Yesterday I made a comment that “I don’t care about my nails” and it made me think: “hey, they are all almost the same length (for once) perhaps I should paint them.” And I did.
What is the occasion you ask? You know you were wondering what I am doing in my ever so glamorous life…….
We are headed out for a fun filled day tomorrow….. I know most of you will be soooooo jealous……we are going to the South Florida Fair.
It is right down the street from Coach’s parents house and where Coach and I went every year as kids and then as teens.
Yes, I did my nails for the carnies. Really, if you think about it, brushing my teeth would be overdoing it for the carnies. I know that was mean, sometimes it just slips out.
I have some good memories attached to the fair though…..I recall as a little kid in elementary school, each year we would go to the fair w/ our class. Ohhhh…how I looked forward to this.
My MOST favorite part? The corn dogs. Yes, even back then, it was all about the food.
Apparently in my neglected childhood (hi mom), I did not get corn dogs. (although we had hot dogs, I suppose we could not afford the corn part)
I can still remember sitting at the picnic tables when we could get our lunch from the vendors and eat together as a class…ohhh how I loved that corn dog. Most of the kids went for the elephant ears, or a slice of pizza…no, my drug of choice was the corn dog.
I can’t tell you if any, what ride was my favorite back then…all I remember is the corn dog and that freaky mirror house…I still have nightmares about that place.
I also remember going a few years with my Aunt Debbie (she was only about 7 years older than me) and my Brother…we would go into the exposition halls and wander around. There was ALWAYS a jewelry vendor there. And they ALWAYS sold a “grab bag.” My aunt Debbie would get me one…I think it was a dollar. I remember getting this fabulous 18kt and Sapphire ring one year. It was so gorgeous. I loved it so much. I wore it all the time……Years later, we were robbed and the ring was stolen.
Ok, so it was not really 18kt gold or really sapphire. But I loved that tarnished/green/rusted ring with the genuine (fake) blue stone. It was so deluxe, that it even had an adjustable band. Top that. mmmmnnnn didn’t think so.
Luckily, my Mom made sure I was always up to date on my tetanus shots too….
As teenagers, we went to the fair for totally different reasons. Boys. Hello? What a great place to meet some guys. Another reason my girls will not go unattended. (Sorry girls)
Coach and I went several times as we were dating. I mean, where else are you going to get a Metallica poster and an air brushed t-shirt? (I still have a wife beater that says Suz and Coach, it is size -0)
I think the last time we went was in 1992. Just after we got married and just prior to moving to TX. On that visit, they had just started to do the “bungee jumping.” Our good friend Don was with us and he paid the $75…got to the top of the jump off point and then he changed his mind…..I felt really bad for him….cause my silly butt was not going up there…but the guys (coach) gave him heck about it….I am sure he will never live it down…especially since he is going with us this weekend!!!!!
**I am hoping to win an ashtray or a lovely set of mismatched glasses….But oh, how I loathe the harassment by the carnies though….wish me luck.
I wonder if they still have the Bearded woman….or perhaps she found out about laser electrolysis by now.
Last year was the first year I ever went to our county fair. (we have lived here 11 years)
Truthfully, we ONLY went because Linds was performing with her dance group. (again NEXT weekend too) After visiting our piddly little fair last year, Coach proclaimed that we needed to take the girls to a REAL fair…the one WE grew up with. Hence the reason for our visit this weekend.
So, alas. We will go. We will have fun. Coach’s Mom, Step Dad, and some of our oldest and dearest Friends from the East Coast will join us.
My girlfriend *H and I were talking about it earlier this week…she proclaimed that she could not wait to get her hands on a corn dog. IT made me laugh….cause, after last year at our piddly fair, I have declared a new love at the fair….the Roasted Corn on The COB…….
Oh, it is just dripping in cholesterol butter…so good. My NEWEST drug of choice.
We laughed how the food is so good…but oh, so bad….and we will eat till we are sick.
(gluttony at it’s finest)
Then we both decided, that NO ONE leaves the fair until someone throws up. Yep. new RULE.
I just realized I went from talking about giving myself an manicure to throwing up.
My writing capabilities are endless.
I hope everyone has a great weekend….minus any throwing up. That will just be for me.
If you don’t hear from me come Monday…send help…I am stuck in that wacky mirrored house again.
Busy Bee Suz 
I \”like\” fairs down South… but no one and I mean NO ONE does fair like Minnesota. The Minnesota State Fair is truly one of my VERY FAVORITE things to do in the entire country. Seriously. In fact, I think I shall blog about it. It\’s a MAJOR big deal in Minnesota.But yes – fairs are really really fun! I hope y\’all have a great time!
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Have a great time…I love to go to fairs and also for the food of course. My food of choice is the funnel cakes! I love those things! Maybe you can have the girls play the game and win a goldfish to add to the pet family! Or better yet maybe as a accent to the new beautiful bathroom!
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Oh Suz—what a neat post. It brought back many memories of times LONG ago (in the \’50\’s) when the \’carnival\’ would come to town. My parents would not allow me to go JUST with my friends because, as they said, those are \’weird\’ people working at the carnival. I remember one year, my uncle took me to the carnival. AND–he won a teddy bear for me. I thought that was the greatest gift in the world. ha…I also remember those weird mirrors—and all of the scary rides. What I don\’t remember at the carnival was much food. I do remember cotton candy!!!! YUMMY….Hope you have matching shoes and purse and hair bow—to wear to your \’fair\’along with your newly painted nails. ha haHugs,Betsy
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I\’ve only gotten my nails done once in my life so I\’m very impressed you are getting yours done for the fair / carnival or is it for the carnies? lol!! I love corn dogs too – but it\’s #2 behind funnel cakes for me. HOpe you post pics of your adventure!!
