Maryland State Fair

[rivka]

We went to the fair yesterday and had a great time.

Unlike last year, we weren't lucky enough to see a birth in the birthing center. We did get to see chicks hatching and day-old piglets nursing, and we got to pet a piglet and a chick. Once again, they had a milking booth set up and Alex got to milk a cow for a minute or so. They had a sandbox filled with soybeans and dried corn, and Alex had a lot of fun playing there. While she did that, I browsed the agricultural displays nearby, which included a glossy free book explaining that organic food is worthless and that agribusiness makes our food ever so much cleaner.

/



Michael's company offered discount fair tickets this year, including an all day ride wristband for $15. That turned out to be a fantastic deal. It was great to be able to tell Alex she could ride any ride she wanted, as often as she wanted. They had about ten different little-kid rides that she went on, plus she and Michael rode the 100-foot Ferris wheel.



I had a really delicious softshell crab sandwich for lunch, with a pile of homegrown tomatoes on the side. Alex insisted that for lunch she wanted "chicken on the bone." By which she meant the giant smoked turkey legs. We told her that she wouldn't really eat one. She swore that she would. So finally we bought it for her... and damned if she didn't make an impressive dent in it. She couldn't eat the whole thing, of course - she split it with Michael, and even he couldn't finish it - but she ate a lot for a four-year-old.



This year I got to spend a lot more time in the Home Arts building. I have to say that I wasn't very impressed with most of the baked goods on display. Most of the cookies looked dry, drab, colorless. I'm thinking that next year I may enter my oatmeal raisin cookies. I had thought that you could only enter recipes you developed yourself, but it turns out that as long as you bake from scratch it doesn't matter if you use an established recipe. (And my oatmeal raisin cookies are from a recipe I modified, anyway.)

The fabric arts sections were just beautiful. And I had a nice conversation with a woman in the preserved food section, who told me all about the jelly she made from violet petals.

It was a lovely day. Tiring, but lovely.

Comments

[windsea.livejournal.com]

Very few life moments are better than small children and fall fairs!

[chargirlgenius.livejournal.com]

Erg. “Free” literature usually isn’t free. :-/

I can't wait for the county fair. I already told Jeff that I'm taking Henry out on a date on our own one evening, just to ride as many rides as we possibly can together. An all-access ride pass is one of those things that I dreamed about as a child and never experienced.

BTW, we also found your changing pad. It took me a while to realize that it wasn’t ours – we have one just like it, but I finally slapped my forehead when I realized that we haven’t had it out in months…

I’ll drop all that in the mail.

Whee!

[lynsaurus.livejournal.com]

Looks like you all had a memorable outing. Thanks for posting pictures. That turkey leg is as big as Alex's head! The State Fair could use the one of her on the car ride as a publicity photo.

[redbird23.livejournal.com]

We went to the MN Fair yesterday. We had a blast. Boo was more limited in the rides he could go on, but he went on bumper boats, and two different airplane rides (one twice) all by himself. I took him on the kiddie roller-coaster (so much fun), Jon took him on the merry-go-round, and as a family we rode the cable car ride. There was a lot of fair food, although we didn't manage a turkey leg this year. He met a couple of horses, was not happy about the chickens, liked the bunnies, and thought the sheep looked funny in their wool covers.

It was a great day. I'm glad you had such a good time too!

[rms10.livejournal.com]

While she did that, I browsed the agricultural displays nearby, which included a glossy free book explaining that organic food is worthless and that agribusiness makes our food ever so much cleaner.

Well, you know, I have to rinse the lettuce that I buy at the farmer's market.

[wcg.livejournal.com]

That NPP tattoo on her forearm sure caught my attention! Who was giving those out?

[rivka.livejournal.com]

I thought they were from you! We just have a bunch of them at home. Maybe Nixie supplied them?

[wcg.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah! Karen Latham gave Nixie some when she visited.

[acceberskoorb.livejournal.com]

very inspirational post ;)

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

This sounds much like our day at our fair with someone who is 3. And who rode a very similar ride to the car we see Alex in, except he got to ride in the car that is Dynaco Blue. I am glad we didn't have to sort out some other child sitting in that car. We barely managed to survive the unsuspected and unwelcome wait in line for the bumper boats.

K.