Camille and Judy go to the fair on October 17, 2017
WALK RIGHT IN
Judy and Camille had forty minutes to look around while they sat in the Subaru behind a long line of cars inching their way towards the $20 lots. They were a little jealous of the fair-goers who stepped off the sleek passenger train, free to amble towards the fair on foot.
FIRST STOP
We sat so long in traffic for the last half mile, Camille wasn’t sure she would make it to the portables without incident. Judy surprised Camille by snapping her photo upon exit, then let Camille hold her phone while she took her turn, so Camille returned the favor.
SECOND STOP
Ignoring the maxim, “Never eat anything larger than your head,” Judy headed straight for the pretzel stand. Nothing brings out the little girl in a woman, than a giant twist of doughy goodness. With mustard!
COLORFUL AS HECK
Camille says, “If I ever head to the fair without a camera; shoot me!”
LOUD AS HECK, TOO!
Love the screams at the end!
HEART ATTACK SPECIALS
The State Fair is a meat-lovers, grease-lovers, a carboholic paradise, with hundreds of stands selling deep-fried everything (oreos, pickles, funnel cakes…) – it’s a wonder they let diabetics and people with heart conditions in the gates.
LIVESTOCK
Like many, we made our way around the livestock barn, gawking at mamas and their babies; a Hereford dozing near her bored calf, a short Percheron nursing her big foal.
TROUBLE
We could have watched this long-eared filly all day. She was curious, and mouthy, and into everything.
LOCAL AND EXOTIC
We recognized Fearrington Village’s Belted Galloways from Pittsboro, and one of those gentle giants we often saw in Africa, a beautiful Brahma cow.
HMMMM….
Pig in a jar, pig in a pen. The realization sinks in that all but the Percheron and her mule filly were bred for meat. Maybe next year, Camille will skip the animal barn.
OVERSIZED FUN
Okay, this is more like it. Grotesque pumpkins bred for pie and gawking.
VANNA WHITE OF THE STATE FAIR
Judy couldn’t have been more proud of this 1,458 pound monster, if she had grown it herself.
JABBA THE HUTT
We were mesmerized by the veined and other-worldly blobs.
OVER-SIZED WATERMELONS AND SWEET PEPPERS
How many people would a 256-pound watermelon feed? The peppers were beautiful, but nothing we haven’t seen in our own garden. Maybe next year we’ll enter some of Bob’s garden produce.
STATE VEGETABLE
Around the corner from the peppers were the sweet taters, from misshapen and bloated, to purple and meaty. North Carolina is the top producer of sweet potatoes in the U.S.
KIDS CORNER
This is what happens when imagination runs amuck through the garden patch.