Small town summer bucket list items to check off before the season's done!
Chip trucks, drive-ins, quarry swims and more!
It's that time of year when summer's on the wane, and maybe you're starting to panic a bit, wondering if you've checked off all of your small-town summer bucket list items. What were they again? Here's our list.
Chip wagon
If you haven't chip wagoned into your vacation eating pants this season, you have not done summer right. Nothing caps a beach day like greasy fried potatoes in a cardboard tray doused in all your favourite toppings.
Quarry swim and cliff jumping
Every small town kid knows the best quarry or water hole. But listen to your mama. Make sure the spot you're jumping into is a well-established launch point, deep enough for your daredevil cliff dives!
Bush parties
A big field. A roaring bonfire. Add a cooler of your favourite beer, a tent, an acoustic guitar and your summer crush and you've got the ingredients for a fine small-town bush party.
Go to the drive-in
Sure the audio isn't the best, and you might be swatting away some bugs, but you always remember a drive-in movie with the family, sprawled in the station wagon in your PJs with a bag of warm popcorn.
Farmer's market roadside stand
As harvest season reaches peak, there's an abundance of fresh, perfect produce to be consumed on the spot or canned for the colder months. Peaches! Corn! Peas! If you don't have a hotline to a farm family, you can always frequent a farm stand for prices and quality that leave anything you'd find at the supermarket e in the dust.
Town fair
From the midway to the horse auction to the giant vegetables, the annual fair brings a community together at the end of a hot summer. And there's always sure to be a specialty local food, whether it's a hot dog done just so or an item that never should be fried, but it's awesome anyway.
Build a jump for your bike, a go-kart, a dune buggy
When summers don't have the structure of camp and scheduled activities, kids need to make their own fun. And part of that usually entails trying to defy the law of physics. From perfecting bike tricks to digging through your uncle's storage shed to build the perfect vehicle, it's prime exploration time for self-taught mechanics.
Meteor showers
August is prime time for stargazing, and if you're from the city, it's easy to forget how deep and spectacular the night sky can be. If your timing is right, you just might catch a meteor shower that puts any fireworks show to shame.
Originally published August 2016