First, the Capitol - it is huge. The picture doesn't do it justice. This thing is gargantuan. There must be a lot of law making happening in Missouri.
That day there was a Renaissance Festival on the grounds. You can see some of the tents and people at the bottom of the photo. Luckily, you can't really make out the adults dressed as fairies and other woodland creatures that I guess are know being celebrated along with days before forks, showers and electricity.
The Capitol is beautiful; the people are perhaps a little odd, confirmed by the excursion.
Second, the Testicle Festival - well, what could that be? We didn't know. It was on a billboard and it gave limited information with a catchy title. From a public health perspective as I was with my sister, the nurse, the only reasonable conclusion would be an information fair. Hmmm... we didn't have much to do, so why not drive to Lake of the Ozarks and see what this is about; they caught our eye with the title.
After waiting in a line of cars and motorcycles curled through a closed down fair, we paid the entrance fee and parked the car. We strolled about the vendors for cheap sunglasses and Zippos with skulls and saw the big stage was being set up for a band. There were a lot of middle aged men with bandannas and leather jackets over black tees shirts with lightening bolts or white tank tops. There was a few mullets, the equal opportunity haircut, sported by men and women.I was bewildered, it seemed like such a rowdy festival crowd that this certainly had nothing to do with public health. Of course, the lack of information fliers was a good clue too. A little thirsty, we waited in line to buy a bottle of water and everything became clear. One the menu was "nuts", "pork nuts", jokes and specials about nuts... slowly... very slowly.... oh testicle - to eat, disgusting. After discovering the mystery of the 10th Annual Testicle Festival, Karen and I promptly left without trying the specialty of the house. Yum, Missouri.
