Then we all piled into Jo's car and drove to the Annual Cranberry Harvest Celebration, put on by the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers' Association. We weren't sure what the event would be like, but it turned out that this is a BIG event. Ocean Spray Cranberry has a large facility here, and its headquarters is nearby. The whole area south and west of Plymouth is filled with cranberry bogs, and the celebration is located in the heart of the bogs.
There was food and entertainment galore. We even got to see cranberry harvesting in action and understand how the plants grow in the bogs; how the bogs are flooded to make the cranberries float so they can be harvested; and how large vacuum tubes suck them into machines that filter out the berries, which can then be sorted on a conveyor belt. Here's a photo of workers gathering the berries in the bog (compare the other photos of this same bog from other perspectives, below):
One of the features of the festival is helicopter rides. The four of us decided to take flight and look at the festival grounds from the air. Here are Kathy, Jason and Jo in front of the helicopter before their flight:
As the helicopter lifted off, we could see the same bog in which the workers were gathering the berries, which is shown in the photograph above:
Lifting higher, the helicopter headed off to give a bird's eye view of the grounds. Here is Kathy enjoying a panoramic view including our favorite bog and berries:
The ride was exhiliarating! Kathy tells the whole story as she motions "thumbs up" after the ride:
After feasting, variously among us, on a pulled pork sandwich (Kathy), chicken fingers and fries (Jason), a burger (Jo), peanut butter and chocolate cinnamon cookies and cranberry-apple crisp (David) and humongous fried dough (Jason again!), we bought some cranberry preserves, cranberry-maple syrup, and fresh cranberries, and headed home, greatly satisfied with all of our happy festivating!
I look forward to visiting the area.
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