|
October 1-8, 2009: Our Fall Trip to the Upper Midwest |
|
September 18, 2009: A Visit to the Plano Balloon Festival |
|
Return to Index for 2009 |
 |
 |
The event had provided free parking in a large garage attached to one of the office buildings just west of the Tollway in Addison. We parked and were lucky enough to run into Ron and Jay right by the garage.
On the aerial view below, I've marked the general route we took through the OctoberFest, and I've also marked some of the spots where Fred and I took some pictures. This may help you orient yourself to the event.
You can use the aerial view above to follow along with us as we go through OctoberFest. I'll group the pictures according to our path along the route.
At the Fountains
After we purchased our tickets ($5), we headed into the fenced-off venue. Our first stop was through a grove of planted trees to a series of fountains and pools that are adjacent to the "Blueprints" sculpture that you'll see later. Here, we just sat down for a minute to decide what we wanted to do on our way through the event. Fred and I took a few candid pictures, and I have placed thumbnails for some of them below. You can click on the thumbnails to view the full-size images:
|
When we left the fountain area and walked down into the event, I made a movie, and you can watch it with the player below:
|
|
At the Performance Stage
 |
There was also a family standing near the performance stage, their kids were all dressed up in children's costumes, and I thought that they were cute enough to get them to pose with the rest of our group. You can see the resulting picture at left.
I also took a couple of movies here at the performance stage, and you can watch them using the players below:
|
|
Around the Vendor Areas
We spent some time walking around the vendor areas. There were lots of food vendors; I am not sure what this vendor was making, although I do know that Mario got a couple of little bags of some roasted nuts. But basically we just wandered around, stopping occasionally to take some group pictures, such as the ones you can see here and here.
Lunch
Over in the northwest corner of the park there was a huge food tent. Inside, there were a number of counters for different kinds of food- but all with a German theme. The floor of the tent was covered with tables, but there was a stage on one side of the tent and an open area for watching the performers or dancing right in front of it. The noise and the smells were a bit overwhelming, so I went and got a table that was up on a raised area at the far end of the tent, and waited for the guys to come find me with their lunches. Most people don't photograph well while eating, but I did get one good picture of Mario and Steve.
I also took a movie of the guys having lunch, and you can watch that movie using the player below:
|
|
The Automobile Exhibit
|
From lunch, we went over to the small automobile exhibit building. As it turned out, the exhibit consisted of German cars from area collectors. We saw some familiar models and also some that we had not seen before or in a long time. I've put three thumbnails over at the left for some pictures we took here; click on them to view the full-size images.
One humorous thing occurred when we left the building. Jay ended up holding the door for a group of women coming into teh exhibit and, just horsing around, held out his hand and said something like "I'll take your $5 admission fees." When he said that, he was making eye contact with the folks coming in, and it was obvious to them that he was just kidding around. I was outside the doors, though, and could see more folks coming down the walkway towards the entrance. One pair of women stopped about twenty feet from the doors, and I heard one say to the other that they should go somewhere else since there was an admission fee. I was not quick enough to catch them and tell them that Jay was just kidding around. I hope they came back later, if they were really interested in the automobiles.
On the Midway
|
From the automobile building, we went to the other side of the park to the "Midway," where there were some games and some small rides. Mario and Steve thought that they would ride "The Pirate," one of those rides that just oscillates back and forth, something like a gigantic swing. Fred took a few pictures of them before and on the ride, and you can see those pictures if you click on the thumbnail images at right.
Back at the Fountains
|
Finally, we wandered back to the fountains, where we sat on some of the benches relaxing in the warm afternoon sunlight and watching the folks wandering around. At left are some thumbnails for the pictures that Fred took of us here; click on them to view the full-size images.
The "Blueprints" Sculpture at Addison Circle
Our final stop this afternoon was actually just outside the OctoberFest venue- the huge sculpture that sits in the middle of the traffic circle that is the focal point of Addison Town Center.
On April 13, 2000, the Town held a great party to celebrate and dedicate "Blueprints at Addison Circle." Over 700 residents and friends helped celebrate the final result of over four years of hard work by hundreds of architects, engineers, artists, and craftsmen. Addison's first piece of public art was completed and officially illuminated for the first time, with the backdrop of a light show complete with lasers, searchlights, and pyrotechnics, all of which were choreographed to music from Disney's "Fantasia 2000."
|
At left are four thumbnails for pictures of the sculpture that Fred and I took from various angles; click on them to view the full-size images.
Beginning in 1992, a group of Addison residents and business leaders sought ways to enhance the attractiveness of their suburb; they saw it getting lost in the sprawl that is North Dallas. The committees focused on 74 acres of raw land just west of the Dallas North Tollway, and thought it could become a new urban downtown for Addison. Over the next couple of years, the tract was acquired and the design of a multi-use district fashioned after European communities proceeded; it was decided that a traffic rotary would serve as the central focus.
The committees also agreed that it would be appropriate to place a significant piece of art in the middle of the traffic circle, and the search began for an artist to design and build it. The winning design consisted of a vase-shaped sculpture that resembled the branching pattern of a grove of oak trees; it would allow people to walk under it and cars to drive around it. It became a structure that resembled a set of blueprints unfurling and blooming like a plant.
Construction began in 1998 and was completed about a year later. The five petals of "Blueprints at Addison Circle" contain detailed drawings from the blueprints used to build many of the city's buildings and parks. The elements include a fountain, a sun dial, a bench, a bridge railing; plans of the Addison Conference and Theatre Centre; patent drawings for cotton gin equipment; the original Plat of Addison; a pump station; and the spa at the Addison Athletic Club.
We had a good time at the Addison OctoberFest; we all parted ways in late afternoon.
You can use the links below to go to another album page.
|
October 1-8, 2009: Our Fall Trip to the Upper Midwest |
|
September 18, 2009: A Visit to the Plano Balloon Festival |
|
Return to Index for 2009 |