The Fair Is Still Not For Me (Sorry, Sorry, Head Bowed In Shame)

Oh, South Sound. I tried. Again. And while some stuff was cool, the rest well…. Sorry Puyallup Fair lovers. I still don’t like the Fair.

I have never liked the fair, even as a kid. I have bad allergies to animals and hay, rides scared me or made me sick, and I stunk at the games (my mom told me that I got furious when I couldn’t flip a dime and win an ashtray in the 70’s and my little brother could). And I didn’t like scones, elephant ears, or much of the fair food.

Fast forward to now. As a parent of two small kids, I’ve taken them to the fair. Sorry (again), but it was too hard, too crowded, too stressful, and too expensive. So we told the kids the fair wasn’t in Puyallup but in PENNSYLVANIA.

This year though, I relented. My dear friend,fellow blogger, and ultimate Fair lover and cheerleader, Patty and I were supposed to go together, but we couldn’t go.

So, after a rough, long week (long story), the family and I decided to give it a go on Sunday spontaneously. I tried to channel my inner Patty to love the fair. I tried, I really did.

First off, I didn’t eat. I don’t eat meat and well, that’s the bulk of the food. I found a couple of vegetarian options, but they looked totally gross. I didn’t want a big old pile of fries and I don’t like fair sweet treats. I am a freak for that, I know, I know.

The rides and the games were, er, interesting. First of all, we bought the wrong colored tickets for the games. In fact we bought LOTS of the wrong tickets. Then we didn’t understand that the Sky Ride was separate. We waited in long lines. My daughter insisted on the roller coaster. I went with her. The two of us agreed that we were done with the rides, basically forever.

Allergy meds taken, I fared well through the animal exhibits. I loved that. I also liked the Northwest Outdoors pavilion and I ended up having a delightful conversation with the Tahoma Audobon Society. I joined. My kids enjoyed the environmental and fishing stuff. We did too. It was free.

In fact, all the free stuff is what stuck with us even though we spent tons for the other things.

So, there I stand.

Okay, folks, I am ready. Go ahead and let the comments rip.