July 27, 2005

Orange County Fair

Yesterday we went to the Orange County Fair. It was really fun! Kevin and I couldn't help comparing it to the Hamburger Dom (a carnival held in Hamburg 3 times a year). The midway and rides were the same but OC excelled in exhibits, shopping, animals (it was the County Fair after all), and most of all, the cost of concessions.

I'm telling you, we paid a mere $8 to get in, but once inside it was like Disneyland as far as food was concerned. Not that we let that stop us or anything. Throughout the day we snacked on homemade potato chips, fresh squeezed lemonade, funnel cakes, bratwurst (a little taste of Germany all over again!), and fried avocados.

Yes, that's right, fried avocados. The big theme of the fair this year was the Mighty Avocado. I'm not sure what this delicious piece of produce did to be named "Year of the Avocado" but I wasn't going to complain. When we'd gone to a wine tasting at the Wine Exchange on Saturday, the pourer told us about the fried avocados. Although he claimed they were "all over the place"--we wandered practically the entire fair looking for them before we found the ONE place that sold them. Anyway, curiousity got the best of me and I simply HAD to try the deep-fried avocados.

They were...interesting. Good, but nothing I'd write home about. I don't think I'd have them again. All of the other fair food was yummy but as I said, pretty expensive. I was reminded again how much I love fresh-squeezed lemonade, and Kevin very rightly pointed out that we have a million lemons on our own tree and really, I could make fresh lemonade any time I wanted. I never really thought of that.

We did stay to watch the Peking Acrobats. They were quite good, especially the gymnasts and the guy who balanced on 6 chairs on a platform with the bottom one being held up by champagne bottles. I was sure he was going to fall and crack his head open. If you happen to go by the fair, I highly recommend the Peking Acrobats.

Posted by Shelby at July 27, 2005 10:47 AM