While in Greenville, SC this past weekend, our plans for Saturday included a visit to the downtown market where we bought some boiled peanuts, chowchow, and some yummy barbecue sauce. They sell all kinds of locally-grown produce, soaps, candles, cupcakes, and other little knickknacks. We walked around there for a little bit, and then left to get a delicious lunch at
MoJo's Famous Burgers before returning downtown for more festivities.
Each year, the Rotary Club of Greenville hosts a fundraising event called the
Reedy River Duck Derby, where they release (12,000 this year) yellow rubber duckies donning sunglasses into the river and over the falls. The ducks are all numbered and "adopted" and the winning ducks at the end of the race can win all kinds of prizes. It was pretty neat to watch, but not long after it began, I realized just how many ducks are 12,000, and just how many obstacles prevent many from even making it across the finish line. I also quickly realized that we would probably not win the year's worth of free groceries or the $1500. Despite that, we had a great time, and Quinn, although he did not understand why we weren't bringing bread to feed the duckies, thoroughly enjoyed "calling the ducks" with his whistle.
*note the battle scar from his other new trick, to be revealed in a later post
Giving Uncle Wade a thumbs-up before the race begins....I think they were conspiring their ducks winning strategies.
And, FINALLY, letting us know the race was about to begin!
*sorry it's blurry...he moves fast, that little one does
And the race begins!
The leaders approach the first rapid...
And the fight for the lead begins!
Rub-a-dub-dub
Although the shades make a nice touch, the sunshine was lacking for the day.
So I don't think our Quack Pack actually won any prizes, but we had fun, and who wouldn't with 12,000 rubber duckies?
