Fall is Fair Time!!
Fall is for sure fair time here in the south! It's tradition (always has been) for my family to go to the fair on my birthday. Up here, we attend the North Georgia State Fair, it's pretty close to home! Dad has always said that I'm a cheap birthday date! "Give her a corn dog, roasted corn and cotton candy..she's good to go!" It's true, I am never more happy than when I'm stuffing myself with greasy fair food!
I love the lights, the crisp night air that is just arriving with fall, the farm animals, the people yelling "Come on, win a prize", the buildings of nutty crafts and over grown veggies, the strange attractions, the concerts, the crazy shows from pig racing to dancing bears & elephants and I hang onto the fun memories of being young and actually riding on those rides without the thought of barfing! (Getting old stinks!)
The best fair, hands down, is the Georgia National Fair in Perry! It's huge, huge, huge! Mom & Dad use to take me when I was little and now Andy & I enjoy it together. (Mom & Dad go with us occasionally) It takes about 3 hours to get down there from here, south of us. It's worth the drive to Perry! Sometimes we spend the night and other times, like this year, we don't.
Where to begin?
The animals: Instead of 1 barn full of farm animals, they have about 8. Each barn/building is filled with stables or pens of one type of animal. The horse barn alone holds about 1,000 horses, mules and donkeys! The grounds are used year round for different breed horse shows. There is a huge covered arena for horse events. Each day/night of the fair, there are different shows with different breeds. We caught the evening of barrel racing. What little girl didn't dream, at least for a minute, of being a cowgirl? We had horses and I sure dreamed of it!! All of the other animals have shows & exhibits as well. There are sheep, llamas, rabbits, cows, goats and pigs. Each animal in their own building. There are several indoor arenas where 4-H kids from across the state come to show off their animals and compete for ribbons. We caught the llama costume contest one year, hilarious! There are thousands of animals and kids! There are demonstrations as well: how people sheer sheep, cow milking, etc.. (I reminded Andy that we must have land and more room for animals when God blesses us with a little one of our own, someday. We both grew up with animals and hope our children can too!)
Exhibits: There are buildings filled with commercial goods for sale, each with their own booth. (I fought the urge for yet more costume jewelry and purses) There are crafts and nature exhibits galore. Wildlife rangers are there with snakes, alligators and other reptiles to let you touch and learn about. There are aquariums filled with game fish and stuffed animals where you're taught about hunting.
Rides: You want to get your kicks?! There are 2 entire midways set up out there! There were 3 ferris wheels, 3 roller coasters and too many rides to begin to mention! One midway is still traveling with their own 12 act "freak show", you know the one I am talking about?!
Shows: You name it, they have it. Dancing bears, elephants, camels to ride, racing pigs, music of any style, Krystal burger eating challenge, motorcycle stunts, tight rope walkers, acrobats, dancers, magicians, puppet shows and everything in between. It's there!!
Concerts: Each weekend in the huge enclosed auditorium. Gretchen Wilson & Big/Rich were upcoming events for this weekend.
Food: Oh my!! Enough food to feed the hungry of the world! BBQ ribs, chicken, pork, beef, you name it.. Hotdogs, hamburgers, corndog, sausages, pizza, cotton candy, caramel or candy apples and on and on and on..... There were stations to mix & make your own icee (I did that). Places to pour rootbeer out of a barrel and into your mug. Fried? Want to talk fried in the south?? You name it: mushrooms, veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, zuchini,etc..), onion rings, oreos, cheese cake, Snickers bars and don't forget the Twinkies! **I, for one, ate healthy! I had a hamburger (not too bad huh?). I ate some strawberries, ok..so they were dipped in choclate, so what?! I ate an apple .. and it had a "little" caramel on it. I "needed" just a few bites of a corndog, so Andy shared one with me. (Along with all he hate himself)
Cars, lawnmowers, tractors, boats & campers: There are demos from every company in South Georgia. You name it and they were there with a whole load of them! We picked our favorite top 10 cars/trucks/SUVs of course. Andy drooled over tractors of every shape, size and brand. Lawnmowers too! Playgrounds to play on and outdoor playhouses to wish for. They had them with bedrooms, porches, porch swings, window flower boxes and a chimney...every little girls dream! You want to make an impulse buy on a boat, camper or hot tub (what's up with those at the fair?) Well, go right ahead!!
Agri lift: What is an agrilift you ask? It's just like the chair lift in the mountains, but much much longer. It goes across the entire fair grounds and is a nice ride! We took the round trip ticket and had a ball as always. Since this is a big agriculture event, the name agrilift seemed to fit I guess.. Andy is a dork for my picture as usual!
Paddle boats or kayaking: And who doesn't think of those 2 things when going to the fair? NOT! Ok..but since they have a little lake/pond, feel free to rent a boat and go for a ride! Tons of people were doing it!
Characters: There are tons of those and I don't just mean the "carnies". They have "Fair Bear" and a few others. A favorite is this "Rockin' Robot" that walks around. He's super huge! He talks to people, poses for photos and sings & dances! He's a hoot for sure!!
To learn more (and who wouldn't want too?) go to www.georgianationalfair.com and check out the fun! We had a blast and it was well worth the drive down there & $5 admission. (You don't even have to pay to park!) We wont mention the money one can fork out on food and fun, but that's up to you.
Until next time.....
