Our Fun Day at McMenamins UFO Festival

Last weekend my hubby Gary and I had a fun date day. We spent the day at the McMenamins UFO Festival in McMinnville, Oregon. I have heard of the festival for many years, and have always thought it would be a fun event to attend. Since I know that my upcoming surgery will have me cooped up in the house for longer than I would prefer, I thought it would be fun for Gary and I to get out and spend some time together doing something fun.

The UFO Festival takes place in a small Oregon town a little over an hour away from where we live. The festival started as a celebration to remember the famous 1950 UFO sighting and photo by Farmer Trent. Many people will recognize this classic UFO picture that you can see at the above link. :)

Some of the festivities took place at The Hotel Oregon. You can even go up on the roof. We didn't go inside this year, but next year I think it would be fun to go back and stay for a bit longer. I loved the old building though, and the whole town was fun to walk through.

There were plenty of vendor booths set up with fun alien goodies and lots of delicious smelling food. I couldn't resist getting a picture with this giant alien and donning an alien bobble headband.

The main thing I was looking forward to was attending one of the speaker lectures. I watch The History channel for fun all the time, and often enjoy all the UFO specials. Since I was a child, stories about UFOs and Cryptozoology stories like Bigfoot and Loch Ness, have always intrigued me. Stanton Friedman, a nuclear physicist and UFO lecturer is often on the History Channel specials, so I have been seeing him on TV for years. I thought it would be really cool to meet him and hear him lecture in person.

The lecture was really interesting, the slide show he brought had some really cool vintage pictures from the Roswell era. Stanton Friedman stressed the importance of going to the original source whenever researching something, which was a good take away and applies to any type of researching.

Before the lecture started, Gary saw Stanton Friedman walk in before the lecture, and he was greeting a few people. Normally I am on the quieter side and a little hesitant about meeting new people, but Gary encouraged me to introduce myself and get a picture. I'm glad I did, Stanton was very friendly, and it was really nice meeting him. Thanks for encouraging me Gary! :)

One thing that was really interesting for me to learn was that Stanton Friedman was a student at the University of Chicago in 1955 & 1956 and so was Carl Sagan at the same time. When I was in high school I was really interested in astronomy and bought myself a ticket to the Carl Sagan lecture back around 1990. My parents dropped me off downtown and I felt pretty cool being one of the youngest people there, it was mostly college students and adults attending the lecture. Sadly Carl Sagan passed away in 1996, so I'm glad I got to hear him speak. Carl Sagan and Stanton Friedman have differing opinions on the UFO phenomenon so it is neat to have been able to hear both views.

I brought home some fun souvenirs, a copy of the Project Blue Book Report, and one of Friedman's books, which was a signed copy, which I thought was pretty fun.

I also got some fun and silly alien goodies, bendy aliens, a squishy UFO, alien bobble headbands for the kids, and a souvenir cup.

Overall it was a very fun day, I definitely want to go back next year and be there to watch the costume parade, they even have a pet parade where pets get dressed up in alien and UFO themed costumes, I will definitely want to bring the whole family for that!

The drive out was gorgeous. Red clover fields are in bloom everywhere. I had to stop for some pictures along the way. This field was particularly beautiful.

This close up shot is so pretty, I love the dark pink color, it is really amazing to see a whole field of this color!

It was so nice spending the day with Gary, and the long ride gave us time to talk, which is so important for couples to have the time to do. Walking around and exploring McMinnville and the festival was really enjoyable! What a fun date day! :)

Keeping with the UFO theme this week I set out two metal UFO ornaments, that I found while cleaning out a closet, next to my tulips, and it made for a fun display. These particular tulips looked especially pretty when they opened all the way up.

This weekend I plan on catching up on more blogging and hope to have plenty written before my Gallbladder surgery which will be this coming Tuesday. I have a garden update to post as well, as I spent last week very busy in the garden getting all of my veggie garden planted.

Thanks for stopping by!

Linking to:
Freedom Fridays
Flaunt it Friday
Feathered Nest Friday