Diners, Dives, and Powwows

This weekend I had hoped to combine a few of my favorite things: exploring new places, discovering great restaurants, and going to powwows. Well, I did do these things but you know how people say things aren't always what they seem? That's the way it was with the powwow I went to with my friends, Autumn and Bazille.

It all started at 7 a.m. yesterday (Saturday) morning. I reluctantly rolled out of bed and stumbled into the lounge on the third floor of the house I live in to wake up Auto and Baz. After getting them up and off the futon (which took some effort),  I tried looking up the location of the powwow on Google Maps about 15 times and it continued to send me to some random town in New Hampshire nowhere near where I was trying to go, I finally looked up the event on Facebook. I plugged the address into GMaps and it sent me to relatively the right place.

So, finally, by 8:15 we had the car packed up and we were on our way. When we got to Plymouth, we had breakfast at a diner called Main Street Station. It was REALLY cute and I love diners so we obviously had to eat here. The front of the restaurant is a converted train car and we sat in the corner booth that looks out onto Main St. and Plymouth State. I like judge places by how good their coffee and eggs are, and while the eggs were delicious, the coffee didn't compare to Mountain Creamery's in Woodstock, VT...and even then neither of them compare to Dunkin Donuts. Seriously, that coffee is delish. I thought people were joking when they said Dunkin Donuts had great coffee. Autumn had a Bagel breakfast sandwich with sausage, a Belgian waffle, Bazille had a English muffin breakfast sandwich with shredded ham and fried potatoes, and I had a custom "scrambler" with tomatoes, bacon, spinach, and cheddar cheese, fried potatoes, and toast. Honestly the best meal I've had in a while. A breakfast like that always reminds people of home. It's the small things that make you appreciate life a little bit more.

We visited a resale shop after we ate and perused the downtown area before heading over to the gymnasium. We had rushed around all morning because we thought grand entry was at 9 am because that's what the flyer we had said. When we check the event on Facebook though, it said noon, which was a relief because I take awhile to get dressed. The powwow and I got off on the wrong foot from the very start. Coming from Oklahoma, which to me is the powwow capital of the world and home of the BEST powwows in the country, I'm used to registering for my contest, getting a number, etc. But when I went to register, they only had me write down my name in the Women's category. No divisions, no number, no nothing. No mention of how much first place was.

Saturday in a Nutshell

It's not that I only dance for the money, because if that were the case, I'd be S.O.L. I don't ever win in Oklahoma and that could be for any number of reasons but we won't get into that now because it doesn't matter. I very much believe that if you have Native heritage that you should research and find roots in your community and know the traditional ways and your culture. This powwow didn't feel like the ones at home. It just didn't feel right and I don't think I need to say why it didn't feel right.

We ended up staying the entire time and advertising for our powwow in May which is during Mother's Day weekend. I bought some beads from a vendor called Wandering Bull (I was weary about it and still am but they had size 10 gold beads which I have been dying to get my hands on). I met some real interesting people while we were there though. I talked to a man who was Cherokee or Tonkawa (he wasn't sure because he had come to Cherokee country in Oklahoma and he left confused about who he really was). It's a story I've heard in different variations but his was interesting because he knew that my tribe was a part of Standing Bear and he talked about visiting the park in Ponca City. He introduced me to his son who was soooooo cute. He was (is? it was unclear...) married to a Wamponoag woman. His son kinda looked like the actor Evan Ross EXCEPT WAY CUTER. And we also met Deb, a free-spirited woman with a radio show in Vermont. She wants us to be on her radio show to do advertising for our powwow.

When we got back to Dartmouth after what seemed like the longest drive of my life because I was so freaking tired, Autumn and I went to dinner with Daryl and Jose at the Orient. I'm always so grateful to spend time with these two because I don't get to see them very often and, let's be honest, they are my favorite couple of all time. We ordered way too much Chinese food and it was super delish as usual. I avoid eating Chinese food because I mean, you stuff yourself and then an hour later, you're hungry again. After we finished dinner, Daryl, Autumn, and I headed over to Molly's for dessert and drinks (for Daryl). I tried drinking and stuffing myself with all of the caffeine I could but my body was just not having it. By the time we had left Molly's and stopped in CVS to grab a few things, I was so incredibly tired and as I like to call it "cracked out." It's a state when I just say whatever is on my mind and ramble and it's kind of just...not cool. At all. I sound crazed and weird. I finally got in bed around 11:30 and commenced my much needed 12 hour sleep sesh.

At the end of the day, I just appreciate my friends and good food. So, whether it be a glass of orange juice or winning first place, appreciate your blessings. They'll keep coming if you keep appreciating.