Louisiana Town: BPF PART III

Heidy-Ho, Blogging Pals.

Well, it's the last post about the Beauregard Parish Fair. I will have to find something else to regale you with before I post again. The "Fly-In/Drive-In" is the first weekend in November so perhaps I will have some interesting airplane and automobile photos for you!!

At any rate... I asked the spousal-unit if he would take me on a "date" to the fair. He actually said he would so we put on our comfy walking shoes the 5th of October and headed to the fairgrounds. Our first stop was a run through the livestock area. You have already seen some of the critters that were housed there. We also wandered through the Petting Zoo with a gazillion little munchkins who were running from cage-to-cage, squealing as the critters "lipped" the feed from their hands. We didn't spend a lot of time there.

At this point, the spousal-unit had a craving for a Frito pie at one of the locally run food booths. We went to the Lions Club booth as that is the one my dad used to work at (and I spent a couple of fairs behind there serving burgers and fries with him!) so we figured it was the one at which we should spend our money. Well... you can't really mess with Fritos but the canned burger chili and the lack of any cheese at all (the signage indicated Fritos, chili, and CHEESE!) were less-than-stellar. He consumed about 1/3 of it and we headed off to the midway for games and rides!

As we wandered, we ran across a gal hawking the old "pop-the-balloon" game. She had a big ol' smile and was fun to talk to, so we spent some dollars there playing. Wandered away with the cutest little stuffed pig wearing a black "leather" jacket and a "pirate" doo-rag. Needless to say, he's a little HOG (as in Harley Owners Group). I wasn't going to let him go!! We wandered a little further and ended up playing another balloon-popping game with a gal who was GOOD at hawking and double-talking!! When we left, we had a yellow "Angry Bird" stuffed animal and a good laugh... but I think our two little stuffed critters, valued at about $10 total, cost about $40!!! LOL!! That's alright. That's what the fair is for.

So... we purchased "coupons" to ride a ride. I wanted to ride the Merry-Go-Round. The kid running it was very apologetic as he told me the individual who owned it had told him no adults on the horses. WHAT?!?!? Whatever. Thanks anyway. I don't want to just sit on a bench and go round and round! So we wandered on. I was feeling just frisky enough to consider riding something just a little more exciting than the Merry-Go-Round from which I was banned anyway!

While my favorite ride when I was a young'un was the Zipper, I knew enough to realize my back would not likely take a "spin" on that one. However... there were two other rides I enjoyed... the Scrambler and the Tilt-A-Whirl!! There they were. Side-by-side. Yep, the spousal-unit was willing to pile on with me. It was on!!!

At the Scrambler, we were behind a little fella' who was stretching just as hard as he could to be tall enough to ride the thing. There was a gentleman with him who had a cane and was clearly not able to ride it. The ride jockey told the little fella' that he needed an adult to ride. Well heck!! If he's got the nerve to ride it, he can ride on it with us!! We piled him into the car (with the spousal-unit in the "Squish" position, me in the middle, and the little guy in the "free" spot!) and off we went! He was squealing and hootin' and just plain enjoying his spin! The only thing I got out of him when I asked "How are you doin'?" was "This is really fast!" Yep. It was. And it was tons of fun. And he didn't get sick (which I thought about FAR too late in the game to do anything about it if he did!).

We left the Scrambler and walked next door to the Tilt-A-Whirl. After a few minutes of getting my inner ear back into place, we took our place in a hooded car and waited for the ride to begin. I had to laugh at my spousal-unit who was laughing at me!! I was really working that little car, trying to reach the apex at just the right time to make that thing spin like crazy!! We got about two really good multiple spins out of it and had a good ride.

The spousal-unit had worked up an appetite since his Frito pie had been such a bust and he had been working so hard on the midway. We stopped at the American Legion food booth where he ordered a cheeseburger and fries. We should have paid a little more attention to the fact that every person at the booth, and a couple inside the booth, were eating something out of paper bowls. Turns out it was gumbo... chicken and sausage... and was apparently delicious. The burger? Not so much. He consumed about 1/2 of it and we headed toward the exit.

While there is no photographic evidence of our game-playing or riding, I will leave you with a few shots of the midway. We're good until next year's fair.