I am one of those people who loves going to the fair. I love the carnival rides, the food concession stands, the animals. The fair is a great place to walk around, people watch and take lots of photos.
The Pensacola Interstate Fair
Yesterday I spent the afternoon with my grandkids at the Pensacola Interstate Fair. What an awesome day enjoying the fair through their eyes.
The kiddie carnival rides were their thing - Fun Houses, Kiddie Roller Coasters, the Ferris Wheels and rides I could not even begin to name.
Since they had day passes (courtesy of their parents), they went on every kiddie ride numerous times. I was exhausted just watching them. Where do kids get all that energy?
These days I don't go on the rides. Since I had back-surgery in 2004, Roller Coasters and the like are a no-no for me. But I still enjoy all the sites, sounds and smells of the fair.
Hot dogs on a stick, curly fries, cotton candy, candy apples, you name it, all the traditional goodies were there. No, I didn't eat all those things, I just enjoyed being there.
As a kid in Southern California, the Los Angeles County Fair in Pomona was "The Fair" for me. Every year I eagerly awaited the fair days. My dad loved the fair, so we always went on opening day and then usually a couple more times before the fair was over.
Yes, back then I rode every carnival ride. The Ferris Wheels, Round-Up, Hammer and Roller Coasters were all favorites. I loved playing the midway games, even though I never won anything.
Back then I ate the hot dogs on a stick, cheese on a stick, lemonade, cotton candy and fresh-from-the-oven gingerbread heaped with whip cream. I was ultra-skinny then. These days, if I ate all that I'd weigh a gazillion pounds.
As a kid, my absolute favorite part of the fair, even better than the carnival rides and food, was all the animals. I'd spend hours petting and talking to all the horses, cows, goats, pigs, etc.
Of course, the horses were always my favorites and the Pomona Fair had lots of them - from Clydesdales to Shetland Ponies, from Palominos to Appaloosas, every kind of horse you could imagine.
I'd moo with the cows, watch baby pigs being born and baby chicks hatching. It was awesome.
Well, the Pensacola Interstate Fair is small in comparison, with few animals (primarily cows), but a good number of carnival rides. But for my grandkids, this is "The Fair." In their eyes, this fair is huge.
I lost track of the number of times they went through the Fun Houses. They enjoyed the giant slides, the flying elephants, the spinning green dragons, the spinning cars and the yellow bus that went up in the air. In fact, I don't think there was a ride they didn't love.
My twin granddaughters loved the rabbits, cows, calves and the big Brahma Bull. My grandson was impressed with the two Texas Longhorns.
The fair photos on this post were ones I took yesterday. I selected the most interesting ones for this post. No, I'm not in any of the photos in case you wanted to know.
By the way, my grandkids said the big Ferris Wheel is awesome. Of course, they thought all the rides were awesome. All in all, it was a grand day.
For those of you who know I love to put together lists of books, I managed to find a few books with a fair theme. So here they are, in no particular order (all are available as eBooks).
A Fair to Remember (Welcome to Redemption) by Stacey Joy Netzel*
The County Fair by Katherine Valentine
State Fair (Benni Harper Mystery) by Earlene Fowler
World's Fair by E. L. Doctorow
Murder at the Ingham County Fair (Lou Searing Mystery) by Richard Baldwin
The Carousel Painter by Judith Miller
Death at the Fair (Emily Cabot Mystery) by Frances McNamara
The Last Queen of the Gypsies by William Cobb
Meet Me in St. Louis by Robert Jackson (YA)
The Carousel by Belva Plain
The View from the Ferris Wheel by Courtney Parker
*On my Kindle.
I was surprised to find so few books with a fair theme. I'm sure there has to be others out there that I've missed, so please feel free to add them in the comments below. I hope you'll also share your fair memories.
