The Dixie Classic Fair!

Whoa! Settle in – this is a looooong post!

Christopher and I went to the Dixie Classic Fair on Wednesday evening. It was a perfect day for the fair! We were originally a little concerned about all the rain that had been in the forecast earlier that week, but it was actually quite lovely.

You know, I was at work on Tuesday, and thought “I should charge my camera battery – I don’t recall the last time I did that.” And then I even thought about it again when I got home. But for some reason, I thought it would be okay. Why am I that stupid? I know when I think of these things it’s for a reason. And as if that wasn’t enough of a hint, when I was packing my license, cash and phone in my camera bag, I almost packed my little Cannon digital camera that I keep in my purse – but I, for some reason, decided not to do that either. It’s like I purposely didn’t want any pictures.

Anyway – we got to the fair, and got a friend Snickers pretty much immediately. I did get a picture of that. (I mean – we do all know where this story is going, right? My camera battery dies?) The Snickers was melty gooey chocolaty goodness.

(YUM!)

(The aforementioned melty gooey chocolaty goodness)

After the Snickers, we went right to the petting zoo! I la-la-love the petting zoo! Christopher bought me a bag of carrots, and got change for a dollar for the feed machines. The animals were sooooo cute! I loved them! So of course it was a mere minute or two into the petting zoo that my camera battery died. I was soooo bummed! There were all these cute little animals. There was this one animal – I don’t know what it was, but it looked like a cartoon. It had blonde hair completely covering its face. So sweet. I think it was some sort of “cattle-type” animal. It had the same shape nose as the cow-looking animals that were standing next to it. I even got to feed a camel! All those little people in there were too short to reach the camel’s mouth. Suckers.

(love him)

(love him)

(this is the camel I fed that the kids were too short to reach)

(Close up of the camel. I had to swipe this pic off my mother’s facebook page)

(love him)

(In the pig barn. This is NOT a Teacup Pig, but I still love him.)

I did notice before we went into the petting zoo, and also when we went into the animal barns, they had signs up that said something along the lines of “Our animals are healthy, are you?” They warned not to visit the animals if you had been sick. How odd. BUT they did have hand-washing stations outside the barns. That was great! That meant that I didn’t have to toss a dollar in a pie dish while some lady pointed the sink out to me. “Thank you – I’ve been doing this for a while – I can discern the sink from the towel dispenser. I’ll manage just fine. And no I don’t need to comb my hair or use your mouth wash, but thank you just the same.” I know at least one of you (I’m guessing...Jennifer) will think I am a horrible person – they “only work on tips,” but I’m sorry – it makes a gross public bathroom that much more unpleasant. It’s not the matter of having to pay to pee – it’s just that it’s uncomfortable. I mean…it’s kind of a private moment, and there is someone just waiting for you to flush so they can direct you to the next step. And worse than having that person waiting on you, is getting ready to leave and realizing that you have NO MONEY in your pocket and you left your purse outside (which is what typically happens to me). Then you have to sheepishly take the paper towel they hand you and leave feeling like a jerk. Anyway – I have gotten off topic. My apologies.

After visiting the lovely hand-washing station, we walked around the fair. Christopher got a fried pork chop sandwich, which I had a bite of; and some apple fritters, which I also had a bit of; and a corn dog, which I also had a bite of. I got a slice of pizza – which Christopher had a bite of. He frowned upon the pizza, because it’s not “fair food,” but I love pizza. You can only have fair pizza once a year!

(It was not New York Style Pizza, as the sign would have you believe, but it was good. Very cheesy.)

We also went to look at the art building. My mother enters artwork every year. She usually gets mad ribbons. She only got two this year, but her pictures were really pretty! I couldn't see the names on the art, but I could tell immediately which ones were hers. I also had to steal these pictures off her facebook page.

(red ribbon)

(and another red ribbon!)

So - all in all a good year at the fair. We're trying to decide if we should head to Raleigh for the NC State Fair one of the next two weekends. Bigger = more fried stuff. NC State University ice cream. And they usually have baby chicks and ducks you can hold. I like that. AND if we go to the State Fair, I will be sure to have a fully charged camera battery...