I took yesterday off from soapmaking to enjoy the NC State Fair with my family. We had a blast!!! My daughter is at that age now where she’s really into the rides, which made it hard for my husband and me to enjoy the buildings and displays. We didn’t even make it into some of our “must do” buildings (we always enjoy the really creative garden displays). Hubby and I alternated riding the rides with her, and we let her ride one ride by herself, which thrilled her to no end! As my daughter and I rode this one ride called the Traffic Jam (yep, it was a kiddie ride), I thought to myself, Wow, for three tickets, this is a pretty good ride. I’ve discovered that she likes speed; the faster the ride goes, the happier she is. I also thought it was pretty cool that she was putting her arms up in the air and stuff like that. When I was her age, I was still clinging to the bar.
In addition to the tons of samples, it felt like we ate all day long. We ate breakfast there at the Apex Lion’s Club concession stand (we always pick this place because we know the food’s gonna be good). Mmmmmmm… For me, a sausage biscuit where the biscuit was a scratch-made buttermilk biscuit and a bowl of these absolutely divine grits. (For those of you who may be unfamiliar with grits… It’s a hot cereal made with coarse-ground corn. I like mine with butter, sugar and just a titch of salt and pepper.) All I wanted for lunch was a hot dog, and then before we left, we got funnel cake and Hubby just had to try this year’s deep-fried goodie, deep fried pecan pie. I tasted it, and really, it wasn’t that bad, but I think I’ll stick with my funnel cake, thank you very much.
Standing tall right beside Dorton Arena on the fairgrounds is the Ruth Graham Memorial Waterfall. Mrs. Graham is the late wife of Jim Graham, who was the NC Commissioner of Agriculture for many, many years. She died of Alzheimer’s Disease, and the money collected in the fountain goes towards Alzheimer’s research. We always sit by this fountain to enjoy our funnel cake and to catch our breath before battling the crowds heading out of (and some coming into) the Fair. After the last bite of funnel cake is gone and I’ve brushed as much of the powdered sugar off as I can get, I toss my change into the fountain, wishing, as always, for a cure for this disease. Up until 2005, I wished for a cure – one to come quickly – so my Grandma would be made well. After her death in Spring 2005, I wished for a cure so others wouldn’t have to know the pain of watching a loved one slowly die little by little from this dreadful disease.
