Fairs

Picture yourself walking on a crisp sunny day in New England, the foliage is peak, and the smell of cotton candy and BBQ chicken tempts you to find the source of the aroma. A rickety "Haunted House" sits in front of you, and the merry go round calliope is playing. In the stockyard a cow moos, and a kids walks by clutching what is likely to be his prime 4H rooster.

Or it's nighttime, and you are surrounded by neon lights and that ubiquitous cotton candy smell, greasy fries and grilled hot dogs. The ferris wheel looks a lot more tempting with all the lights.


photo by Art Levine

Depending on what region of the country you're in, the scene changes, based on the culture and character of the community.

That's what I remember whenever I went to a fair as a kid. Like drive-in theaters, a country fair or local VFD carnival may not be getting in touch with nature, but it harkens back to simpler, unstructured times, and with that justification, fairs seems like a good prescription to get a family out of the house.

Here's a link to find a fair in your area. And here's a link to the fair closest to our house in VA.