Last Day of Freedom

Before we get into the meat of "the visit" I'll entertain you with what Thatmom calls our "Last Day of Freedom." (Why yes, Thatmom has met my inlaws! How did you guess?)

It's that time of year again! The time of year that sends my arteries on strike and pushes Thatboy's adrenaline envelope. It's a time of fun and frivolity. It's FAIR TIME!

Since the fair is a source of fun for children of all ages, we knew the Inlaws wouldn't be interested. I asked Thatboy if he had ever been to a fair growing up and he said he went every year....to the one at his school. I'm not sure how he can call a tent city in the school parking lot a "fair" but it just goes to show how messed up his family made him. Anyway, we decided Friday would probably be the only day we'd be able to get to the fair, and so after work we headed over to the secret free parking lot. The best part of the lot? The mode of transportation from the lot to the fair.

I love double decker buses! The San Diego Fair is in a fantastic location, blocks away from the water, so traveling by double decker bus means you get a view of the ocean as you head into the fairgrounds.

Of course I forgot to take a picture of the entrance on the way in, so we're stuck with this dark monstrosity, but the theme this year was "music mania" which means loads of good music throughout the grounds. Know what else there is throughout the grounds?

FOOOOOOODDDD! Fair food is one of my favorite kinds of food. Everything is fried, sugared, or dipped in something fried and sugared. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

For dinner I grabbed the Indian Taco - served on Indian Fry Bread. Guess no one gave them the memo about "Native Americans." Fry bread is like savory funnel cake, which is the best fair food of all times. More on that later. I love the doughy quality of the bready, full of yummy air pockets.

Thatboy ordered himself a side of onion rings....so he could put one on his giant burger.

He ate that whole thing. Impressive, no? Thatboy found us a great place to sit, up above all the action. We had a great view of concerts on either side and the seats and a view of the rest of the fair. It was nice to watch a concert while we enjoyed our meals.

This is also the exact spot I decided to leave my camera. Have I mentioned I'm not always such a smartie? I placed my camera right on the counter where we were eating and then Thatboy and I headed to the photography exhibit. Then we listened to a bit of the Loretta Lynn concert (gotta love free concerts at the fair). And then we went to check out the rocks and minerals. After that it was time for a rousing couple of games of ski ball. And then, then, my friends it was ride time!!!!!!!! I have very specific rules for which fair rides I will go on. Thatboy wants to go on all of them, but I have this sinking feeling about anything that can be constructed and deconstructed in a matter of hours. So each year we compromise and I pick the ride we'll go on together. And my rule of thumb is, I'll only ride a ride, where, if it broke, I would only suffer a tumble to the ground. Last year I made a mistake and picked the WRONG RIDE. I was hysterically in tears throughout the ride, so this year I watch the ride through before picking it. As I reached into my bag to pull out my camera to take a picture of the ride, I realized I no longer had my camera!!!!!!! We sat through the ride with my heart in my stomach. I don't remember anything about the ride at all. Thatboy said it was an excellent pick on my part though. After the ride, we hurried back to where we had eaten dinner 2 hours earlier. And guess what - the camera was still there. 2 hours later. Have I mentioned how much I love San Diego sometimes?

Since it had been 2 hours since we'd eaten, we decided it was time for dessert.

Thatboy always likes to try one of the deep fried novelty treats. This year it was the fried smores. He felt there was too much "fried" and not enough "smores."

I went with the classic - funnel cake. As I said, this is my favorite fair food. Now, normally I like mine unadulterated. Just powdered sugar. But Fridays are freebie days and so they gave us free whipped cream and strawberries and I thought "why not." The strawberries were fresh fresh fresh - not goopey syrupy canned strawberries. And the lemonade I had with it, just about made my evening!


Next we headed to the livestock area where we got to see a bunch of baby goats, and cows, and pigs, and hatching chickens.

We arrived right after they had finished judging the roosters. I've never seen so many different kinds of roosters!!!! Our favorite were these guys who looked more like Himilayan cats than birds if you ask me.

After the animals, we went to one more concert before heading back on the double decker and heading home. We were strung out on sugar, and exhausted from running all over the fair. I told Thatboy I felt like an overstimulated 3 year old. And yet he still refused to carry me around on his shoulders.