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PFC 12th Annual Canoe Trip and Shrimp Boil

  • Saturday, August 18, 2018
  • 9:30 AM - 5:00 PM
  • Multiple Locations. See Event Description for Particulars

Registration

  • Click the REGISTER button below to sign up!

Registration is closed

Canoe Trip

Our canoe trip is a very gentle, leisurely float down the tame part of the Youghiogheny River. Other than a few rocks that you need to navigate past, there are no real hazards on this section of the river. So it's a great way to introduce first-timers to canoeing/kayaking, or to let older children get their first taste of independence in a relatively safe environment while still in fairly close supervision. You can have one or two parent(s) with a small child in a canoe, or a single parent with a child in a canoe or tandem kayak; you can have parents in a canoe with an older child going solo in a kayak, or any number of combinations/permutations. You know your children and what they are ready for.

Total time on the water is about four hours. Of course, if you want to explore along the way, you can enjoy yourselves a bit longer. When you get to the Cedar Creek boat ramp, just pull your water craft out of the water and up the ramp and move them to the side. (Make sure to not leave any valuables unattended.) Turn left and travel past the concession stand, and head to Pavilion #19 where everyone will be gathered for the picnic. Even if you packed your own lunch and are not participating in the Shrimp Boil, you are welcome to join everybody for camaraderie and conversation.

Shrimp Boil

Join us for al fresco rustic dining at its finest. A shrimp boil is a wonderful event. In a savory cooking liquid flavored with Zataran's Crab and Shrimp Boil seasoning, lemons, garlic, and cayenne pepper, we cook an enormous quantity of shrimp, andouille sausage, redskin potatoes, and corn-on-the-cob. While that is cooking, we cover the tables with newspaper and plastic tablecloth (sorry for the oxymoron). When the food is done cooking, we spread it out down the center of the tables. We scoop big dollops of butter directly on the tablecloth between every other diner. We place baguettes of French bread around the table, along with rolls of paper towels.

Diners sit at the table and help themselves to the wonderful bounty in front of them, rolling potatoes and cobs of corn in the piles of butter; shelling the shrimp and eating, throwing the corncobs and the shrimp shells back on the table; breaking off hunks of bread and dabbing them in the butter and eating them, sometimes with the cooked cloves of garlic. And everybody eats their fill. And the best part is that when everybody is finished, we just roll up the table covering with all the cobs and shells and throw it away – cleanup complete.

But we're not quite done yet. For dessert, we have bread pudding a rich Louisiana-style version with muscats, pecans, and coconut crowned with a rich buttery rum sauce. Trust me – you won't go away hungry or unsatisfied.

After Lunch

After lunch, take the short walk back to the boat ramp and put your craft back in the water to continue your trip down the river. Just near the end of the second leg of the journey, you will pass under the West Newton Bridge. The pull-out at Yough Outfitters will be a couple hundred yards past the bridge, on the left where you can pull out of the water and where your car will be patiently waiting for you.

Particulars

Cost: Canoes and Tandem kayaks - $53; Sit-in or sit on single kayaks - $32; Extra passenger in canoe (up to 60#) $5; (all prices include tax) Shrimp boil - $13 per adult; $7 per child under 13; children under 5 free.

Locations:

Canoeing: Youghiogheny Outfitters, 226 Collinsburg Rd., West Newton, PA 15089

ShrimpCedar Creek Park Pavilion #19, 453 Evergreen Dr, Belle Vernon (Rostraver), PA 15012

Registration/Payment Details

Sign up online here. Choose your reservation details carefully. Cancellations are permitted up to 7 days prior to the eventTo register after August 11, please do not follow the registration link on this page. Instead, you must contact us directly at info@pittsburghfreethoughtcommunity.com.

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