The Eastern States Exposition, aka The Big E, is one of the biggest state fairs in the US. The moment you enter, you're immediately assaulted by a farm market building, booths selling everything from solar panels to hot tubs, and stands with bright boardwalk-style signs selling every possible kind of food that can be fried. (And a few that you can fry but probably shouldn't, like Kool Aid.)
We spent the first few hours wandering around, seeing the lay of the land. Decided to hit the Avenue of the States first, before they got too busy to walk around in. The Avenue of the States features recreations of each New England state's original government house. Massachusetts boasted wild honey, fresh lobster rolls, and Boston sports teams memorabilia. Vermont's included its fresh cheeses and a Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream stand. Connecticut had the New England Air Museum and Mohegan Sun Casino. People stood in a long line to wait for Poland Springs water and baked potatoes in Maine. New Hampshire had beautiful jewelry and thick slabs of fresh fudge and maple candy.
Next up was after a quick bathroom break was the Young Building, one of the two shopping buildings at the Big E. We made our way right to the booth that sells clothing and stuffed animals made from alpaca wool. Lauren found a fluffy lavender winter hat. I bought an adorable little lion I named Mack, after Betty's stuffed lion in The WENN Nutcracker Suite. We saw nothing else of interest there, so we headed out again. Took another stroll in the Better Living Building, but bought nothing there.
By this point, it was finally lunchtime. We spent another half-hour walking around, trying to decide what to eat. There were way too many choices! Lauren, who loves Mexican food, finally found a tiny Mexican stand. We both had quesadillas. Hers was beef. Mine was chicken. We enjoyed them at a table between booths.
Our next stop was the Midway. Lauren's not much for rides, and I did rides at Philly and Atlantic City this summer. Not to mention, the last time we played games, Lauren spent over an hour trying to win a big stuffed toy. We stuck to the cranes. I won nothing, but Lauren picked up a Captain America doll for her guy friend Rico.
We headed back out to the main concourse. I was hot and sweaty, and Lauren was sunburnt. It was a gorgeous day, sunny, blue, breezy, and dry, but it was also hot, probably in the lower 80's. I'd seen "mix and match slushies" booths all over the fair and thought I'd try one...until I saw all the bees buzzing around the booth! I had wondered where all the bees that seemed to be everywhere had come from. They must have flown over from the landscaping. I figured getting a pumpkin spice mocha frozen drink from a donut stand was safer.
While I tried to decide on a cold drink, Lauren was looking over a leather goods store. I joined her just as she was admiring a table filled with every kind of cowboy hat in existence. She was trying on a fuchsia cowgirl hat with a pink and silver ribbon. I had to agree with the saleslady. Lauren looked really cute, and it was on sale. She not only bought it, she wore it for the rest of the afternoon.
After Lauren picked up a strawberry lemonade frozen drink from the donuts stand, we decided it was time to get out of the heat. Since we were in that area anyway, we sat down at the Court of Honor Stage. There were musicians gathering and a drummer practicing even as we settled on the yellow benches. Turns out the 2 PM concert was a yacht rock - aka soft rock from the 70's and 80's - cover band. They even had a guest who had sung the hit "Brandy, You're a Fine Girl" in the 70's and wrote the theme from Lizzie McGuire. They weren't half-bad. We had an enjoyable hour or so in the shade listening, resting, and clapping along.
I needed to use the bathroom, so we went back to the Better Living Building. We explored there after I finished, but once again, we saw nothing we really wanted. Lauren looked at socks with cute or unique patterns and looked for superhero toys for Rico, but we ultimately moved on with nothing.
There was one last thing we wanted to do at the Big E, and one ride Lauren didn't mind doing. An adorable little blue and yellow train picks up across from the Massachusetts Building at the Avenue of the States, driving down the streets nearby and back around the States Buildings. It's technically for kids, but we get a big kick out of it. It's like being in a parade. Everyone waves to the train as it goes by. (Although the conductor did have to shoo one person off who tried to get on without a ticket.)
By that point, it was almost 4:30. We had been walking for six hours, much of it in the hot sun, and were tired and sore. It was time for dinner. Lauren considered getting McDonald's, but we both ended up at Chipolte. She had sofritos with white rice, black beans, tomato salsa, corn, and cheese. I replaced the white rice with brown, the sofritos with chicken, and threw in lettuce with the other things. Yum! It was all good, but the bowls were so big, we ended up taking part of them home.
We headed back out again around 5:30. Same deal going home. Once again, no traffic, not even around the fair or as we passed by Springfield. The sun was just sinking behind the Berkshire Mountains when Lauren finally pulled into her garage.
Since the Match Game marathon never materialized, I watched the Lawrence Welk Show episodes I didn't get the chance to check out last night. There's at least three on YouTube with a county fair theme. The earliest is from 1967. I thought Jo Ann Castle as the bearded lady and Jack Imel as a carny singing "Anything You Can Do" was a riot! In the 1971 show, Arthur Duncan dances "Meet Me In St. Louis," and Cissy and Bobby naturally get a country fair song from the original Mickey Mouse Club, which Bobby appeared on. Tanya Welch is a psychic who wonders "Have I Stayed Too Long at the Fair?" The 1975 show was the last time country singer Clay Hart was a regular. This time, Norma Zimmer got to sing "Have I Stayed Too Long at the Fair?"
Here's all three episodes, so you can visit the fair with Lawrence Welk and his musical family, too!
Finished the night at Tubi with News Hounds. This is one of the earlier Bowery Boys movies, from when the group was still jelling. Slip and Sach are a copy boy and a photographer, respectively. Slip dreams of being a real reporter, going undercover with Sach to expose a sports gambling ring. Their friend Gabe, who works for the ring, finds Slip's story against his bosses and inadvertently has it published. Thing is, Slip was about to give up the story due to lack of evidence, and now the paper is slapped with a huge lawsuit. Gabe agrees to help the guys find Sach's camera and bring in the photos as evidence.
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