County Fair!

Yesterday, we went to the Dutchess County fair. I wasn't sure what kind of crowd we would encounter, it really could go either way. It could be raucous and young and tattooed, or, on a Wednesday afternoon it could be a fairly older, staid crowd. We, thankfully, came at a time when we could join the latter.

Last year we went to the Middlesex County fair in New Jersey. It was a completely different experience. The fair we attended yesterday was probably five times the size of the one in New Jersey, and this time we went during the day. There were at least five building with livestock, who, along with their owners seemed to be just sitting around waiting to be judged, there were horse shows and canine shows, but less other entertainment. We saw more shows last year, and the whole place smelled better (see above: livestock, horses, et al), but this fair had an educational section: "Century Museum Antique Village" room size dioramas of life in the late 19th, early 20th century. The little one was quite pleased with herself that she could differentiate the mannequins from the ACTUAL people in each display. I was considerable less impressed with that feat.

While some stayed for the blacksmith demonstration, same little one needed the bathroom. There was a port-a-john about ten feet away from us, but since I have an intense aversion to those, and she was not yet in hopping need, we opted to walk to the restrooms. It wasn't far, and totally worth it. They were pristine. Someone was constantly cleaning them (same thing later, when we stopped at a different restroom), all the smells came from the livestock walking around right nearby.

An observation: Cows can be really pretty. Who knew? Probably all the people who take their cows to be judged at various fairs in various counties and states. There was one beautiful black cow and one black and white cow that had blue outlining the black oblong shapes, it was really pretty. Though it's not likely I'd be able to differentiate the smaller sub-categories, things like "nicest udder." (that is not a joke)

We made our way up to the horse area, the dog shows, and then finally the rides. We didn't find the kiddie rides until after we had sent the little kids through a fun-house that basically was just a bunch of moving floors!

We checked out lots of vendors, interesting crafts, and picked up some yummy plums and cherry tomatoes (the only thing we could get in the "specialty food building"). There is no question that the big draw of a fair are the various food vendors and homemade delectables.

We had fun anyway.