Earl and I made our annual trek to the Great New York State Fair today. We decided to approach this fun differently. In the past we’ve gone in the morning and have been out of there by 6:00 or so. Today we went around 4:30 and stayed until 10:00. It gave us a fresh perspective on the whole thing.
First of all, the people are more drunk when you go later in the day. This can be a good or a bad thing. If you’re trying to cop a feel, you’re less likely to get slapped or slugged (depending on what you’re feeling). However, you’re more apt to have a buzzed person bump into you and burn with a cigarette or dump a Schlitz down your back. So there’s pros and cons to the timing.
The sun isn’t as big of an issue for a fair skinned boy like myself, so going later in the day was a welcomed relief on my shaved head.
We hit all the high spots. The sand sculpture is back this year in the Horticulture building after a very conspicuous absence last year. We also had our obligatory cups of milk for 25 cents. We played the Bingo-ball game thing where you throw balls in to the little grid to get five in a row and win a prize. I didn’t ride any rides this year, because the one ride that I enjoy, the “Top Spin”, was shut down. My favorite of all time, “The Tempest”, is long gone from the State Fair. It occasionally shows up at local field days.
Last year the free concert at “Chevrolet Court” (which I will continue to call “Miller Court” for the rest of my life because that’s what it was when I was a kid) was Cyndi Lauper. This year it was Bowzer and Sha Na Na. The first year I took Earl it was Captain and Tenille, which was loads of fun. Because after all, Love Will Keep Us Together.
Earl is so patient with me. I have to say hello to the various animals and give them reassurance for their upcoming show. I threatened Earl with “going Green Acres” on him and moving him to Northeast Iowa to start a farm. He laughed a little before looking nervous.
All in all it was a good time. I often remark that I don’t like the area we live in now. I dream of moving to other places in the country; Albuquerque, Denver, Oklahoma City, but the truth be known, I would be very content to relocate back to Syracuse. Earl is hometown proud of Philly, I’m hometown proud of Syracuse. It’s fortunate that we don’t live too far away and are able to visit often.
There’s more pictures here.
