Goin' to the Fair

Last night was the final night of this year's County Fair. Although DH and I have lived here for fifteen years, neither of us had ever been. LO had never been, either. We decided it was time to go. 

The fairground at our little town is not far removed from the center of things. I am sure at one time, this was 'way out of town, but that is no longer the case. We parked in a field (for free, yay!) and hiked over. 

Costs were minimal, as far as costs go, and we got in and purchased an "All You Can Ride" wriststrap for LO. First of all we visited the goats, bunnies, and cows. We saw a llama and an alpaca, a delightful creature with the loveliest hairdo. 

The goat had babies who squawled and mahaha'ed abounds. DH came out with a, "Maha-Maha" (mama in goatspeak) that just made me laugh out loud. 

The midway had such a mix of smells: sawdust, grease, meat, sweat, you name it. It was a heady smell and, unlike most smells, we continued to be highly aware of it throughout our four hour visit. 

The food fare was fascinating. Hot dogs and cotton candy, sure. Candied apples. Corn on the cob.Elephant ears. Sodas. Frozen ices. Lemon iced tea. Fish sandwiches? Ribs? Then there were the gross things: Deep fried Snickers bars and 3-Musketeers. Deep-fried Oreos. Ick. LO had a slice of pepperoni pizza and a Dr. Pepper. DH and I split a bottle of water and a "string fries." They make them by putting a potato in an apple peeler and operating it with a drill. The result is a coil of paper-thin potato, which they promptly dunk in hot oil. A moment later, you have these potato-chip-like fries. (Don't worry, it was a one-time splurge. And we shared them.) 

The gamesters were tired and ready to get rid of their wares. As LO pushed quarters with the bulldozer, the carney gave her extra tokens in an effort to help her win. She didn't. 

The clown in the dunking booth was sharp and offensive. A large fellow walked by in a Hawaiian shirt. The clown started singing hula songs. A slim fellow tried to dunk him. He made skinny wisecracks. A guy with rather large ears tried, too. The clown said, "Hey Darrin, where's Samantha?" and began singing the theme to Bewitched. 

LO's friends finally arrived, WITH their college-freshman brother (double-yay!) and DH and I were free to roam at our will while they had a much cooler chaperone. We met back up with them at 10pm and stayed around til we left at 11. 

The pendulum-like device you see in the film is a huge ride the girls rode, and it swung them in the air, with an arc that took them 60' above the ground on either side. Just watching it gave me the willies. 

The whole fair was probably only 10% the size of my own hometown State fairs, but it was a nice getaway for us all and everyone headed home, tired but happy. All the photos in the film were taken with my telephone, as no one had thought to bring a camera. Enjoy.