Life Lesson Learned: When there’s a lot to see, people will be too distracted to see you…
Summer winding down can only mean one thing around here: it’s fair time!
County fairs have always been one of my favorite events to attend since I was a kid. Our own Lake County Fair used to be such a treat, and growing up I would enter art projects and various collectibles into the Fine Arts competition. I even won quite a few blue ribbons over the years! As I got older, we discovered the nearby Great Geauga County Fair and quickly fell in love with it. That’s when the Lake County Fair became more of a “just going because we’ve always gone” tradition rather than something we enjoyed. But over the years the quality has gone downhill, so we decided to take a hiatus from it.
When I moved back to Ohio in 2021, we actually ended up going to both fairs that summer. I did enjoy going back to our county fair simply because it had been so long, but honestly the experience was a bit depressing….animals brought in from other counties, a nearly empty Fine Arts building, far less vendors than we remembered. So sad! That feeling only increased when we went to the Geauga Fair a few weeks later and saw how much things were still thriving there. So until the Lake Fair bounces back, we’ll be sticking with the other one for now!
Geauga’s fair is fantastic in every aspect. The actual fairgrounds are massive (I mean there’s a huge permanent pond there!), there are so many food options it’s overwhelming, there’s a plethora of animals to see and the Fine Arts, Flowers and Domestic Arts buildings are teeming with entries. It’s always a fun (albeit tiring) experience! In fact, I hated being on a semester schedule in college because it meant I was away in Columbus during Labor Day and one year even considered taking a Greyhound bus back home for the weekend. The fair is that good.
Needless to say I’ve been looking forward to going all summer; and as usual, it didn’t disappoint! We were lucky enough to get sunny clear skies and decent temperatures before a gross heatwave moved in today. (And this was after unusually cooler temps the last week of August. You never know what to expect anymore honestly.)
Apparently we weren’t the only ones eager to be there because the crowds were in abundance even before noon. It also became quickly apparent that we had unknowingly brought our invisibility cloaks with us to the event. We had a family nearly crash into us at the gate as they cut in front of us to get wherever they were in a hurry to go. To be honest, they acted like they hadn’t even seen us. Okay then…
Once inside the fairgrounds, it didn’t take long for us to get hit with all of the iconic smells that accompany a day at the fair. I joked to my mom that it’s the only place where you can smell a mix of fried greasy foods and horse manure and somehow still have an appetite!
As tempting as the food was, it wasn’t quite lunch time so we kicked things off by looking at the various vendors near the entrance. I did snatch up a cute bunny figurine (which is ironic because I had said on the way to the fair that I wish you could find bunny merchandise there!) and we found plenty of photo opportunities. I did have at least two different people nearly collide into me and my mom within the first hour of being there…and I actually bumped into someone myself who had gotten in front me unexpectedly and I walked right into his back.
The animals continue to be one of my favorite aspects of the fair (though the three of us prefer to avoid looking at those who are simply there as part of the 4-H auction…talk about depressing), so I was excited to see what kind of sassy donkeys and miniature horses were there this year. I’m convinced most small animals have a bit of a Napoleon complex, but I love that about mini horses. Those small bodies are packed with big personalities!
While looking at the various educational cabins that surround the picturesque pond, my dad pointed out that it was shortly after noon in case we were interested in grabbing lunch. I said I was in no rush, then not even 10 minutes later my stomach started growling. So, naturally, I asked if we could pause our sightseeing and get some food. (Better to get ahead of the hanger before it gets dangerous, right?)
I wish I had been updating this blog during our 2021 fair visit because I would have shared a rant about our food. But luckily for you, you still get a condensed version of that now. Long story short, it was tradition for us in the past to get freshly made fried rice and it was something we looked forward to every year. In 2021, we saw a stand selling Chinese food and foolishly assumed it was the same vendor. (The lack of Chinese-Americans running the stand should have tipped us off that we should have run in the other direction). It was greasy, lukewarm rice that tasted like it had been made a week earlier. Gross! I ended up getting a corn dog afterwards to satisfy my hunger and wish I had just gone with that in the first place.
This year when my dad and I confirmed the person running the stand was a teenage, redhead Caucasian male and not someone of Asian descent, we knew to stay clear. So I went with a corndog yet again since I was pleased with how tasty it was the last time, then followed up with fried swiss cheese on a stick (my first time trying) which basically tasted like a mozzarella stick and looked like a corndog. But no complaints; both were delicious.
