Tuesday, October 29, 2013

From one extreme to another

On Saturday we left behind the quiet memories of the woods, the mountain streams, the beautiful fall colors, the snow falling gently on Grandfather Mountain, the Blue Ridge Mts., and we got on Interstate 40, or as I think of it, Death Hwy., and we headed over to Raleigh to the State Fair.

I have fond memories of this fair. It's the first place I saw a pottery wheel demo and my addiction with clay began. I have memories of the prize winning canned goods, the quilts, the farm animals the 4H kids raised, the smell of funnel cakes and roasted corn, the crisp fall air, the sounds from the midway.....


What I don't remember is feeling like I was shoved into a sardine can with the rest of the human population on this planet. When did this fair get so crowded!? There were literally times when we could not move an inch for the crowds. It was the most people I have ever seen gathered in once place and it was kinda scary. I did not like it, not one little bit! Most of those people were eating anything fried. Including me.



Oh look, says I, Pottery!!! A safe haven!! I will like this place.


Oh, but how wrong I was. I didn't like this either. There was sooooo much pottery and about 1% of it was good. The rest of it looked like the shelves at the local community clay studio for beginner classes. It made my stomach hurt to look at all of that pottery and not enjoy the experience. Have I really lost my love of pottery or is there just too much of it?!  I got out of there pretty quickly, something that seems odd for me. Usually I linger for a very long time if there is pottery to be seen.....


What I did like was the Funnel Cake. It you are a reader of my blog and you have a good memory, you will remember a post where I bitched about the funnel cake vendor making all the money at a festival I did, and how sad it was that people will spend their last dollars on a brief encounter with food, when they could buy a handmade craft that will last and last. Well, I was one of those that gorged on funnel cake and left the pottery where it was. I also ate a falafel pita and some ribbon fries, basically I could have just brought along a pint of grease and sipped on that! But when you are at a fair, the smell is unreal, your mouth just waters for that grease.


Remember when the State Fair was all about the cows and pigs and sheep, and the strawberry preserves and the blue ribbon apple pie? This is the fair I longed for. We did get into the arena where the cows were, and saw some bunnies, and a few pigs, but mostly what we saw were people eating anything fried.


It's hard to find healthy food at the fair, but the corn roasters had it going on. Of course we didn't choose the healthy food exactly, although the falafel did have some veggies on it to soak up the grease.My weight watchers program took a backseat for the day!


This is how Gerry spent his birthday. His cake was deep fried and he wandered aimlessly for a few hours among way too many of the human population, 80% of which were overweight and gaining more as they walked along chewing on their turkey legs and fried twinkies.

We really did have fun, but we kept a good mental head and just went with the flow. It's not something I look forward to doing again, and I worry about this overcrowded unhealthy planet we are living on. Now if all of those people that we walked amongst could come together and do something positive and good it would be some awesome power, but they won't, they will just eat... in blissful ignorance.



Leaving was also an interesting experience. There were cars coming in and going out for miles and miles, backed up onto the interstate, traffic cops everywhere, not being paid to protect our cities and towns, but being paid to show stupid drivers the way to the fair so they could get a corndog!

Mercy! I'm ready to head back to the hills and never come out

peace ya'll
xo

12 comments:

Susan Wells said...

Ooooooo Your fair pics are great! We lived for the fair growing up in Raleigh. I remember saving saving my money. Has it grown too big? Where's our Orange County Fair?!!

Tracey Broome said...

Yep, it is waaaay too big, there really should be some crowd control!

Judi Tavill said...

ACKKKK!

Tracey Broome said...

Yep!

Dennis Allen said...

I feel about the same way every time I go to WalMart.

cookingwithgas said...

Can I tell you my deep dark secret?
Come close as I whisper in your ear.... I have never been.. there I said it out loud.
I have never been and will probably never go.
And don't tell- but I never took my kids either... I know, I know.... shame on me.
I also never took them to chucky ChEESe or Carowinds, go ahead and tell... I am out of the mother of the year award, again.

Tracey Broome said...

Dennis, exactly!
Well, Meredith I only took Wesley to the fair once, maybe Chuckie Cheese three times, but mostly because they have really good pizza. She nearly had a panic attack at both places, haha! We don't do crowds. It is an eye opening experience though, gives you a great appreciation for quiet places.

Tracey Broome said...

Dennis, exactly!
Well, Meredith I only took Wesley to the fair once, maybe Chuckie Cheese three times, but mostly because they have really good pizza. She nearly had a panic attack at both places, haha! We don't do crowds. It is an eye opening experience though, gives you a great appreciation for quiet places.

oldgreymare said...

I went to the state fair here.... once.. so my kids could seea fam animal and never went back.
I avoid those things like the plague..and most crowd venues of any kind... It's why I am NEVER on the strip or know what is going on there lol
That kind of humanity scares me too.

Laura Farrow said...

like they say.. 'when in Rome', eh? I am (luckily) not tempted by fair food, and since I never go anyway.. well. I did sorta want to check it out this year, but now I don't! thanks!

Sandy Miller said...

Here in Ohio we have our county fair every August, the middle of August. Not only do you get the funnel cakes and people stuffed into uber skimpy clothes, and I mean you could go through a gallon of butt spackle standing in line for that fried Oreo! I go to our little county fair in the morning to see the canned goods, critters, 4H, quilts etc. nobody goes in the morning and food trailers are just firing up the deep fat fryers..... And I love watching the draft horses work! But we have never been to state fair and have no plans to go.....

I do have a friend who loads up visiting guests in her Prius, drives to the Walmart in Middlefield, parks in the lot, after they go through the McDonalds drive thru for snacks and watch the Amish! Yup Tracey maybe you should try Amish watching.......

Tracey Broome said...

Hey Suzan, we went to this fair when Wes was very small and I don't think it was this crowded. I remember having a really good time, so either I was in a mom fog or times have really changed!
Hey Laura, yeah,you ain't missin' much!
Sandy, that is the funniest thing I have ever heard, we weren't doing any Amish watching but there sure were a LOT of fat asses to look at, heehee