TheDailyCity.com will host weekly food truck pods (6-7 trucks) on the Trinity Downtown soccer field (Ruth Lane at Amelia Street) every Wednesday night, 5-8pm, starting this Wednesday August 3, 2011. The pod will offer a relaxed, quiet, family-friendly atmosphere in which to enjoy delicious food from some of the area's top food trucks. As always, bring your own chairs. Street parking is free after 6pm.I decided to go to the inaugural event. I called Terry who works downtown and she said it was raining really hard. I looked out my window at home and the sun was blazing. Getting into my truck I knew I was driving into the storm. Sure enough, half way into town it began to pour. It was the kind of rain that made me feel like I was driving in a waterfall. The wipers couldn't work fast enough. My passenger side wiper came loose and the rubber part was barely in the mechanism whipping chaotically through the air. It was so bad I considered turning around but I plowed straight ahead hoping the rain would clear long enough for me to sketch. By the time I parked north of Lake Eola, the rain had stopped.
I love the old wooden houses on Amelia Street. Some look like the historical homes of Savannah. One house was gutted, getting a full renovation. Most of the homes date back to the 1920's. This is the type of old neighborhood I would love to live in some day. I knew I was close to the food trucks when I could hear generators. The soccer field grass was wet, moistening my hiking boots. I leaned back against the goal post and got to work. Thunder rumbled on the horizon.
The field was populated by about 50 or so people who had braved the weather. Two workers from the Korean Taco Box Truck came over to watch me work for a while. They liked that their truck was in the foreground. When I was finished I decided to get a shrimp Po-Boy sandwich from the Fish Company food truck. The sandwich and a coke came to $12 which was more than I expected. I sat on the soccer field bleachers with many others. Poppy seeds from the sandwich kept raining into my lap.
I spoke to Mark Baratelli who organized the event. He said he only had 3 days to promote the event and he expects it will grow over time. He was carrying 11 by 17 inch posters promoting the Wednesday night event. I left feeling satiated. When I got back into my truck it began to rain again. A soft drizzle followed me home. Back home I watched weathermen as they tried to track Tropical Storm Emily.