My parents had a good laugh during lunch when the teenage guy working the corn dog stand handed my dad their cups of pop–sans lids–and told him which cup was the Sprite and which was Coke. Wow…
With our bellies content, we made our way back to all of the animal barns. Unsurprisingly, seeing all of the rabbits is a highlight for me even though I have my own cutie bun right at home! (However, I absolutely loved seeing all of the baby bunnies and it made me wish I had seen Dobby when he was that little….and he was still only five months old when I adopted him!)
We also spotted a surprising handful of kids (this time of the goat variety) and I don’t think I’ve ever seen them so small. Cows are also one of my favorite animals, and we got to see a few of them being milked at the Milkshake Stand. So neat!
Speaking of milkshakes…we had yet another family nearly walk into us at one of the barns because they were so focused on enjoying their milkshakes. Clearly this was becoming the rather annoying pattern throughout the day.
Next, it was onto the area of the fairgrounds featuring the crafts, baked goods, flowers, produce and fine arts. Let me tell you, the talent in Geauga County is noteworthy! I’m always particularly impressed by the crocheting/sewing projects and woodworking. Now that I have my own garden, I do get a kick out of seeing the produce people enter to try and win the “largest” category.
Nothing, however, beats the cake contest. I’m consistently amazed by the entries people turn in and this year was no exception. The fair foods and the Friends “The One where I Entered a Cake” themed creations were my favorites! But the kids’ entries were equally impressive, as well. I’ve gotten better at baking over the years but I can barely drizzle chocolate onto a dessert without it looking like a toddler smothered it on with bare hands. Kudos to the young bakers!
Unsurprisingly, those cakes brought out our sugar cravings, so it was time to wrap up the afternoon with dessert. I knew I wanted to get cheesecake on a stick, partially because I had recently written a digital story for work on the topic, and partially because I thought it would be fun to stick (pun intended) to foods on a stick for my fair day. Boy was it ever the perfect treat to cool off with. Yum!
Since half the fun of fairs is the food, I couldn’t leave without grabbing a pricey, fresh-squeezed lemonade to help quench my thirst after the rich cheesecake. I was nearly chugging it as we made the long stroll across the race track field back to the parking lot.
And for the first time all day, we managed to walk somewhere without a distracted human being cutting into our path. Sigh…
Life Lesson Learned: Parking lot fairs just aren’t the same…
Back in 2017, a then-coworker invited me to join her, her boyfriend and some of their friends at the State Fair being held at Metlife Stadium in New Jersey. I knew it wasn’t exactly a “county fair” but it still sounded like a fun time so I happily agreed to meet them there. (Once I figured out the proper buses to take!)
I quickly discovered that the fair was comprised of food vendors, a handful of rides and some entertainment/shows. (To be fair, we had a local annual event like that in my hometown that ended when I was in middle school. Sure, it wasn’t much, but at least it was something to do). Unfortunately, as someone who suffers with motion sickness, there are very few rides I can actually go on. So the only one I hopped on at this fair was the Ferris wheel….and I didn’t even get to appreciate the view as much as I normally would. There was some dark ominous clouds hovering overhead, so I’m pretty sure I was more concerned about being dumped on than admiring the overhead view of the fair.
The food was the usual offering of greasy, carb-loaded fair fixings (no complaints here) so I got myself a stromboli to enjoy while my friend and her boyfriend rode some of the rides I wasn’t interested in.
One of the highlights of this fair was their entertainment offerings. Magicians, dive tanks and my personal favorite: the pig races! Hopefully the owners treated them well because I absolutely loved watching the piggies run around the track! (I wish they’d bring something like this to county fairs…I think 4-H kids would have a blast having their animals compete!) I probably would have stood there for 20 minutes and watched the races if I had been alone, but even the few heats of the race that we caught were a delight.
The other main attraction I distinctly remember was the hypnotist. They had brought a handful of people up stage to be hypnotized live (I’d rather sell my kidney, but to each his own) and it was quite the sight to see. I believe we only ended up in the tent where the show was being held because it quickly starting pouring outside. Or was that just an illusion? Hrm….
I didn’t end up staying at the fair that long thanks to the less-than-favorable weather and because I didn’t want to be stuck trying to catch a bus late at night. Although it was nice to spend some time with friends at the time, the experience honestly just made me miss good old fashioned county fairs! That confusing aroma of fried foods, hay, kettle corn and manure just can’t be beat.
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