All's fair in love and fairs...

I went to the local fair yesterday. I'm not much of a ride person, but I enjoy the food, the assorted games, and the general atmosphere. Plus, it was a nice break from an other wise crazy week. And, I was hoping to get some good pictures for the city calendar contest. (The calendar contest to be blogged about at a later date.)

So I loaded up my trusty cameras, inserted freshly charged batteries, and headed out to the fairgrounds. I strolled around the midway randomly snapping pictures. All the while taking in the sights and sounds around me. Scents of polish sausages, fresh squeezed lemonade, and elephant ear pastries permeated the air. Carnies tempting me to try my luck (which hasn't been so good as of late) as I passed each game booth. Ahhh... mindless entertainment doesn't get much better than this!

I managed to control myself and escaped with only having spent around $35. And that included parking fees. I played one game (and predictably lost,) I feasted on a walking taco (taco meat, cheese, and lettuce added to a snack bag of corn chips) and a caramel apple, took a couple hundred pictures, and brought myself home a few "goodies."

I got dressed up in costume and had a "vintage" picture taken. I also got a picture of myself with a monkey on my lap. (Oddly reminiscent of a previous date I've had in the past, but that's another story.)

As I watched the cute little monkey for a while, I came to the decision that I'm in the wrong business working at the hospital. Think about it with me. Get yourself a cute Capuchin monkey, join a traveling fair and have people hand said monkey coins while you charge between $7-$20 for a picture of people with the monkey. I'm telling you that little primate raked in at least $20 in quarters in the half hour I watched him. And that's not including the pictures.

An odd thing that happened was when I got home and counted what remained of my cash. The OCD in me has me organizing my bills by denomination. As I separated the bills, I saw that one of the vendors had mistakenly given me a $2 bill instead of a $1 for change. (I don't know which one it was, so I can't go return the extra $1.) It was kinda cool since I'd never actually seen one in person. And to make it all the more cool, it had my lucky number 9 on it. So, I'm gonna keep that as a good luck charm and a sign that the bad luck I've been having is gonna change.

It's been a busy week and there are plans for a busy weekend taking my niece Leah to go ride Thomas the tank engine, so this excursion to the fair was just what I needed. If you ever get a chance to go to one, I hope you indulge.