For the past 20 or more years, we have always had a tradition of visiting Allentown every year with our good friends. We enjoyed every aspect of it, from the great smells from the food stalls to the walking musicians to the most talented artists. We always ended our shopping with lunch at an interesting place. We bought art, prints and paintings from talented people to decorate our homes. Over the years, I bought a whole boat of earrings that I just had to have.
And then there are the stools we bought for our snack bar, garden art and much more.
We always face friends and / or family at the event – then Covid hit in 2020, everything changed and the world was put on hold.
We could no longer gather for any events for fear of catching the virus. We spent most of our time in solitude – no open restaurants, no concerts to attend – we ordered everything and everything from Amazon. We focus on staying healthy, finally getting vaccinated, and learning to keep our lives. We started to fill our time with long trips, long walks connected with nature and cooking new recipes. To our sorrow, we lost a very good friend during Covid – the same friend who visited Allentown with us every year.
People also read …
When it was announced that Allentown would reopen this June, we were excited, but also very sad, that our dear friend would not join us. However, we planned to attend. As always, we arrived before the opening of the festival to get a good parking space. We found a parking lot very close to the beginning of Allentown, which cost a little more, but it’s worth it. I couldn’t believe how quickly crowds appeared as soon as the exhibits opened. After a few minutes, the streets were crowded with excited people eager to rejoin the art show. We decided it was better to disguise ourselves for a little extra protection as the crowds grew. The suppliers were ready and well stocked with beautiful goods.
Although I try to reduce the clutter in my home and not add to it, I managed to buy a few small things. We couldn’t resist the wonderful smell of fresh popcorn during our walk and went out with a big bag to bring home. After almost two hours of shopping, we were more than tired. The weather was perfect and it was lunch time. We enjoyed it, but we had mixed emotions from attending this year alone.
Our world is slowly returning to some normality; will it ever return to 100 percent as it was? I doubt.
We now have additional protection with the availability of the vaccine, but we still do not know everything about this virus and we cannot be vigilant. People are still getting sick, even though they are protected by the vaccine, but they are recovering much faster nowadays.
I can only hope and pray that we return to our previous way of life before Covid. We have definitely learned from the events of the last few years. Let us all continue to enjoy happy events such as weddings, parties, family gatherings and especially the Allentown Arts Festival!