NC State Fair 2008

My wife, Jill, received two complimentary tickets to the North Carolina State Fair in Raleigh, NC, from her employer this year.  I was so excited!  I have very fond memories of my parents taking my sister and I to the Greater Gulf State Fair in Mobile, Alabama.  My wife, however, had been to the Mobile fair only a few times in the past and she was anxious to see what the fair in Raleigh was going to be like.

We decided to go on Friday (Oct. 22nd) which was turned out to be excellent, in terms of the weather.  We arrived in the early afternoon and the attendance was high!  The smell of corn dogs, grilled onions, and cotton candy was thick in the air.   At first glance, the shear number of food vendors was overwhelming…but after walking around a bit, you see that their high numbers keep lines to a minimum (and they sell practically the same things).  We started off with the obvious choice for a “first course” at the fair – Cotton Candy!  This adds a layer of cushioning for the funnel cakes, BBQ turkey legs, candy apples, fried corn, and polish sausage dogs that will follow.

While walking around we noticed an interesting venue selling hand-carved dough bowls.  The man responsible for crafting the bowls Mr. J.P. Madren takes pride in the fact that he does not “turn” his bowls on a lathe.  He explains his process, which involves the use of an adze,  quite well on his website DoughBowlMaker.com.  It was tempting to buy one, but his apparent popularity in the past few days had depleted the majority of his best pieces…I will be checking in when he re-stocks.

There was plenty of produce on hand in the Expo Center.  I could not believe the size of some of the pumpkins and watermelons.  It was cool to see all the different varieties of tomatoes and peppers (I really liked the baskets of peppers).

Additionally, there was a very large display on honey.  A beekeeper gave an informative talk about raising bees, while standing inside a screened enclosure with a live beehive! I was surprised to see that he did not wear a protective suit!!!

We also managed to find a few things that tied into the subject of construction.  A masonry apprentice competition had taken place a few days earlier as well as a youth-only Lego® construction contest.  Both exhibited excellent craftsmanship!  My personal favorites in the Lego® contest were the Osprey and the “D-day” recreation (the gun turrets look awesome!)

Animals, of course, are a huge part of any state fair.  We strolled through the stalls to see the prize chickens, cows, goats, and hogs.  The chickens, standing on one foot, cracked me up! The baby donkey was my wife’s favorite…Too cute!.

Finally, time for the Rides!  After purchasing some ride tickets we headed for the Ferris-Wheel.  We were able to get some great shots of the city of Raleigh from the top of the wheel.  We also stumbled our way through the House of Mirrors and rode the classic Swings.

After all that action, we were pretty tired!  I decided to take a few final pictures of architecture as we made our way to our parking space.  I noticed there was interesting contrast between the rustic mill, just inside the fair grounds, and the modern sports complexes in the nearby area.

The NC state fair exceeded our expectations and it was a great way to spend our Friday afternoon.  We will certainly be returning in 2009!

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