Went to the Fort Bragg Spring Fair last Saturday. I was pretty impressed with the Fair. It's rides were real nice, some were a quite challenge to ride without getting motion sickness. Unlimited rides for the price of your one admission, which I thought was a real bargain, considering my two boys went on all the rides at least once.
Ahhh, and oh yeah, how can I forget about all the smells associated with all the Fair food being cooked there. The BBQ smoked turkey legs, powdered sugar sprinkled funnel cakes, cotton candy, corn dogs, nacho cheese chips, deep fried potato ribbons with cheese, the smell of fresh popcorn, polish sausage sizzling on the grill with onions and bell peppers, pizza slices, candy apples, and freshly squeezed lemonade.
I'd have to take out a second loan to be able to afford to eat all that Fair food with my kids. You know what, it was worth very penney. Nothing can quite beat the smell and taste of geniune Fair food. You can't replicate the same kind thing at your home with the attempt to save money. Any attempts to produce something comparable as the same tasting food bought at the Fair are furtile. When you're at the Fair, take my advise, get something to eat there. The Fair doesn't come around but twice a year, once in the Spring, and another time during the Fall, in October.
This Fair was great, organized with a good layout. The Fair workers all wore new Fair T-shirts, and I have to say, were quite polite. They were not nearly like the pushy salesman as I remember they used to be in a time long gone by, when they were trying to get me to play their nearly impossible to win carnival games.
Somehow, even after all these years, I still long for the Old days of the carnival. The time where you can go to the carnival, as it used to be referred to, and you might have opportunity to see side shows of the weird and unusual as I remembered as a kid, while growing up in Phoenix, Az. I saw some pretty unusual exhibits, some I won't dare mention. The ones I know you won't see today.
The ones I am tell you about is the time I remember seeing the world's smallest man, so they claimed he was. He was real little skins with short legs. The poor guy sat there as if he were oblivious to the fact that people were staring, gaking at him, while he eating a plate full of scrambled eggs. I felt bad for the man.
I also remember seeing the world's biggest snake, and I cannot forget, the gorilla girl. She was a normal looking girl that would turn into a gorilla, right before your very eyes with the help special effects by the use mirrors, and smoke. The announcer would repeat over and over, " Gorilla Girl, Gorilla Girl, Gorilla Girl". She would change into a gorilla while she was in a cage that had jail like bars. She would rattle the bars, and the moment she turned into a gorilla, the cage door would fall down and everyone in the tent would scream and rush out of the tent emergency exit that was conveniently held up by one of the carnival workers. You know, they never had me fooled or scared for a minute, but I couldn't rest until I paid to see that gorilla girl.
The "Carni", people as they used to refer to the carnival workers, used to be sort of messed up looking. There was also a sense of excitement, apprehension, maybe a little bit of fear of what you might happen see when you run into it at the carnival.
This past weekend, I didn't see anything of that sort at the Fair. The Fair was real tame, socially acceptable, politically correct. It was professional looking, safe, and organized.
Somehow, with it's new look, the fair, or carnival for the most part, lost most of it's zing and appeal of the yester years gone by.
Still, all in all considering, I enjoyed going to the fair this past weekend with my kids. By going out and having fun at the Fair last weekend was a great way for me to spend some quality time with my family. What else can be more important than that? I highly recommend it to everyone.
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