Albany VegFest 2016

We decided to road trip it up to the Albany VegFest this weekend.  They were giving out gift bags to the first 100 people, which I guess was a huge incentive to show up early.

We were lucky number 95 and 96, so woo hoo for us!  I couldn't believe how long that line got.

Hey!  That's the Vegan Bodybuilding guy, Robert Cheeke.

Some lovely ladies from the Woodstock Farm Sanctuary were there.

The Humane Society was there talking about Meatless Monday.

Vegan Outreach let us take a button since we already like them on Facebook.

(I don't know why this picture is sideways, and I don't know how to fix it.  Blah, whatever.)

The Vegan Zombie was there.  I was going to say, "Hey!  I watch you on YouTube!" but then I realized so do over 100,000 other people, so prob not a big deal to him...

Mercy for Animals (the lady at that table was super cute!)

I prefer to buy t-shirts from non-profits, but oddly enough, most of them didn't have shirts.  But since our thing is to buy a t-shirt at these events, we bought two from a vendor.  (I checked their site out, and they charged more for the shirts at the vegfest than they do online.  Not cool.  No link for you.)

Catskill Animal Sanctuary was there.  They were just lovely!  I think we will have to road trip it up there one weekend for a visit.  I hear Bruce the Duck is the one to meet.

The Tyrant got to pet a super cute beagle rescued through the efforts of the Beagle Freedom Project.  They are great people, working really hard for a great cause.  They need your help in NY to get Beagle Freedom Bill passed.  Check out their site for more info.

I tried some Death Wish Coffee...it's not for me.  I almost bought some for the Hubby, but I couldn't justify $20 for a bag of coffee.  We did get a cool sticker though.

There were a lot of people there.  Which was great.  But the layout of the tables were odd.  There was dead end by the Beagle Freedom Project, so you got stuck and had to backtrack.  Maybe they weren't expecting so many people.  I'd say next year, they'd need a much larger venue so they could space the tables out more, and you could walk all around without getting stuck.

They also had all the food vendors on one side.  That probably made sense in theory, but unfortunately, you wound up with one massive line.  I couldn't tell if it was one long line for the people with the pastries, or multiple lines for other vendors.  Plus you couldn't see what vendors were there.  I didn't even know there was a hot dog vendor, until I saw someone with a hotdog!

Once the crowds and tight space started getting to me, we left the main area and headed to the bar.  We picked up our free scoop of Ben & Jerry's sat outside.  The weather was amazing.  Then we went inside, did some crafts, completed a survey and headed back to the car.

And then in non-Veg Fest related news, we headed down to the NYS Museum.

Despite the amazing exhibits and art, the museum was practically empty!

Get your kids off the internet, and go to a museum.  I mean really people...

Don't you want to see the set of Sesame Street?  I never realized how progressive that show was until I was an adult.  They showed not only the first interracial couple on tv but also showed a woman breastfeeding on air in 1977.  Stop letting small children watch Jaws when they're 5 and let them watch Sesame Street.  Just saying.  And now I'm off my soapbox.

Our favorite part was riding the 102 year old carousel.

Then we hopped back in the car, and drove a few blocks to Berben & Wolff's Vegan Deli.

The Prickly Pear & Orange Pellegrino was good, but the Mandarin Jarritos was better.

We smooshed down our burgers before we ate them, so for the record, they are much bigger and fluffier than they look in these pictures.  The Tyrant got the Sunflower Burger.  It was definitely different from your typical veggie burger, but a nice change of pace.

We both agreed that while the Sunflower Burger is good, the Wing Burger is ah-maz-ing!  Seriously.  A super crunchy faux chicken patty, covered in buffalo sauce, with celery and grated carrots and ranch dressing...mmmm....  I'm going to have to try to replicate its awesomeness at home since Albany isn't exactly around the corner from my house.

We even got some cupcakes to go.  Honestly, not the best vegan cupcakes I've ever had, but good.

Two VegFests down, who knows how many more to go.  And for the record, it was a suggested donation of $5 a head at the Albany VegFest, which I gladly paid.  Too bad my local VegFest is so expensive....(Can you tell I'm still annoyed by the $39 tickets for the NJ VegFest?  Still annoyed....)