Zest Fest 2011

I decided last minute to make a trip up to Zest Fest 2011, it's only a 4 hour drive and I knew I would be kickin' my booty if I didn't make it.  My deepest fear was how evil the weather would be in Northeast Texas and I think that the week of this year's Super Bowl  showed us just how it.  I beat the Blast and the weather was perfect.

The Zest Fest 2011 was actually in Irving at the very brand new Las Colinas Convention Center, a beautiful structure almost completely laced with copper.  The Zest Fest being the first event for the venue, you could tell that they were still working out issues in the background if the road construction in the area didn't give you a clue.  Personally, I had no complaints except the address was so new my GPS didn't recognize it.  I still don't know how I missed that building as I drove!  DOH!

My mission was low key, I just wanted to taste and acquire some good fiery stuff, see folks I know that had traveled miles to be there and meet up with my friend, Kathy, also a Chile Head.  I was not disappointed.  I attended the awards dinner, I met new friends, had a very nice lunch at an obscure little Mexican restaurant called Avila's and came home with a some products of fire and a stack of Chile Pepper Magazines to add to my collection.

My only disappointed was when I realized that my photos were few but I do have a bit of consolation in that Kathy was better and got a bit of video.  Thank you, Kathy!

I will have to admit that I do believe that my favorite booth was Jimmy Luv's Bloody Mary Mix.  One of the best I have every tasted and they were very generous with their samples. A mix good Jimmy took home 1st Place for Beverage Mix.   Of course, I brought some home to spread the Luv!

And it was good to see Mr. and Mrs. Flaming Joe

And one of my highlights of the trip was to the Mustangs of Las Colinas, a very powerful sculpture or really a set of many, placed in a plaza of some office buildings. 

One more stop on my way home was near Huntsville to stand at the foot of the statue of General Sam Houston as he stands tall in the pines of East Texas.  Seeing as March 2nd is the 175th Anniversary of Texas's Declaration of Independence from Mexico and the General's date of birth, I found it time I make that stop.

You can visit some of my other Zest Fest road trip photos at my Picasa.

So!  where will my next road trip be?

Happy Trails!
Beth in Texas