Just got back from the funfair
 

'Twas great :D

We were a little apprehensive because we suspected that writbands had nearly doubled in price since we last went a few years ago -and they had- and we weren't sure if the kids would actually go on the rides after saying they wanted to, so it would end up being a disappointing waste of a lot of money. But they did go on most of the rides, all found some the loved, and even Thor could reach the pedal on the bumper cars so he could drive his own.

But best of all, the weather was perfect and yet there were NO LINES. All night! we each went on about 20 rides for $20 in a 4 hour period. awesome value. (Well all except beest who hates rides so didn't get a wristband, so he got good value too ;) )

I have no idea why it was so empty -maybe because it was the first day and it didn'd run last year for various reasons and it's a week late than usual, so maybe people just didn't know....?

anyway, much fun had by all. You been to the funfair/carnival/midway this year?

I think we might also go the Michigan's Adverture Themepark/Waterpark this year. I am a roller-coaster freak, but the only themepark i've been to since I moved to the land of the rollerocoaster was in Toronto!

Our county fair is in August. My best friend in HS would count down the time until the fair: in minutes sometimes. We had some great times!

I did go to the Chicken Festival (Poultry Days) in a town not far from here. That's pretty small: it's mostly about chicken dinners (I know at one point they had sold 500 in an hour and a half) and draft beer. I didn't have any chicken. I did have beer. They did have a surprisingly decent band.

edit: I'd really love to go to King's Island and maybe Cedar Point this year. It's been a long time. KI is much closer, though.

I love fairs - we just don't get any close enough to here any more.
And I'm at the awkward age where I'm too old to go to fairs without children, and too young to die.

If I had a closer (indeed any) relationship with my sister, I'd take hers to Thame Fair. It's not a bad one - they close off the whole High Street. If you go early enough it's full of families. Later it's a drunk-teenage-fest, although of course for many years that was the main reason I went with my friends. They couldn't quite decide whether I was weirdly cool for loving the rides and trying to drag people on them, or just a complete lamer. I think I got away with it because I was still up for a drink and a row and a snog afterwards, and they could all pretend the only reason they went on the rides was because I forced them - yeah, didn't force them to squeal like girls though, did I?

The one I would really like to go back to is Nottingham Goose Fair. My, that's a real fair. They have a Wall of Death and everything. One year we went on this weird ride which just felt like you were in a washing machine. You got churned up and around for an unfeasibly long time. I think the chap running it wanted other people to see it in motion, to encourage them to get on. We just came off a bit bemused, to find the people we were with had wandered away in boredom. Can't say we didn't get our money's worth.

That was the first time I had encountered the phenomenon of mushy peas with mint as a take-away delicacy. Mushy peas in a cup. What will Northerners think of next. And yes, I know Nottingham is the Midlands. But I've never seen it any further South than that. It's the thin end of the wedge. After that, you get up to fruitcake with cheese country.

Haven't come across 'mushy peas' in a cup...but all our local fairs serve Black Peas. Ooooh. Haven't had Black Peas for ages. There's nothing quite a like a cup of Black Peas out of a paper cup at a fairground. Mmm.

Fun fairs
 

The town where I'm living seems to have fun fairs and circuses constantly passing through. This is the latest one. Suddenly the corner next to the football stadium where the homeless people normally hang out has become full of life and popcorn and fairy floss vendors. For an outsider, it still seems a bit bizarre.

I might take my kids to the county fair this year, now that we live a couple of counties away from my hometown and can walk around in relative anonymity. But I'm really dying to go to Six Flags. I'm also a fan of roller coasters and I have not been to an amusement park in probably 11 years. EVERY SUMMER I say I'm going to go, and every summer I do not.

Supposed to be going next month with my sisters, their spouses, and their children. I am evil and NOT planning to take my offspring. It's very expensive, my oldest gets motion sick, and I just want to enjoy myself. Maybe I'll take them next year when my daughter gets a free pass from school.

Peas? Interesting. I prefer funnel cake, myself.

Don't have to wear that scarlet A on your shirt anymore, huh? ;)

Exactly. More importantly, no small talk. I loathe small talk with every fiber of my being.

I'd almost kill for some sugar waffles right about now. :)

We went to Kings Island earlier this summer (Cedar Point was last year - BTW Monster, that's not too far from you guys - they have the BEST roller-coasters!). Went to our county fair twice this week, saw the youth talent contest last night and I hope not to see another interpretive dance ever again. I didn't do any rides...I can't tolerate midway rides anymore. Next weekend, we will be traveling north to Whiting for the PeirogiFest. Lots of good Polish food and beer!

I'd almost kill for some pierogies right about now. :yum:

:o

They're sooooo good! I really miss the region, being in the middle of buttfuck Indiana just sucks in comparison.

Love the rides. ;)

'pierogies' ... what are they?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierogi

They're really good. My friend in HS invited me up one day when she and her sis and mom and grandma were following an old family tradition of making hundreds of them. The Grandma was straight from Croatia or something, so they were traditional. And quite good.

Now I just buy frozen Mrs T's when I get a hankering. Filled with potato and cheddar cheese.:blush:

I luv them filled with potato and onion and served with sour cream and applesauce. I also like sauerkraut filled pierogis.

They look pretty similar to empanadas except that they're baked or fried which would actually make them the equivalent of a pasty. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empanada

Pierogi are pretty much Polish for ravioli, but with potato and a lot less cheese.

I'm sorry, that typo made me giggle. I imagined potato-filled pasta pockets as pasties. How will we make them stay on? :D

I buy the frozen, boil them to thaw, and saute them for a few minutes in butter. They are not crispy like empanadas, which I also love.

Went to a church festival at a big Catholic church in town last night. It was within walking distance from my friends' house, which is good as the festival consists of beer and gambling. I saw a lot of people I haven't seen in a long time. I never did ride the funslide, for which I am sad. I also never got any sugar waffles.

I spent the night at friends' house: they actually have my old bed that I gave them years ago when I had moved and didn't need it anymore, set up downstairs in their house. It was like having my own apartment with cable and my own bathroom.

Two dollar drafts, the cornerstone of any church festival. ;)

It might not have been a typo. In the UK they are, indeed, called pasties. I was in a play in high school where the principal made us change the script because he just knew we'd get complaints from parents, even if the word was legitimate.

Ha ha ha...didn't know that. :)

It wasn't a typo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasty), but after thinking 'huh' initially and making sure that I really had checked my spelling before posting, I have now learned there is more than one meaning.

That's what you get for learning English from the English.;)

Reminds me of Aunt Bessie's Mash Van in the summer in Newcastle. Mashed potatoes, gravy and mushy peas in a cone.

Cone? As in an ice cream cone?

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say no, not ice cream cone :P

More likely a stiff card cone' like a paper cup...but a cone.

IIRC, it was an edible cone of some sort. The horror of the whole concept has blurred the details.

If it weren't for the description of the peas as "mushy," I would totally eat that.

mushy peas are horrible. They're like the Velveta of England -some people just can't get enough of processed textureless bleugh.

I found out today that funfairs and circuses only come this way in winter because it's warm here all year round and cold and miserable in the south.