By Paddy Notar
Turnagain Times Correspondent

W.C. Fields said, “Once, during prohibition, I was forced to live for days on nothing but food and water.”

The Alyeska Resort Blueberry Festival was a blast and anyone who wasn’t there missed out on some of the greatest fun around. There were all sorts of activities for kids, more food than you could eat in a year, and great music. Oh yeah, there was also blueberry picking. Everyone has their favorite spot to grab those little, sweet berries and they are great on top of strawberry ice cream or piled high into a pie. How can you not love blueberries? Maybe, if you’re allergic. I’ll accept that answer.

Don’t forget that Alyeska’s Summer Concerts finishes up this year with Lucero playing on Aug. 19 and Aug. 20 from 7 p.m. until midnight at the Daylodge. It’s great country music and kid friendly. Everyone under 12 years old gets in for free. Adults can pay $15 in advance or $20 at the door. I plan on waxing my face, stapling shoes to my knees and walking on them so I can get in for free. I doubt it will work, but it’s worth a try.

On Aug. 20, the resort is having the Adnil Invitational. You get to play croquet in front of the Daylodge. There’s a $50 donation and proper attire is required. It’s the closest thing to polo we’ll get in Alaska so why not give it a try? You only live once. Champagne is served at 11 a.m. and the games begin at noon. The second round takes off at 1:45 p.m., then the playoffs and ceremony.

Alyeska’s Fungus Fair goes from Aug. 25 through Aug. 28 the from 9 a.m. until 8 p.m. If you love wild mushrooms look no further. Check it out at the Daylodge. There’s music, food and activities all four days. Go to the Alyeska website for more details. I may be there. After all, I’m a fungi. Get it? I crack myself up.

The pig roast at the Silvertip was a huge success. How could it not be? It’s a slow roasted pig, great music and a bunch of people that are all friends. There will be more good music on Aug. 27 when Black Tooth Grin plays from 8 p.m. until 11 p.m. They’re a fun group that has more energy than Chugach Electric. If they had their way, they’d play until the sun came up. Check it out and absolutely get one of the Silvertip sliders. I had a buffalo chicken slider the other day at the Silvertip. It came coated in buffalo wing chicken sauce and blue cheese. For $2.50 you can’t beat it. Get two of them, a nice draft beer, then sit back, relax and enjoy the music outdoors. Actually, all of the sliders are great. So if they change, just order whatever they have. You’ll be happy you did.

If you’re looking for unique furniture look no further than to the GRRdwood Pets and Green Goods. Kevin Lakewood is a local craftsman who can be found there turning trees into some of the nicest things you could ever see. He showed me photographs of one of his creations. It was a staircase covered by branches that created an effect of walking through a tunnel of autumn weather. It was like nothing I have ever seen before. He’s a great artist and his creations aren’t only beautiful and one of a kind, but some of them are also comfortable to sit on. He has one bench that’s in front of the Silvertip. Sit on it and check it out. There’s nothing like unique pieces of furniture.

Don’t forget that the Halibut Derby, Silver Salmon Derby, and the Small Fry” Salmon Derby are all going on in Whittier until Sept. 5 at 9 p.m. The Small Fry Derby is for kids 12 and under and there’s no fee if they’re with someone aged 18 or over. I love a blackened halibut sandwich. It’s probably my favorite fish.

My favorite places to get one are Chair 5 or O’Brady’s in the Carr’s Huffman Plaza, if I’m in town.

If you’re at the Seaview Café enjoying a beverage and some food make your way down to the Hope-Sunrise Historical and Mining Museum. It’s between the Sherritt Art Gallery (incredible art) and the Hope Community Library. It tells stories of the Turnagain Arm gold rush of 1896. There’s also a mine bunkhouse and a blacksmith shop. Just click your heels and say, “There’s no place like Hope” three times and you’ll be there.

That’s it. Have fun, please drive safely, and don’t let people hang out at your house too long. As Benjamin Franklin once said, “Fish and visitors stink in three days.”

Email me with any information at paddytimes@gmail.com.