Fair and... Cooler

I went to the NJ State Fair once, when it happened to be held in my hometown.  I walked around and saw (and smelled) animals, watched people go on expensive rides, passed by expensive food booths, and generally was unimpressed.  Thus, I haven't been to a state fair since.

A friend here in Tulsa* invited me this year.  I didn't intend to go, but the cable company included $2 off coupons in their latest bill (normal adult price of $10), and one of my employees said he'd give me a free go on the sky ride (normally $6), so, intent on not wasting discounts, I tagged along.

We watched people go on expensive rides.  We passed by expensive food booths.  (I did have a $2.50 hot dog, a $5 funnel cake, and a $4 candy apple, which I saved until tonight.)  We walked inside buildings set up for a flea market.  Finally, we entered the building where the art entries were displayed.  We determined that my employee was at neither end of the sky ride, so we didn't go on it.  We (thankfully) didn't look at or smell the animals, either.

When you think about it, the entry fee worked out to $2 an hour, which really isn't a bad deal.  It might have been a good place to people-watch, but I was too busy trying not to run into people and not be run into.  I felt smug about shopping around to find the cheapest funnel cakes and candy apples.  I had the hot dog because I refused to pay the exorbitant prices of other foods (why should I pay $7 or $8 for an Italian-Polish Sausage --that's what the sign said-- when I have hand-made kielbasa in my freezer at home?), or I was repelled by them.  Would you want to eat the PB&J Burger (Peanut butter, Bananas, and Jalapenos) or Moink Balls?  (You can guess for yourselves what they are.)

Overall, it was a way to kill an evening, a means to stretch my legs and get some exercise, and it didn't cool down too much while we were there.  (The temperatures dropped 20 degrees overnight, so I spent the rest of this weekend inside, afraid to go out into the cold.)  Still, I had to wear jeans and a jacket for the first time this autumn.  Most people think of fairs as celebrating the harvest, but I think of them as damn silly ways to welcome the coming winter.  On the bright side, we weren't conquered by giant vegetables...


* For a reason no one can explain to me, Tulsa hosts the Tulsa State Fair, which is not the official Oklahoma State Fair.  Oklahoma's a state, yes, but Tulsa isn't.  How can it be a "state fair" then?  (I chalk it up to the typical illogic of Tulsans.)