It's officially Fall here in New England, and you know what that means. It's time for the fall fair. I grew up on Long Island, where we had one big county fair every summer, and smaller carnivals in various towns. The carnivals were just that: rides, some games, and a place for kids to hang out. The big county fair had some food, rides, games, etc. It was something I did once in awhile, but I certainly didn't make a tradition of going every year. In fact, I only started to go as I got older, because it was a place where my dad would drop me and my friends off for a few hours, and we could hang out. Maybe it's because I don't like large crowds, or because the weight watcher alumni in me doesn't eat a lot of junk food anymore, but I never make a point of going to these things every year.
But here in Connecticut, it seems every other town has a major fall festival/fair. The Apple Harvest. The Berlin Fair. The North Haven Fair. And the fair of all fairs, the Big E. The Big E is short for Eastern States Exposition. It is located in a huge fairgrounds in Massachusetts (about 40 minutes away from me) and has about 100 different food vendors, animals and shows, rides, concerts, etc. Every state in New England takes part in it. It runs for about two weeks, and the way people go on about it up here you'd think it was the second coming of Christ.
I went to the Big E about 9 years ago with a friend of mine. I had no idea what it was, but he assured me that it was a "tradition" and I had to go. And I'm big on tradition, so I agreed. We had to park down the road on someones lawn for 5 bucks, and walk a bit to the actual grounds. When I got there, it was a bit of a disappointment. Mostly it was due to the company (the "friend" I was with was a boyfriend, and we were at the end of our relationship-we broke up a few weeks later), so we kind of walked around aimlessly, not very interested. Also, you NEED to eat at this thing. And I think I got a cup of clam chowder and that was it. He was one of those guys I hated to eat in front of. Now I'd eat a dozen donuts in front of my husband, but back then... Anyway, I left unimpressed.
My husband, being from Virginia, had never been to the Big E and wanted to go for years. My dad had a mild curiosity as well, so we decided to go this year. I guess it's a nice day out for families with kids, but I don't think I could do it every year. And don't get me wrong, because I am big on traditions, but I don't think this will become one of mine. I have friends who go every year like clockwork and they enjoy it, so more power to them.
We scored close parking, and began our day. There are lots of vendors hawking their wares, most of which I had no interest in. (there was a vendor selling a ton of video games-old and new-which detoured me for a few minutes) There was everything from blankets, generators, wine and cheese to t-shirts. But the big thing at this fair is the food. They have any kind of fried food you can imagine, with most of it coming from the first big state fair of the year, in Texas. They have fried Oreos and Twinkies, fried vegetables (for the health conscious), Chinese food, a few beer gardens, Indian food, french fries and hot dogs up the wazoo, and other "treats." Some of the snacks made me want to barf. Fried Kool-aid? A hamburger with two donuts as a bun?
Each representative in the Expo (all the New England states) have their own houses, with items and foods native to their state. You walk through the houses in a shuffling line, and check out Vermont maple syrup, Maine lobster rolls, Boston cream pies in Massachusetts, etc,. I have no idea what Connecticut's thing was. It's always a race between New Hampshire and CT to see who has the lamest house. Someone told me CT has the cream puff, but I don't really know of an official CT cream puff.
And this year I indulged in some food. I bough a gyro, which was excellent, and some fried dough, which was not so much. And might I inquire WHY people in New England put red sauce on fried dough??? My Italian/NY friends would probably pass out watching this atrocity. Powdered sugar is the way to go, people. The husband got a pot roast sandwich, which he assured me was "delicious" and I bought some goodies for later. The husband also got fried cheese curds, which were actually really good, and chocolate covered bacon. No. Just...no. I guess the thing you are SUPPOSED to get is a baked potato from one of the state houses (Maine, maybe? Who knew they were such avid potato growers?). But a baked potato? Come on. You can get that anywhere! Lame. I'm certainly not going to wait 20 minutes in line for a stupid spud.
They had a special Ringling Bros. circus exhibit in one of the houses, and that was interesting. They also had a house with model trains and that was cute as well. We all agreed that walking through the barns and looking at all the animals was the best part. I petted a cute sheep, and crept past the llamas (they spit, you know) and admired chicks, piglets, and cows ( I had no idea cows were so big). We didn't go on any rides, so we were pretty much done after 2 hours.
So, did I have a good time? Sure. Would I go again next year? Probably not. If my niece wanted to go I might make the trip, but as an adult who rarely eats fried food and avoids carnival rides, it's a once every five year trip, at the most. I'm glad the husband and dad finally got to see it. They enjoyed themselves, and I think they agree with me that they would do it again in a few years.
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