Let them eat pie!

by Mike on May 4, 2012 · 0 comments

So we thought we’d be getting away from the food-oriented posts, since leaving everything-is-fried New Orleans. We are halfway through our stay in Orlando and loving it — it’s sunny every day, totally family-friendly with all the theme parks, and man! We are eating so much healthier.

Hit the brakes! I confess: last weekend, the 2012 Great American Pie Festival happened in Celebration, Florida. Healthy diet on hold!

What are you gonna do?  It’s a pie festival.  We ate pie.  A lot of pie.  GOOD PIE.  The Great American Pie Festival is a yearly event sponsored by Crisco of course and the APC (The American Pie Council) whose mission is “to preserve America’s pie heritage and promote American’s love affair with pies. It is designed to raise awareness, enjoyment and consumption of pies.”  A noble calling that I personally was only too happy to participate in. See me handle THREE pies at once:

There was music and entertainment, a pie-eating contest, roving characters, and of course the all you can eat pie buffet.  For $10 you were given a bottle of water and a red bracelet that let you onto a closed off street lined with tables filled with pie.  I like to call it a “Street of Dreams”.

It was only because of Ang and Rashada’s attentive maternal instincts that Hero, Genesis, and I were not lost in the pie-consuming melee.  I will admit, I had no plan.  I saw pie, and I ate pie.  When I was done with that pie, I ate the next pie.  And so on, and so on.  My one rule was to find Ang and Max and share a bite with them each time.  We, along with Rashada, Genesis and Hero, enjoyed the coconut cream pie, banana cream pie, apple, cherry, strawberry rhubarb, blackberry, chocolate, pumpkin, lemon, Key lime, and much more.  And all the Dunkin’ Donuts coffee you could drink to top it off. Can we say heaven?

Keep in mind that this was before a 2 show day.  There is always the possibility that I could be on, and was in fact on the night before.  So I had to make sure that I didn’t eat too mu-  LOOK!! MORE PIE!!  Also, there was a medley of other yummy food stands, so I indulged in some pulled pork with Max by the beautiful lake in the middle of downtown Celebration. Oh well.  If you’re wondering, I wasn’t on. Burp.

The whole day was terrific. Hero and Genesis accompanied a man fishing on the lake for a while, then went back to the pie buffet for more.  At one point Genesis said with complete sincerity, “This place has everything we could ever dream of!”  From the mouths of babes.

Rashada was able to get in some food before work, although it was torture for her to stop herself halfway through her plate. It is not easy to be a hyena on stage with a full stomach…

Rashada and I had to leave by 12:30 for the show, but Ang, Max, Hero and Genesis stayed and met up with Amy and Lisa and they stayed until 6:30pm.  Literally all day.  Max even fell asleep in his stroller.  A rarity.  Yes, The Great American Pie Festival did not disappoint.

Sure enough, I crashed hard a few hours later on the Equity cot.  Too… Much… SUGAR…  But it was worth it.  Before you know it, we will be moving on to Miami, but we still have some more fun things planned for Orlando, so stay tuned!

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