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Girl, I\’m SOOO with you on the corn dogs! I had to laugh out loud when I read this, cuz I literally just got home from the grocery store, where I made an impulse purchase – yep, you guessed it – CORN DOGS!!! They were buy-one-get-one-free, I couldn\’t resist! 😉
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I had trouble reading this — I was laughing so much. When I was a boy we always attended the Lake County Central States Fair in Crown Point, Indiana. At the time it seemed like a very big fair and we went every year.
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I love the food too. You won\’d bungee jump??Have fun and post some pictures of you and the Carnies. I\’ll be at The American Girl Store.
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Hopefully your nails are painted metallic pink or blue! Something to really jazz up that fair and those carnies. I just love fairs. It\’s my excuse to eat all the junk food. I love the kettle corn, cotton candy and those hamburgers that you can tell aren\’t really made from real beef, but who cares…they taste good with all that cheese, ketchup, mustard and onions. Then I top it all off with soda, NO diet either! Like you Suz, I could just about puke by the time I leave. Yes, gluttony is great and I save it all for the fairs. Have a great time and think of me when you are chowing down!
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hope your time at the fair is fantastic!! i have great memories, too… oh, you know, when you started \”talking I was going to mention your Car-Go Manicure Routimne, and now it is all about the fair for me, too! great… i think it is contagious! i hope it is not you who throws up… have a deep-fried snickers bar for me 🙂
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My husband is very anti riding the rides at the fair. \”You\’re really going to trust your life to someone who couldn\’t hang on to his own teeth?!\” I\’ve got to admit he has a point.
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when i was still married, we went to the state fairs in alabama, georgia, and florida. MY favorite part were the boiled peanuts. oh. my. god. they still are my favorite. wish i could get some raw peanuts to make my own. there were barrels of them everywhere, for free. we ate them till we got sick. they would still be warm. and the sausage with peppers hoagies? to die for. i think the food taste so good at fairs because the smells get ya first….oh yeah, babe… corn dogs, fries, cotton candy, funnel cakes.. lemme go witchya….have a wonderful time you and yours….C
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I hope you have a great time – sounds like a lot of fun!!I\’ll admit that I too still have the air-brushed wife-beater that says Incredible Woody and Vol Fan that was purchased on our honeymoon! Yeah, we were classy like that too!
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OOOh, our fair was called the \”Corn Festival\” and was every August after harvest and before school started.Have a blast! Are you up for a bungee?
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You just got the Attitude and Gratitude award from me 🙂
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we had funnel cake at Disney land- it was wonderful. We don\’t have it here. And what exactly are corn dogs? I never really worked it out.
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Hope you have a great time…sounds like a great time. I love fair food…corn dogs too. I love people watching and some of the carnie people do creep me out!
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MMMmmm, reminds me of summer! I am sooo jealous..it\’s 6 degrees here in OH today! Hope you had a great time!
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Back in the day when I had a little freedom, I did a lot of road trips hauling rally cars around for different teams. I lived in Seattle and we towed a car one July to Maine. We left late in the afternoon and I wanted a corn dog (road trips must be filled with \”guy food\” it\’s a rule). Every gas station we stopped at along the way (every 300-400 miles) I looked for a corn dog. NOT ONE THE WHOLE WAY!!! Until the gas stop just before arriving back into Seattle, three weeks later on the way home. I bought two and coming out of the station you would have thought I had been selected as the next contestant on the Price is Right! with a corn dog raised in each hand.
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In my hometown there would be two fairs…one we always called (a very original name, I might add) \”The Fair\”, the other we referred to as \”Dirtfest\”. Although it certainly fit the name, I\’m not sure why there was the distinction between them, as if one was really cleaner and classier than the other. Enjoy your corn dog!
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A fair in January? I have never heard of such a thing…I must move to this place that has nice enough weather for a fair in January! Hee hee…how about those little mirrors that you could win, the ones with a picture of Bret Michaels or Michael Jackson…remember those?
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Corn rocks! Whether on the dog or on the cob, popped or in bread… mmmm! You go, girl!Have a great time and bring back happy memories, bad souvenirs and no stories of puking, please 😉
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suz: i hope you weren\’t sick. butif you werei hope you took pics.of youwith the bearded ladyeating corn dogs.:-)
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I left you some Bloggy Love over on my blog. Check it out…
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OMG, the BEST part about the fair is the fair food! That corn is SOOOOO good…and bad! =)Hope you enjoy it ALL!!!=) Bella
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hey suz…. i got some lovin for ya over on my blog. come n get it!C
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We try to make it to the Virginia State Fair every fall. Now that our daughter is all grown up, we really just go for the food. The always-healthy Bloomin\’ Onion is one of my favorites:) I\’m not a fan of the sweets….they make ME want to throw up! Fried oreos, anyone:/ YUK!
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So did anyone throw up? Did you have a corn dog? Hopefully NOT in that order?!?!
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You are so funny : ). I never had roasted corn on the cob. It sure sounds good. I am SO jealous that you have fairs that are open now. We are FREEZING cold and there are no fairs in the horizon.
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So, Ms Suzy Q, I now discover you have a blog! Yes, I do remember you loved the jewelry grab bags. You were so easily satisfied as a child! Yes, this is your infamous Aunt Debbie. Missing in action for a long time. My food of choice at the fair was the Italian sausage sandwich–lots of peppers and onions. I went through culture shock when we moved to north FL. The fairs here are tiny by comparison to \’ours back home\’. (But I still get my Italian sausage sandwich!) Love ya!
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