The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves...: August Long Weekend

Monday, August 5, 2019

August Long Weekend

The August long weekend rolled in, bringing summer heat and our friend Vanessa for her annual visit. Someone even aged a bit.

This weekend also always brings Art on the Boulevard in Erieau, which has quickly become our favourite show due to proximity, ease of setup/teardown, and overall results.It doesn't hurt that Bayside Brewery is there too....though I never seem to make it there anyway, all the way down at the far end of the show!

Hogs for Hospice added to a very busy weekend locally, featuring many MANY motorcycles and some outdoor concerts in Leamington. What was new this year, was a Tour the Tip rally en masse to Point Pelee National Park, including a loop around to visit Wheatley for lunch.

The local BIA planned things well, and arranged to have the main intersection shut down for several hours so the multitude of bikers could park in all four directions and enjoy some lunch and cold refreshments. Renny's in particular did it right, bringing in three breweries and a distillery to run the expanded promo patio, while offering a very limited menu of their delicious pulled pork sandwiches.

From what we heard, even the entry and exit of the pack was so well organized it went off without a hitch, though bikers alone easily exceeded the village's regular population. Organizers re-routed bikes and led them to designated areas by groups, to maximize the dispersal and turnover throughout the village.

Estimates vary, but somewhere between 3000 and 4000 bikes took over the town for a few hours. Sadly we missed it all, being stuck a half hour away selling art in Erieau.

We did manage to end up on the patio at Renny's for THREE straight dinners - partly because Vanessa needed her brisket fix, but also just because nothing goes better with a summer long weekend than cold beer and great food on their patio!