Earlier tonight, we went to the fair.
We'd planned to do this last night, but Liam came home from school not feeling well; which didn't really come as a surprise, since Mallory was sick for several days earlier in the week. So we stayed home last night instead, and Liam fell asleep on the couch at a ridiculously early hour. He'd wanted to watch the Penguins game but couldn't muster the strength to stay awake.
Today he had a mid-afternoon rest and then felt much better; well enough to eat a normal dinner and so we headed out to the Kinsmen Fair which comes to town each year at the end of May/start of June.
We don't go every year and this year was a good reminder why. It's kind of a depressing affair. The crowds of shady looking people, the even shadier carnival workers (I am pretty sure the woman who sold us Mallory's sno-cone was on meth), the rusty and faded old facilities and the exorbitant price tag for the privilege of being there at all.
The kids loved it, of course. Liam rode several rides and loved them all. Mallory only went on one ride, but she was thrilled to run into a friend and took the task of deciding on a fair treat very seriously. Cotton candy? Sno cone? Caramel corn? Decisions, decisions.
It cost us $16 to get in and then most of the rides were 4 tickets. A ticket cost $1.25. You got a slight discount for buying tickets in multiples of 20, but not much. So the rides were all in the vicinity of $4-$5 for three minutes of fun.
An hour later we were nearly $70 poorer, with sicker bellies from all the spinning, congested lungs from all of the smokers and full of sugar from the fair food.
Disney World raised its prices this week, which has been headline news, but it is still the far better value in my book. The sophistication of its attractions, the cleanliness, the lack of smoke, the lack of garbage and even the piped-in smells to evoke a particular reaction in a particular location... I love it all. Sorry, Kinsmen Fair. Your proximity may make us suckers every now and then, but you will never really compare.
2 comments:
No disagreement from here...was so glad when the novelty of the fair wore out here...don't miss it one bit!
We went as well but just paid our admission, a donation to the Kinsmen, I don't begrudge them that. We took in the free roller derby and walked home. We get to listen to all the musical guests for free!
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