The County Fair...

When I was a kid on Long Island, we would often pile into our 1965 Plymouth Belvedere and drive to my grandparent's house in Hopewell Junction, New York. They lived on a mountain and, if memory serves, there were only five or six other houses on that mountain. It was a nice, quiet, idyllic place which only now do I think I can truly appreciate, regardless of the fact that I haven't been there in over 30 years. The house was sold long ago, and Grandma and Grandpa both passed away in 2003.

Now, for a ten year old kid, there wasn't a Hell of a lot to do on a six house mountain in Hopewell Junction, New York. Daily hikes through the woods were common and, when we got a little older, we would go shoot guns out in the backyard (it was a really big backyard). For the most part, though, it was a routine boredom that we simply got used to.

Except in the Fall.

Danbury, Connecticut, lies about 40 miles from Hopewell Junction. That made it an easy day trip to make if, say, the Danbury Fair happened to be running. We didn't go every year, but we did go a few times. I can remember it being, mainly, an agricultural fair, but I also remember there being rides and displays of, well, whatever was "cutting edge" in the early 1970's. As my brother and I got into our teens, though, our folks figured (correctly, I might add) that our weekend interests were no longer focused on a small town in western Connecticut.

That said, though, there's just something about a fair that's a lot of fun.

It was with that in mind that I headed out to the San Diego County Fair with my daughter Jessy and her boyfriend Dom. The last time I attended, it was still known as "The Del Mar Fair" and, in fact, I still call it that. It's held at the horse racing track in Del Mar, and it just seems wrong to call it anything else.

The idea, initially, was to go to the "Summerland" concert, which featured Everclear, Sugar Ray, Gin Blossoms and Lit. I tried scoring a photo credential so I could shoot it, but since the decision to go was made at the last minute, I didn't meet the time restriction of 48 hours. I was trying to get the pass on five hours notice, and it just wasn't going to happen. The head of media relations, though, graciously offered me two media seating passes for the show. I promptly bestowed them on Jessy and Dom (I was really only mildly interested in seeing Gin Blossoms), and we agreed to meet at 10:00pm. My plan was to simply walk around the fair and take pictures, and I'm glad I did.

The "county fair" is a wild place. First off, it brings out everyone. Rednecks, gangstas, yuppies and, well, everyone. The come out for the food, they come out for the rides, they come out for the music, and they come out just because.

Okay, I'll curtail the narrative and settle for captions from here on out. If you've got a county fair, go.

Eat.

Be seen.

Enjoy.

Chocolate covered bacon. Fair fare is awesome...

See, I wasn't making it up...

Who needs to be bothered with a pesky hot dog bun?

I have nothing funny to say about these. They were crazy...

You can actually hear your arteries hardening...

Nothing like walking through the fair trying to eat the messiest meal within a five mile radius...

After all, we are known for our fish & chips...

I think they finally found the only two things not previously battered and fried...

An HDR look of one of the plazas from the Heineken Red Star Lounge...

I didn't even know they called them "grinders" out here...

"Jumbo", "Giant", "1/2 Pound", and more grease than a well-stocked Jiffy Lube...

Vendors along the Midway...

I was unaware that people still did this. And, for $40.00, you, too, can go hurtling towards the
pavement while hoping that the bungee cord doesn't fail...

Prizes are a bit bigger than I remember them being...

One of the many games at which you will gleefully piss away $100.00 in an effort to win a $2.00 stuffed animal...

They even have food on the Midway. And it's big food, too...

One of the Midway rides. Surprisingly, there were very few lines...

Some of the prizes along the Midway...

"The Tango". It just didn't strike me as something I needed to do before I die...

The Midway...

Rides along the Midway, including the "Grand Wheel" Ferris wheel...

Okay, just a little more narrative here:

Like I said, there was a lot of music. Now, while Jess and Dom were at "the concert", I stumbled across a Bruce Springsteen tribute act in one of the beer gardens called "Thunder Road".

Damn.

Think Bruce, circa 1975, close your eyes, and you're there:

Thunder Road...

Our fair closes down tomorrow night; July 4th, just has it has since it was first held at the fairgrounds in 1936. Other fairs, though, take place all over the country throughout the summer, and they're definitely worth checking out...