For those of you who don't live in this cozy corner of our country, the Big E is short for the Eastern States Exposition. Its what they call "New England's Great State Fair" and features exhibitors & support from all six New England States. It descends upon Springfield Massachusetts every year in Mid September, runs through the first weekend in October, and features just the stuff you'd expect. Lots of crafts, bands, animals, tourists, rides, & food! Here's my quick review of everything there is to see...
The Entertainment: This usually fits into two categories - Country or Oldies bands. The day I was there it was Country, and to avoid my alienating half of America's record buying public, I'll just leave it at that!
The Midway: I was attending the fair with my Wife, Teresa & two year old son, so rides were not an option. Besides, I've ridden "The Scrambler" enough in my lifetime. As for the games... do you REALLY think anyone wins at these??? The same thing goes for the barkers promising to show you the World's largest rodent for a dollar. Caveat Emptor!
The Crafts: I was shocked that Teresa didn't buy anything, but she gave me her reasons. First off, she's going to another craft show in two weeks. And second, she's seen it all before. I swear some of these vendors have occupied the same space for the past 10 years! And I truly believe that I can live my life without stone castings of my hands as bookends!
The Corporate Stuff: Okay, we've all seen them. Companies that run their infomercials on late night TV hire pitch men & women to hawk their merchandise at fairs by doing live demonstrations. Essential products like the PVA-10X mop, and OXI-Clean (Teresa actually bought some of this. I'll let you know how it works). But alas, not a single Ginsu knife in sight!
The Livestock: We did the obligatory tour of all the barns so Jeff could see all the animals. The smell wasn't as bad as it could have been, Jeff got to pet the pigs, & I learned that Alpacas are kinda cute. Who Knew???
And last but not least... The Food: If you're hungry this is the place to be. Granted, its not always CHEAP, but you can get virtually every type of fast food known to modern man at the fair. My cholesterol went up ten points just from smelling the cooking grease that hung like a cloud over the area. Here's a quick breakdown of what I personally sampled... Apple Cider Slush - I got this in one of the State Buildings (Either Vermont or Massachusetts) and it was GREAT ! And relatively inexpensive too! A corn dog - It was good, but not spectacular. But when was the last time you had a corn dog that WAS spectacular ? The one I ate was the normal size, but I did see later they had foot long corn dogs. But By that time I was full. A root beer float - Don't ask me why, but I've been craving root beer floats lately. This one was very good, and I'm beginning to think that soft-serve actually works BETTER than hard ice cream in a float. Fried Cheese Curds - This was NOT what I had expected. I used to get fried cheddar cheese nuggets at Frankie's back home & they were great, but these were actually fried cheddar cheese CURDS! They were a bit greasy, and not as cheesy as I would have liked... but good! Hawaiian Shaved Ice (Root Beer Flavored) - I love Sno-cones & this one did not disappoint. Lots of syrup, and the ice was light enough that it melted immediately on contact with your tongue. PERFECT! Add to all that the various samples I grabbed along the way (whoever was selling the "Berries Inferno" it was GREAT!) and I had a pretty full day, edibly speaking
Overall, I'd give the fair a B. About what I expected. And I don't think I'll be back for a few more years. Maybe they'll get some new vendors in the interim. I'll stick to local fairs until then. In fact, we're already talking about the Brookfield Fair next year. Stay tuned...