Crafty Bastards and Navy Barracks Street Fair

I thought I had already posted about this, but it looks like I haven't written anything about Carlos' and my festival adventures from a couple of weekends ago! On the same day (a Saturday) we went to the Crafty Bastards arts and crafts fair (which we have been to every year since we've lived here--this was our fourth one!) and after that we visited the fair happening in the Eastern Market area near the Navy Barracks.

Honestly, Crafty Bastards was a bit of a let-down. The new location (Union Market, where it was last year, but not the previous two years) is way too fancy and is really a hipster haven. We have to walk through a really sketchy neighborhood to get to Union Market, which is kind of like an uber-fancy food court. Also, we had to pay admission ($5/person) to attend the festival. It was really crowded and full of annoying people so I really don't think we will be going back again next year (not that we will still be living here in October of next year, but I will post more on that a little later). We wandered around for about an hour, found a couple of gifts and decided to head back home.

After a little break, we walked to the Navy Barracks Festival and it was so much fun (we should have just skipped Crafty Bastards and spent more time here instead!). We went to the petting zoo, saw Chesty the bulldog (mascot of the Barracks), saw a cooking contest, watched an ice sculptor, and lots more! The group hanging out here was more diverse, fun, friendly, and decidedly less hipster-y than the lot at Crafty Bastards!

From there we took the metro to our friend Terry's house and we all drove out to the Maryland countryside for a BBQ at a friend's house. We didn't get home until around midnight--such a busy day!