Wednesday, July 7, 2021

ALL IS FAIR AT THE SAN DIEGO (DEL MAR) FAIR!!!

Welcome to July CRAZIES!!!  Things are moving along as the world starts to recover from the pandemic.  We clearly aren't out of the woods yet, but the light at the end of the tunnel continues to get brighter.  Here in California, the state is by and large reopened now and numbers have largely stayed low, so, I reckon that's progress in some regard.  I myself am fully vaccinated but proceeding cautiously.  "Safe-than-sorry" is among my mottos in life. Things have improved here though, and because California has done a good job with vaccine rollout, many of the things we love so much have come back, like the San Diego County Fair, or Del Mar Fair for us old schoolers.  It was a scaled back version of it, but any fair is better than no fair, so put on some loose fitting pants and grab some sporks because today, we are going to the Fair!  Enjoy...  

My nephew, Dante Jr, and my niece Kristen.  Both have big appetites and both are more than happy to rub in the fact that their teenage metabolism can burn all this food off much more quickly than mine can!  By the way, those are Cowboy (BBQ tri-tip) Fries, Piggy (BBQ Pulled-Pork) Fries and Pastrami Chili Cheese Fries on the table.  And all were insanely good!

Zucchini fries?  Chicken and Waffles?  Fried Frogs' Legs?  Deep-fried, bacon-wrapped pickles?  Deep-fried Twinkies and Oreos?!?  I swear my brother's kids want me to stay fat!

The Dog Show was a lot of fun.  Not a whole lot was going on this year, due to the scale back.  These diving doggies were a nice little break though.  The pig races were also fun, albeit too crowded to get pics of.  Perhaps next year.

Because all the big shows couldn't happen this year, street performers, like this juggler, roamed the fair grounds and offered a much more intimate experience for us.  A lot of these performers were really good too.  Under normal circumstances, you couldn't have these guys perform because the grounds would be too crowded! 

Initially, there were only two rides open during the first weekend.  After the state reopened, 16 more rides came in!  It wasn't a huge Fun Zone,  but it was great to see some of these come back.  They even had one of those cheesy funhouses!

Food is a big part of the SD Fair and this year was no exception.  They usually have well over 100 food vendors at the Fair, but this year, only 40 were allowed.  Some real heavy hitters didn't get to come this year, but the ones that did certainly didn't disappoint.  Hopefully next year, they can all come back.

Speaking of heavy hitters, they don't get any bigger than the Legendary Chicken Charlie!  The picture up above with all the fried food in it came from THAT booth!  These guys actually have a restaurant out here too, though the Fair is where they REALLY test the limits of one's appetite!

The SD Fair's iconic Ferris Wheel.  Just like the Comic Banner at the Convention Center, no trip to the Fair is complete without a picture of this neon wonder!

Some of these rides really light up the night with their beautiful lights!  I rarely go on carnival rides largely due to them just not being all that safe.  But I do love seeing them lit up at night!

One last shot of the rides at night!  With any luck, they'll bring back the bungee jump attraction next year.  Watching people chicken out is one of the most entertaining things at the Fair!

And that was the San Diego County Fair this year.  Dubbed "Home Grown Fun," it was vastly smaller than what we'd usually experience.  Admittedly, they probably could've done a lot more than what they did, but at the same time, there was really no telling where we'd be once June rolled around back in April when they were planning all this.  That we were able to get any kind of Fair was a miracle in its own right.  Hopefully, things will continue to improve and hopefully next summer, we can have a big fair again.  Only time and fate will tell.

That's all for today.  Hopefully y'all aren't missing the art too bad this month.  I just wanted to try something different for a change.  People really miss the Comic Con pics, as do I, but until cons come back, it just stings posting them.  Long Beach Comic Con IS scheduled for September, but they have been very slow on tickets.  Hopefully that will be fixed soon.  In the meant time, be sure to come back next week and check out some of the things I've been doing in my garden!  Until then, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later!

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