The Ice Is Underwhelming

Well, our big plans today including a walk thru downtown to take in the spectacles of the Great Stroudsburg Ice Festival. The ads promised to have giant ice sculptures, some under construction by live ice sculptors, free snowcones of mysterious flavors and a joyous time to be had by all. We expected to meet the Stroudsburg version of Edward Scissorhands. Let's just say that had we not read about the festivities in the paper, no one would've noticed any difference in the slightest.



We would start our journey meeting Dunja & Isobella at the much-lauded Cheeky Monkey cafe at the eastern end of Main Street. We expected the overpriced hot caffeine and "gourmet" cookie but to be honest, the whole experience came off more chinky than cheeky. I think we'll stick to Grandpa Pete's.



From there we came down the north side of the sidewalk, taking in the ice sculptures which were mostly just squares of ice with shop names chipped in, the ones who shelled out the bucks to dorn the streets with translucent art that bewilders the imagination. I gotta say it was pathetic. A square that says "Sherman's". I'm inspired. What a bastardized commercialization of a potentially exhilarating idea. I didn't even take out the good camera. I found a dirty pile of butt-riddled snow more photogenic.



I don't wanna sound all bad. There were a few shops that at least got creative and thought outside the box, literally, for their icy muses. Like the camera shop that had the ice Olympus....



Or the framing shop that, though simplistic, showed some that even the tiniest bit of thought presented better photo opportunity than a word in a block.



Then there was the random apple and cupcake.




Feeling left wholly uninvigorated, we were forced to resort to other, more time-tested methods of entertainment. We dragged Dunja to Olde Engine for her very first rummaging session.



She was overwhelmed. Mission accomplished. Antiquing with babies is a whole new world.



But it gave Yuula a chance to put some finishing touches on her 6-month memoir.



And after all of that we managed to salvage the trip downtown by picking up a delicious spinach/mozzarella boli from the secret off-path bakery and devouring it for dinner, along with two crumb buns for the morning.



We can't always make the drive out to Mueller's.