I love the lights, the crisp night air that is just arriving with fall, the farm animals, the people yelling "Come on, win a prize", the buildings of nutty crafts and over grown veggies, the strange attractions, the concerts, the crazy shows from pig racing to dancing bears & elephants and I hang onto the fun memories of being young and actually riding on those rides without the thought of barfing! (Getting old stinks!)
The best fair, hands down, is the Georgia National Fair in Perry! It's huge, huge, huge! Mom & Dad use to take me when I was little and now Andy & I enjoy it together. (Mom & Dad go with us occasionally) It takes about 3 hours to get down there from here, south of us. It's worth the drive to Perry! Sometimes we spend the night and other times, like this year, we don't.
Where to begin?
The animals: Instead of 1 barn full of farm animals, they have about 8. Each barn/building is filled with stables or pens of one type of animal. The horse barn alone holds about 1,000 horses, mules and donkeys! The grounds are used year round for different breed horse shows. There is a huge covered arena for horse events. Each day/night of the fair, there are different shows with different breeds. We caught the evening of barrel racing. What little girl didn't dream, at least for a minute, of being a cowgirl? We had horses and I sure dreamed of it!! All of the other animals have shows & exhibits as well. There are sheep, llamas, rabbits, cows, goats and pigs. Each animal in their own building. There are several indoor arenas where 4-H kids from across the state come to show off their animals and compete for ribbons. We caught the llama costume contest one year, hilarious! There are thousands of animals and kids! There are demonstrations as well: how people sheer sheep, cow milking, etc.. (I reminded Andy that we must have land and more room for animals when God blesses us with a little one of our own, someday. We both grew up with animals and hope our children can too!)
Exhibits: There are buildings filled with commercial goods for sale, each with their own booth. (I fought the urge for yet more costume jewelry and purses) There are crafts and nature exhibits galore. Wildlife rangers are there with snakes, alligators and other reptiles to let you touch and learn about. There are aquariums filled with game fish and stuffed animals where you're taught about hunting.
Rides: You want to get your kicks?! There are 2 entire midways set up out there! There were 3 ferris wheels, 3 roller coasters and too many rides to begin to mention! One midway is still traveling with their own 12 act "freak show", you know the one I am talking about?!
Shows: You name it, they have it. Dancing bears, elephants, camels to ride, racing pigs, music of any style, Krystal burger eating challenge, motorcycle stunts, tight rope walkers, acrobats, dancers, magicians, puppet shows and everything in between. It's there!!
Concerts: Each weekend in the huge enclosed auditorium. Gretchen Wilson & Big/Rich were upcoming events for this weekend.
Food: Oh my!! Enough food to feed the hungry of the world! BBQ ribs, chicken, pork, beef, you name it.. Hotdogs, hamburgers, corndog, sausages, pizza, cotton candy, caramel or candy apples and on and on and on..... There were stations to mix & make your own icee (I did that). Places to pour rootbeer out of a barrel and into your mug. Fried? Want to talk fried in the south?? You name it: mushrooms, veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, zuchini,etc..), onion rings, oreos, cheese cake, Snickers bars and don't forget the Twinkies! **I, for one, ate healthy! I had a hamburger (not too bad huh?). I ate some strawberries, ok..so they were dipped in choclate, so what?! I ate an apple .. and it had a "little" caramel on it. I "needed" just a few bites of a corndog, so Andy shared one with me. (Along with all he hate himself)
Cars, lawnmowers, tractors, boats & campers: There are demos from every company in South Georgia. You name it and they were there with a whole load of them! We picked our favorite top 10 cars/trucks/SUVs of course. Andy drooled over tractors of every shape, size and brand. Lawnmowers too! Playgrounds to play on and outdoor playhouses to wish for. They had them with bedrooms, porches, porch swings, window flower boxes and a chimney...every little girls dream! You want to make an impulse buy on a boat, camper or hot tub (what's up with those at the fair?) Well, go right ahead!!
Agri lift: What is an agrilift you ask? It's just like the chair lift in the mountains, but much much longer. It goes across the entire fair grounds and is a nice ride! We took the round trip ticket and had a ball as always. Since this is a big agriculture event, the name agrilift seemed to fit I guess.. Andy is a dork for my picture as usual!
Paddle boats or kayaking: And who doesn't think of those 2 things when going to the fair? NOT! Ok..but since they have a little lake/pond, feel free to rent a boat and go for a ride! Tons of people were doing it!
Characters: There are tons of those and I don't just mean the "carnies". They have "Fair Bear" and a few others. A favorite is this "Rockin' Robot" that walks around. He's super huge! He talks to people, poses for photos and sings & dances! He's a hoot for sure!!
To learn more (and who wouldn't want too?) go to www.georgianationalfair.com and check out the fun! We had a blast and it was well worth the drive down there & $5 admission. (You don't even have to pay to park!) We wont mention the money one can fork out on food and fun, but that's up to you.
Until next time.....
2 comments:
I know there are crazy mistakes. I've played with this stupid blog for about 2 hours now and can't fix everything. So, I quit! Take it or leave it! Sorry for the crazy way it looks!
Well aside from being majorly offended by all your crazy mistakes.... ;)
Looks like fun!
I will say however that I am freaked out by carnival midway rides. Anything that can be put up and taken down in a day just doesn't seem overly safe to me! 8-)
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