Tuesday, September 30, 2003
This year at the Fair was more sedate than last. Uisce Beatha did not play this year, and combine that with the high entrance fee, most of the Baheads were turned off from going this year. But since I try to make it every year, and I was dying to know how FiFisaurus Rex did in the kntting competition, I decided to treat Big to a day at Strawberry Hill.
We went on Sunday afternoon, after a busy morning of entertaining visiting parents, and showing off potential living spaces to certain bosses who may become roommates and after numerous attempts to have brunch in really crowded restaurants, we finally arrived at the Fair very hungry, so the first thing that we did was plunk down and get food. Big and I agreed that if I paid for the tickets, he'd buy the meal. The meal prices were completely outrageous- one burger, one polish sausage, two large drinks and a large order of fries came to a whopping $26. I am not kidding. And it was so not that great of food.
Next, we traveled over to the trifecta of buildings that hosted booths as well as the arts and crafts competition. FiFisaurus Rex lost. Best in Show was a grey, rather blah afghan. Go figure. A lot of really nice stuff that was colorful and creative were placed lower than I would have placed them, losing out to dull colored but perfectly stitched garments. Last year I heard via the grapevine that the judges are sticklers for stitch perfection rather than style and creativity. It only makes me wanna do more offbeat stuff and keep entering.
Part of the fun of the fair, at least for me, is to travel from booth to booth to examine what enticing trinkets people have- lollipops, pencils, stickers, buttons- to entice people to stop by and check them out. You can always attract a crowd by waving free stuff in their faces. Like most years, most of it was crap I didn't need (what am I going to do with a bumper sticker that says "Virginia State Police: Crush Crime" ? Even FiFi wouldn't really like having it on her carrier) but some of the stuff, like the free nursing handbook that the Lupus Foundation gave me, turned out to be rather nice and valuable. I had a huge bag o' stuff after visiting the boothes this year.
The only ride Big and I took in was the Tilt-A-Whirl. Even though I was in a ride mood, the lines were rather crappy. Plus Big was getting tired, so we stopped for a beer, where I ran into my old boss, Laura. Laura now works at a local hospital as a cardiac tech. "That place was hell!" refering to our last place of employment. She was really excited to hear what I was doing now. "I so could see you doing that! It's real nursing!" She's so much happier than when I worked with her. I am happy for her.
All in all, it was a nice time. Can't wait for next year.
We went on Sunday afternoon, after a busy morning of entertaining visiting parents, and showing off potential living spaces to certain bosses who may become roommates and after numerous attempts to have brunch in really crowded restaurants, we finally arrived at the Fair very hungry, so the first thing that we did was plunk down and get food. Big and I agreed that if I paid for the tickets, he'd buy the meal. The meal prices were completely outrageous- one burger, one polish sausage, two large drinks and a large order of fries came to a whopping $26. I am not kidding. And it was so not that great of food.
Next, we traveled over to the trifecta of buildings that hosted booths as well as the arts and crafts competition. FiFisaurus Rex lost. Best in Show was a grey, rather blah afghan. Go figure. A lot of really nice stuff that was colorful and creative were placed lower than I would have placed them, losing out to dull colored but perfectly stitched garments. Last year I heard via the grapevine that the judges are sticklers for stitch perfection rather than style and creativity. It only makes me wanna do more offbeat stuff and keep entering.
Part of the fun of the fair, at least for me, is to travel from booth to booth to examine what enticing trinkets people have- lollipops, pencils, stickers, buttons- to entice people to stop by and check them out. You can always attract a crowd by waving free stuff in their faces. Like most years, most of it was crap I didn't need (what am I going to do with a bumper sticker that says "Virginia State Police: Crush Crime" ? Even FiFi wouldn't really like having it on her carrier) but some of the stuff, like the free nursing handbook that the Lupus Foundation gave me, turned out to be rather nice and valuable. I had a huge bag o' stuff after visiting the boothes this year.
The only ride Big and I took in was the Tilt-A-Whirl. Even though I was in a ride mood, the lines were rather crappy. Plus Big was getting tired, so we stopped for a beer, where I ran into my old boss, Laura. Laura now works at a local hospital as a cardiac tech. "That place was hell!" refering to our last place of employment. She was really excited to hear what I was doing now. "I so could see you doing that! It's real nursing!" She's so much happier than when I worked with her. I am happy for her.
All in all, it was a nice time. Can't wait for next year.
