Monday at the Fair
Yesterday we visited the Upstate Fair. Greg and I have lots of memories of visiting fairs back north. I especially love the Montgomery County Fair, and we enjoyed visiting there in August. So we were excited to visit a fair in South Carolina.
The Upstate Fair was rather disappointing. Unlike what we were used to, the primary focus of this fair was on the carnival, not the animals. They had a couple petting-zoo areas, but that was about it. No rows of barns with 4-H animal displays. They did have a couple elephants and tigers, but the shows were not scheduled until late in the afternoon (after we left). And the pony rides? They wanted $4 a ride, to walk around a little tent about 20 feet in diameter.
What really bothered Greg was the money aspect. First, there was no reduced rate for young children. Michael still had to pay $5 to get in, just like us. (Fortunately they were smart enough to realize that Matthew was too young to need to pay at all!) Then in the men's room, there were signs all over saying, "Please tip. The attendant works for tips." Come on! This isn't the Ritz Carlton where the attendant is handing fresh linen towels and hand lotion! It's a fair! And then the rides. The cheapest ride we saw was $2 a ride. Even for the little kid rides. Needless to say, we skipped those.
Apparently the big 4-H fair in this area is the South Carolina State Fair in Columbia in October. I think we'll try to visit that one, and hope that the boys get to see a few more animals. That's really all we're interested in. Not the rides and the silly games.
There was one big plus at the Upstate Fair though. As we were leaving, there was a man near the gate with a little trained monkey. Michael loves monkeys! For 25 cents, the monkey would shake your hand. For $1, the monkey would sit on your lap. For $2, you could take a picture of the monkey on your lap. We couldn't pass that up. So enjoy the following pictures of Michael and the fair monkey!
The Upstate Fair was rather disappointing. Unlike what we were used to, the primary focus of this fair was on the carnival, not the animals. They had a couple petting-zoo areas, but that was about it. No rows of barns with 4-H animal displays. They did have a couple elephants and tigers, but the shows were not scheduled until late in the afternoon (after we left). And the pony rides? They wanted $4 a ride, to walk around a little tent about 20 feet in diameter.
What really bothered Greg was the money aspect. First, there was no reduced rate for young children. Michael still had to pay $5 to get in, just like us. (Fortunately they were smart enough to realize that Matthew was too young to need to pay at all!) Then in the men's room, there were signs all over saying, "Please tip. The attendant works for tips." Come on! This isn't the Ritz Carlton where the attendant is handing fresh linen towels and hand lotion! It's a fair! And then the rides. The cheapest ride we saw was $2 a ride. Even for the little kid rides. Needless to say, we skipped those.
Apparently the big 4-H fair in this area is the South Carolina State Fair in Columbia in October. I think we'll try to visit that one, and hope that the boys get to see a few more animals. That's really all we're interested in. Not the rides and the silly games.
There was one big plus at the Upstate Fair though. As we were leaving, there was a man near the gate with a little trained monkey. Michael loves monkeys! For 25 cents, the monkey would shake your hand. For $1, the monkey would sit on your lap. For $2, you could take a picture of the monkey on your lap. We couldn't pass that up. So enjoy the following pictures of Michael and the fair monkey!
posted by Susan | 8:03 AM
1 Comments:
Love the MontCo fair. Glad you had fun at your new fair.
Lisa
Post a Comment
<< Home