It's Not Fair!

Most of you who read this blog know that I am thankful that Karen and I live in Alabama. We live in a beautiful place where the cost of living is the close to the lowest in the country. Most everyone around here is nice enough, we feel safe, we have a wonderful home, nice yard, and we both have great jobs.

However, you also know that being from the great state of Georgia leaves me somewhat critical of Alabama. Sometimes it is without cause. But for the most part, my cynicism is legitimate. Need a case-in-point....of course you do...else what would be the point of this blog?

So a friend of Karen's told her that Huntsville was having the annual Northeast Alabama State Fair. Karen and I really love the fair, specifically the Perry Fair, also known as the Georgia National Fair. Living in middle Georgia, the Perry fair is a yearly tradition. So when we found out there was a fair in Huntsville, we were excited and decided on Sunday evening to make the 45 minute trip to check it out. As we drove closer to the fair grounds, we began looking for the rides. I'm not a big fair-ride rider (have you seen the people running those rides? Have you seen those rides? Have you seen the people throwing up after getting off of those rides?Yeah!)So we scanned the horizon looking for the pinnacle fair ride...the Ferris wheel. That would be the only ride I would ride.....although I had already decided in my mind I might would venture on one of the more tame rides if Karen wanted to.

Well, as it turns out, all of that decision making was deemed completely unnecessary.....as we neared the "fair" we realized that there was, in fact, no Ferris wheel. NO FERRIS WHEEL!! Any other time this would lead me to the conclusion that this event was not a fair at all. However, that was merely the first sign!

Despite the fact that there wasn't a Ferris wheel, we parked the car, paid our combined $12 entrance fee, and walked into the fair grounds. Since I do not like rides, I typically spend a good amount of time looking at exhibits, livestock, arts and crafts, sideshows, etc. I also spend a large amount of time deciding what I want to eat, and then eating it. The exhibits at this "fair" consisted of 3 churches with tents set up for sharing Jesus, and 1 psychic palm reader. Yes that is it! After the 4 steps through the exhibits we arrived at the "midway". Oh boy!


We walked around looking at the "rides" and then decided our first move should be to acquire some fair food. Mmmmmm....I love fair food. Sure it's fatty, greasy, and completely unhealthy....but man it tastes good....usually. Karen and I order a corn dog a piece and shared a coke. 2 bites into it, Karen's corn dog began to drip batter. Unfried batter. To top it off, the corn dog didn't even taste good.....HOW CAN YOU MESS UP A CORN DOG???? So 2 bites a piece in, and they were trash. After re-evaluating the overpriced, under-safe rides and in our better judgement deciding not to ride anything, we decided to get a funnel cake. I'm convinced you can't mess up a funnel cake....so this was the highlight of our "fair" experience!

We finished the funnel cake and walked out the gate, back to the car, and went to Target. We spent maybe a grand total of 20-25 minutes at this event they in Alabama call a fair, but what we Georgians would call a "waste-of-time"! What a disaster. It was awful. To top it off, and I say this humbly, but I am pretty sure we were one of the very few people there who weren't living right around the poverty level. I'm really not trying to be mean but everyone there (and surprisingly, there were tons of folks there) seemed to be spending their months check on the rides and carny games. It was rather sad.

So at the end of the day, Karen and I were left still wanting a high-quality fair experience. The good news is that my 10 year high school reunion is on Oct. 11, which is right about Perry Fair season, so perhaps we'll be able to go to it this year and experience the glorious fall seasaon goodness that is the Perry Fair! And for all you Georgia folks, perhaps we'll see you there!!

3 comments:

i'll agree with yours and karen's description--thats not a fair! even the measly cullman county fair has a farris wheel, and exhibits and such. still, likely, not as good as the georgia one, but better than the huntsville.

September 3, 2008 at 2:08 PM  

I feel so sad for you two! I can totally relate to that. The waste of money would've been more sad than the waste of time to me. Yay I'm so glad you guys are coming in October! Don't forget to call Josh and I when you come!

September 3, 2008 at 3:45 PM  

HEY MAAAN! That's why you should always get a hot dawg instead of a corn dawg, man.

Speakin' of which: hey man, you wanna hot dawg??

September 5, 2008 at 5:43 PM  

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