Dutchess County Fair 2019

It looked like The Dutchess County Fair 2019 was not going to happen. Teri was tired of going. Her reason was it was always the same. And it was, but I wanted to go and Nastia wanted to go and Elena gave an enthusiastic I don't care so we went. Sally Ann and her family were thinking of going, but as the day dawned we'd not hear from them. Teri would call, but Katie had a sleepover and they stayed up most of the night and were too tired to go.
     We finally learn after all these years the best way to go, the way the GPS tells us to go, up the Thruway cross at the Kingston Beacon bridge and come in from the north.
       It's a beautiful day, warm, not hot, sunny with a few bright white clouds fronting a beautiful blue sky. It couldn't be a more perfect day. We get in the car a half hour late (930AM) and go to pick up Nancy and then Teri puts in the Fair address and the GPS has us going across the Tappan Zee bridge. We ignore it and go up the Thruway. Traffic is a

little heavy in Rockland, but after a few minutes it breaks up and we are moving again. The mood in the car is very happy and positive. We stop at a rest stop after about an hour. We hit Kingston go across the bridge and follow the signs for the fair. We come up to a bunch of traffic cones and Teri decides to go to the right to avoid the cone. We needed to go left because the cones were set up for everyone who was going to park in the free parking. Teri has some issues with turning around and going back. She considers going to the $10.00 parking lots. I tell her the public lots are free and we head back. We park near a pole with an F on it. I look around to get an idea where we are and see two other F poles, so we are parked at the second Fn' pole.
       We walk into the fair with our pre purchased entrance tickets. I didn't pre-purchase any ride tickets because the girls were unsure the danger girls would show up this weekend. Their getting older now and danger is no longer their middle

name.
       We wander along the midway the girls finding interesting things to distract them as they wander. No one purchases anything. it's too early to carry it all day long. After the long trip everyone is hungry. When we stopped at the rest stop I bought a soda and was aiming to buy some cookies at the farmer's market until they ran out. I am tired of buying a soda in a refillable cup for $6.00 and getting refills for $4.00. It's not a bargain.
       Nastia gets some shrimp and spaghetti, Elena gets a bean burrito. It looks so good I decide to get one, except I get beef and bean. Her's is $8.00, MINE IS $9.00. not too bad. It's the first decent food I've overpaid for in a long time. That includes the shore earlier this month and the fair for the last three years.It was filling and good. Teri doesn't find anything interesting to eat.
       After eating we do do the same old thing,we go visit the life stock barns. We start with the cows, we see the sheep, lambs and pigs. We end with the chicken. We don't see the horses.

      After the barns there is this station where you can milk a dairy goat. It costs some money, but both girls give it a try. I've got the video and they got buttons. It was different.
       With no ride tickets the girls want to do games. Ever since I was a kid I've looked at these games, played a few and as I've grow up I realized how fixed these games are. The basketball shot game, the bean bag throw to knock down the bottles. All have/ had a gimmick. And when you do win, you get a fifty cent prize. The girls want to play. Nastia starts with the game with the balloons. It's three for $5.00, or seven for $10.00. Nastia slips the guy a ten without me knowing then wants me to ask him for her money back. I say no. She chickens and wins a small prize. They had over to other parts of the midway. Elena tries the machine gun game. Her first attempt she shoots high and does poorly. Her second attempt about ten minutes later she does much better, but still doesn't win. They go over to another balloon game. This one has bean bags. Elena goes three for three. Nastia goes two for two missing on her last shot. Elena wins a two foot or so Pikachu. Nastia is jealous. It's time to go. We walk out past the booths were some wanted to buy thing, but they have forgotten. Maybe the purchases were not really important.

     Just before we leave we walk past the Skinny German juggling man or something like that. Every year we stop to see him. Originally he was in the center of the fair, For the last two years he's been at the entrance to the fair. He juggles and jokes around it's a great act, but the last two years we've encountered him just as we are leaving. Like last year we stop and watch him. Some of his jokes are the same, but he tells them in such a way to make them seem unrehearsed and fresh. We were all tired, but we stayed to watch. Near the show end Teri drifts away. I go and sit down on a flower bed wall. The girls sit up front until its over. Elena hussles to the bathroom and the rest of us wait or drift out to the car.   
   We head down Route 9 with the intent of eating at the Olive Garden. I think they have forgotten my comment about head on my beer from last year or the year before. We eat a good dinner and end up at home about 9:30 at night. A long good day.

















/