Happy fourth of July! The bald eagles are out flying in full force today (Coincidence? Perhaps, but I think not) and so is the face paint. Last night we experienced Sitka fireworks (since it doesn't get dark until midnight, in order to have them on the fourth they have them the night previous?) Today, campers, counselors, and faculty bundled up for the chilliest 4th I've ever experienced, donned some face paint and costumes, marched in the parade, then drank root beer floats. Nom nom noms.
The root beer floats were on the house, courtesy of KCAW, Sitka's community radio station. KCAW is full of awesome programming and is truly a community radio station. Everyone has a little bit of stake in it, and they open up the very small studios for people to go and hang out in during recordings. Bands show up at the door and play, members of the community go on and wax nostalgic, they support all kinds of programming, and they have a sweet logo. They're celebrating their 30th anniversary!
After hanging out with our floats, Sis and I headed into the Larkspur for some local brew for me and a cream soda for her, along with my favorite dish there, the LOX PLATE. Feel free to laugh hysterically at my face paint close-up. (My facial hair is supposed to be an homage to the animation teacher here, total boss Javier Barboza. He's known for his nicely groomed and suave face.)
Laugh all you want, the lox was delicious. It was one of the first things I ate after arriving in Sitka, and it's caught and processed in Petersburg, AK, which is nearby. Can you believe I'd never had lox before I came here? I'm not sure I'll order it anywhere else, though. I've been spoiled by the seafood here! There's a big movement in fresh, small scale fishing - people are very anti-farmed fish, for a number of reasons. 1) Small scale fishing makes up a huge part of the economy, 2) Fish farms are apparently bad for the ecosystem, 3) Fresh fish just tastes better. I'd say more than half of the cars on the island sport this bumper sticker:
As someone who avoided seafood all together up to this point in my life (and avoided all meat for a very long time), I can tell you that I've had more seafood since arriving in Sitka than in my previous 23 years combined. It started out as a "When in Rome" scenario: My second night here, a staffer took me out for a drink at the now-near-and-dear-to-my-heart Larkspur and said, "Share some lox with me?" I decided in that instant that this experience (Sitka, not necessarily the lox-eating) was going to be as full as I could possibly make it. I said sure, and ten minutes later I was noshing on the bright orange-ish red flesh as happy as could be. I've since enjoyed two types of salmon (prepared at least seven different ways), king crab, halibut, black cod tips (some call this the food of the gods), and shrimp. SEAFOOD, GUYS, CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?
I doubt this trend will continue once I've left Alaska, since the whole reason I avoided seafood in the first place was because the seafood that I did have access to just didn't taste good, was frozen, or was deep fried and battered in something.
Oh well. On this cloudy, 45 degree fourth of July, eat something patriotic, wear something patriotic, and (in the spirit of Sitka Fine Arts Camp) sing something patriotic.
Finally, a picture of the sister and I.
No comments:
Post a Comment