After my uncle, aunt, mom and I filled our bellies with stuffed cabbage and kielbasa at St. Sergius’s Russian Festival in Parma, we decided to walk off some of that Russian food at the Seven Hills Home Days Festival just down the road.
But when we arrived to the festival grounds, located behind city hall, it was unclear where we could park.
One lot was marked for handicapped parking while another lot was guarded by a police officer. The only other lot we passed was basically a garage driveway where people parked in the grass (and there wasn’t even room there).
We didn’t know what to do.
Eventually, my uncle asked the above-mentioned police officer about the parking situation and he instructed us to park at the nearby Giant Eagle (grocery store) parking lot and pick up a festival shuttle bus.
This was a minor inconvenience, but the shuttles ran quickly enough and any frustration we felt at the time…
…was quickly remedied once Uncle Dave decided to have a go at the Dunk Tank (great job, Uncle Dave!).
Seven Hills Home Days was a smaller town festival…
…with rides…
…games…
…and even a flower show.
Vendors lined the midway and filled a small side pocket…
…offering merchandise for people…
…and merchandise for pets.
They also made promises for the future whether politically…
…or psychically.
As we explored the festival grounds, the summer sun became much more unbearable. I noticed that some of the festival goers took shelter here…
…in the beer pavilion…
…where a stage was set nearby to help festival goers forget the heat.
Another shaded area held a bigger stage along the midway….
…and the singer’s energy was impressive.
Eventually, it was time to go…
…so we checked out the various food trucks…
…in the hopes of grabbing a cool snack before leaving.
We found just what we needed.