous evening. First, we got to see THE world champion of hoop dancing and his cute little son practicing on the side.

The biggest reason we went though, was because country star Josh Turner was performing. This was great for many reasons: Josh has always been a big Josh Turner fan (maybe it's the name), it was super cheap, and the venue was super small with a crowd that was 80% over the age of 60, which made it easy to get close to the stage.  Josh Turner's voice was smooth, deep, and beautiful, and his wifey played the keyboard and sang backup with him! Super adorable. There also aren't many concerts that stumble through Mississippi, so to find someone we had actually heard of and really liked was all but a miracle. 

 Mandolin shout-out for Lucy

We made new friends who came with us! Yay! 

(apologies for the quality of the photo taken by random teenage girl)

We didn't get to go to any of the other Indian Fair events, because we had to get back to our dear doggie, but it was super fun and I'll definitely go back!

Fourth of July, Philly Style

We were very excited to be out on the east coast for the 4th of July. This has always been my favorite holiday because it is the least stressful and has the least expectations-- as long as there are fireworks, it will pretty much be a success.

We originally planned on going to DC for the 4th, but when we learned about the celebration Philadelphia would be having, we changed our plans.

They had a week long celebration with different events each day and then on the 4th, there was a parade and a street full of entertainment, activities, food, concerts, and lots and lots of people.

Climbing the Army's rock wall.

Funny guy.

Strongman Competition

African dance group

One of the best things about the day was all the free stuff we got! In addition to these awesome hats that we'll never wear again, we got juice, Dole fruit, protein bars, fake tattoos (that I have yet to apply)...pretty sweet.

It went so fast I didn't have time to think!

Street performers

Josh had plenty of time to read more HP while we waited for the concert to start. We picked out the perfect spot in the late afternoon and waited there for a few hours. As it got closer and closer to the concert starting though, more and more people began crowding in and we realized the two of us weren't going to be enough to hold our blanket down. It turned out to be way too many people for us to sit down and still be able to see and we ended up standing almost the whole night. Oh well, live and learn!

It was a perfect night--not too hot, just a little humid, beautiful sunset, and of course, hordes of people enjoying it with us!

The day ended with the country's biggest free outdoor concert with The Roots, Sara Bareilles, Estelle, Michael McDonald, and Earth, Wind and Fire. They also surprised us by having Committed (they won the TV show "The Sing-Off and they were my favorite!) and Boyz II Men! Boyz II Men was Josh's favorite group ever growing up. It was fantastic and helped us endure the crowds.

Overall, it was a great Independence Day, but we probably won't do it again, unless we can figure out how to get the reserved seats...

The Fourth of July is also a special holiday for us because it is the holiday that we took our first road trip (to Colorado!) together and really the beginning of when we started to fall in love (2 weeks later we were engaged!). I can't believe it's been 2 years ago already! Time flies when you're in love, living your dream life with your best friend.