Monday, August 27, 2007

State Fair

For those of you that know me, you know how I loathe the state fair.

I don't particularly find a lot of enjoyment out of having places sweat on my body that I didn't know had sweat glands or the fact that it's too crowded with the masses of people eating 'whatever' on a stick.

There aren't a lot of attractions that I can really say I can't wait to visit (though the butter cow was always a strange sight to see) and I'm scared of heights, so going on rides has never really been a high priority for me.

Needless to say, I was invited to experience the California State Fair Friday night with Jason and his family for the first time. We parked in the Back 40 and by the time we got to the gates, I was ready to go home. I was hot, tired from work, and already focused on finding the nearest Dippin' Dots stand - stat.

No joke, as soon as we got in the gate, within the first 30 seconds, a large man walked past me and rubbed his hairy, sweaty arm on my arm while walking by and I about lost it. Sick. It couldn't get any worse, right??

We watched Jason's son go on a few rides and then we went to eat. Lucky for me, the Dippin' Dots were in sight and I was happy savoring my cookie dough flavored little ice cream balls one spoonful at a time. Mmmmm....

I noticed something, though.

It didn't seem like there were a lot of the little in-between attractions when walking through the midway or on our 'out of the way' little paths. Don't get me wrong, it was interesting to see the different things surrounding me, but I missed the Varied Industry building.

Oh how it pains me to say that I think the Iowa State Fair is better and I actually missed seeing people eat pork chops on a stick... you didn't see the CA State Fair on the "Top 100 Things To Do Before You Die" list like the Iowa State Fair last year. I see why, now.

However, not to be a Debbie Downer or anything, the highlight of my night was watching the kids laugh and smile when they were on those little rides. Remember when you thought they were going so high and so fast, but they're actually not moving much at all? The kids were giggling and throwing their hands up in the air like they were going Mach 3 down a little bump of a hill.... there was a little girl going down the Crazy Slide in her potato sack with the biggest smile and even bigger dimples that I could have watched all night long!

Ironically, I did have fun - maybe it was the company I was with that made it all better, but I'm glad that I was able to go see something different (like girls walking around in high heels) and to top off the night, a free fireworks show on our way out! I do love fireworks.

All in all, the Iowa State Fair trumps the California State Fair. There, I said it.

3 comments:

hope said...

I'm not much of a 'fair' person either ... kicked and screamed on the double ferris wheel at the IA State Fair until they let me off once. (I was 8 or 9) ... but ANYTHING is better than the Guthrie County Fair:-)

April said...

I agree. I've been to many state fairs over the years and Iowa is the best but you can't really compare. Glad you had fun though! I remember being out on the west coast talking to people about deep fat fried stick foods... they didn't get it. funny!

vegasviaiowa said...

I agree Marcie. I've been to several state fairs, and they all seem more like the Guthrie County Fair. Sad but true. I thought of going to the state fair the last August I was back home, but decided to visit with Tighe and you instead.