October 17, 2014

North Carolina State Fair

We were surprised to see such big crowds at 10AM on a Friday morning but what really surprised us was the number of children attending. 

 Was school cancelled for the Fair?

 

As a senior, Monte got in the Fair for free while I paid $9.00.

After researching online the various show times and exhibit locations I made a schedule.  Monte teased me about my “schedule” but when he saw the crowds and the amount of shows and exhibits available he conceded that having a schedule was beneficial.

We had an hour before our first scheduled show so we walked through a couple of exhibit buildings.

Washing area for the animals entered in the judging contest. 

 

 

 

 

Holy Moly Charlie Brown--those are some big pumpkins! 

yummy 

 

 

Kids contest -what imagination! 

 

Sweet potato-wow 

 

 

On the way to our first show, we stopped to listen to the One Man Band.

 

 

 

 

 

Down to Earth Aerials was scheduled to begin at 11:30 so we found a bench in the shade to wait.  And wait.  And wait. 

 

 

 

 

She finally began her show at 11:50

 

 

and done by 11:55. 

The next show on my schedule was a short walk away at the Waterfall Stage.  We sat and listened to the 919 Band for only 15 minutes. 

 

 

 

The seats were directly in the sun and when I began to feel a little woozy I suggested to Monte that we move on.

 

 

 

 

Izzy the Fairy.

Monte smoozed with the next performer prior to the start of his show. 

Dale Jones is, according to him, the only one armed juggler in the country. 

 He really isn’t a particularly good juggler

but he was funny

 and most of his act is based on audience participation.

By the time the juggling show was over we were getting hungry.  It was difficult to choose where and what to eat because there were so many vendors selling mouth watering things like turkey legs, hamburgers, hot dogs, etc.  We settled on grinders-sausage for me and a Polish for Monte.  It looked better than it tasted. 

 

Unicycle riding, juggling Elvis.

One Main Financial race car

Neon Anteaters.

Waiting for the bluegrass band, Don Rigsby & Midnight Call, to begin.

After 40 minutes of playing the bandleader announced that the next song would be the last.  BUT they continued playing for another 20 minutes.

Monte enjoyed the music so much that he purchased a CD.

The tobacco used in the tobacco stringing contest.   

 

The Forest Service had a large exhibit.

 

 

Bambi Bucket-a specialized bucket suspended on a cable carried by a helicopter to deliver water for aerial firefighting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Village of Yesteryear:

 

 

 

 

 

 

This entire exhibit is made up of balloons.

The Kenyan Safari Acrobats appeared in season 4 of America’s Got Talent. 

 

How low can you go?

Very low! 

No way! Yep- 

 

The base is a woman!

They were awesome.

Hansen’s Spectacular is a family circus act based out of Sarasota, Florida.

The group includes:

Shane, the dad, performing high speed juggling.

Eight year-old Madison.

Also included but not pictured in the act are ten year-old Olivia and four year-old Ella on the trampoline.

Alecia Michelle, the mother, performs on the aerial cloud swinging over 30 feet in the air.

In between the Hansen’s act and the next show we ate a funnel cake.  I was licking my fingers after eating the last piece when it occurred to me to take a picture.  Opps.  It was delicious.

We took our time walking to the next show not worrying about getting a seat because we didn’t think a lot of people would be attending the Circle C Racing Pigs.

  We were wrong. 

We squeezed into the last two seats in the bleachers. 

Just prior to the show starting, an announcement was made that there were plastic pig snouts for sale.  WHAT?  I was amazed at the amount of hands that flew up to signal they wanted to buy the snouts at $2 a pop. 

In addition to the pigs, goats and ducks raced. 

 

 

They were adorable.

The final show we attended was the Brad Matchett, Comedy Hypnotist.

After selecting his victims, um I mean willing participants from the audience he began his hypnotism. 

Three or four people were eliminated.  I can only assume because Brad didn’t think they were good candidates for hypnotism.

I’m not sure if any of the participants were acting but it sure looked like they were “under.”

The group was instructed to get comfortable in their “big, soft beds”. 

One woman thought her “bed” was on the floor.

Next they were instructed to drink up.

Some of the other instructions included a guy believing he was Katy Perry while others were the adoring fans that mobbed him.
One woman was convinced she was in love with a guy and gave him a very passionate kiss—luckily it was her boyfriend.
It was a little before 9 PM by the time we left the Fair, having spent almost 11 hours.  The day had sped by—time does seem to fly when you are having fun.