Since I’ve been a little kid, I have loved the idea of a fair. My parents took us to the Danbury Fair in Connecticut years ago. But the deep-fried Oreo, foot long hot dog, pickle on a stick, and wad of blue cotton candy that left my tongue, fingers and lips blue for days, had me crumpled up in the way back of the Oldsmobile paneled station wagon writhing in pain from a tremendous stomachache! (It was so worth it.) Oreo pic courtesy of Createdby-Diane.com.
When my very good friend Anita lived in Upstate New York, every Friday night during the summer, the town of Delhi did Fair On The Square—a quaint little block party with local booths, games for the kids, live music, a food tent, handmade jewelry, balloon animals twisted by a very friendly clown (who still scared the crap out of me), henna temporary tattoo artists, raffle tickets, and more. I’d race out of work on Friday nights and couldn’t wait to join Anita, Abigail and AJ at the fair.
Maybe it’s the warm summer sun, or the smell of fresh popcorn or the allure of a mountain of hot curly fries spiked with just one too many shakes of the Old Bay Seasoning canister and a generous drizzle of bacon studded cheese calling my name. (Yes, more bacon. Clearly I have a problem.) I’m a huge fan of funnel cake, too. I’ve taken my son to many a street fair in New York City and I remember one time he asked to share a funnel cake—just the plain version with powdered sugar. So of course I said yes.
• Popcorn • Pizza • Ice Cream • Hot Dogs • Curly Fries • Lemonade • Candy Apples • Sausage & Peppers • Cold Drinks • Elephant Ears •
We had to walk a bit to find a place to eat, as the fair was packed. When we finally pounced on a vacant high-top table a few blocks north, that hungry rascal boxed me out and inhaled the entire thing himself! Smiley, sticky and unapologetic, Matty was supremely pleased with his outdoor antics. I was confident that just up the street another booth would be happy to cater to my nostalgic cravings, but I did call foul on his unfair behavior.
I thought the expression was, “Share, share, that’s fair.”
As the summer starts to enter full swing, I just can’t wait to dive into every delight that’s in store. After being locked down for so many months, this really will be a fairy tale season for all of us. Enjoy every minute!
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