A Fair Day

Recently, we went to a large country fair near where my sister-in-law is in college. We figured we would knock out two birds with one stone and visit her while we enjoyed some fair time.

We don't have anything like this in our area, so we were excited about going. There is just something about a fair. There are foods you pretty much can't get anywhere else.

There are overpriced rides you can't "enjoy" anywhere else. The sights, the smells, the sounds, the people, the events, all seem to be wrapped up in the unique experience of a country fair.

As soon as we arrived, Austin was thrilled because he saw tractors. Lots of tractors! There were at least five tractors in the parking lot, pulling tram cars that would carry people to and from their cars to the main gate. We had been in the car for more than two hours and I knew Austin would not make it to bathroom without an accident, so I convinced him to "water" the grass by telling him we couldn't ride on the tractor train until he did. He immediately peed. Unfortunately, every tram that came near us was full, so we walked and he waved to the people on the tractor tram.

Once we entered there was a very large tractor exhibit and he had a great time walking around looking at the tractors and even sitting on some. After that we decided to head for the kiddie rides area. I was not prepared for the exorbitant amount of money they were charging for tickets, but then again I have never taken a child to a fair. I have only been the child at the fair. Every ride was three tickets and each ticket was $1.25. Most rides lasted no more than two minutes. But, we were already there and we didn't want to rob him of at least some ride fun. The swings were by far his favorite thing. He rode them twice and would have ridden them 10 times if we would have let him. He also really enjoyed the roller coaster, known to him as the train. He rode that with his Aunt Lauren.

After all the riding fun, we headed toward the animals. Austin was set on seeing some pigs. We looked for pigs for at least an hour, but never did find them. We did however see all sorts of live poultry, an assortment of rabbits including some very large double chinned rabbits and some very long haired rabbits, horses of all kinds, and lots of cows. Apparently, there were sheep and pigs, but we missed those.

After that we decided it was time to eat. We had walked by no less than two hundred food stands and I am not exaggerating in the least. The options seemed endless, but we all agreed we wanted fair food. We decided on sausage and pepper sandwiches, onion rings, rough cut fries, and birch beer. It was delicious!!! Dessert was a no brainer. Funnel cake!!! Fairs have really gotten creative in the last few years with their fried desserts. We weren't interested in their newest experiments of fried oreos, fried Snicker bars and fried Milky Way bars. The only other fried dessert I saw that did sound good was deep fried chocolate covered cheesecake. Sounded like a little slice of deep fried heaven! (Mouth is watering...must move on.)

After hours of walking, full stomachs, two tired kids and six tired adults we all agreed it was time to go. The sun was starting to set and the crowd was getting thick with the evening fair folk, fresh for a night of music, food and fun. That night Bucky Covington a former American Idol contestant, turned country music star, was performing.

We headed out of the fair and toward the waiting area for a tractor tram to the car. We had promised Austin we would ride it on the way out. When the first one arrived, we hopped on and after getting settled and sitting for a couple minutes while people loaded on, the driver made the announcement that the tram was not headed for the main parking lot, but a side parking lot somewhere. So, we unloaded and waited for the next one. Several minutes later the next one showed up and now that the crowd was growing larger, we quickly jumped on. Again, after being on for a couple minutes the driver turned around and said that we needed to get off because they were taking the tractor to be serviced. Are you kidding me? So, we waited and waited and waited some more. We could have walked to the car several times over with the amount of time we stood there, but we had promised Austin he could ride. Finally, another tractor showed up and this time we didn't have to get off. He smiled all the way to the car. It was worth it in the end.
We had quite a fair day!