We went over to Urbanna for the Oyster Festival this past weekend. It had been a few years since we had been, but the beauty of Oyster Festival is that while it evolves, at heart it doesn’t change.

One of the highlights of this year’s festival was stumbling upon a vow renewal on the waterfront Saturday morning in front of the LOVE sign, complete with a snappily dressed red hatted reverend leading the ceremony. The couple was serenaded by a quartet in colonial garb and afterwards, had Mr. & Mrs. Oyster join them onstage for photos.

All the usual culinary experiences we associate with Oysterfest were observed along with a few new ones.

Crab bisque, pocket ham biscuits, pork rinds (Old Bay flavored this year!), funnel cake, “Redneck Fries” from the Lions club (BBQ and cheese on fries) and ridiculous amounts of fried pickles. This year’s pot of Beckybeans were more like a baked bean soup this year that was incredible for breakfast the next morning. And the oysters of course. Fresh from the Rappahannock.

Weirdest food seen this year? Deep Fried PB&J.

Best of all though, as it always is, was time spent with friends. There are some friends that you realize out of the gate are the sort you keep around for life. And while life may ebb and flow, the time spent with them are always the sort of weekends where time suspends and life is good and even though the children groan about assembling for their annual group shot, they do so and in the end, the resulting photos say it all.