It is time again for the annual Montgomery County Fair at the fairgrounds in Gaithersburg. Edie, Joan and I spent a little over three hours there yesterday. Putting the heat aside……

I recommend it highly.

Now, I am not a normal or typical fair goer. I don’t know if I have ever been at a state fair. Perhaps they are even more grandiose. But this is no parking lot fair. This is the real thing. 64 acres of county fair.

That does not mean that there aren’t things that you really don’t want to have any part of. For example, there are two evening Monster Truck Tours and one evening Demolition Derby left. I won’t encourage you to go to these, and I won’t even encourage you to go to the show where dogs jump off diving boards into water. All this sounds pretty bad – but this is what happens at fairs, right? But there are other evening shows, as well, magic shows and music performances that might be worth attending.

But we did nothing like that. What we did was more wholesome (I think). Because, after all, the Montgomery County Fair is primarily an agricultural fair, and there are almost as many animals there as there are people. Now we never got to the pony rides (very cute ponies, by the way), but we did see farm animals at their best. Old McDonald’s Barn, our first stop, is real treat, filled with rarer farm animals – alpacas, llamas, donkeys, and everything else including two cows and their two young calves, born this week. The animals look like they are comfortable in their clean surroundings – and each is clearly described by breed, age and name.

In addition to Old McDonald’s barn, there are barn after barn of handsome farm animals. How many dairy cattle barns (each with maybe 20 to 30 stalls) are there? Maybe 6? And there is at least one meat cattle barn, as well as barns with goats, pigs and sheep. Again, each animal is described and named. There was one barn called a “washing barn” (I think), where farmers can take their cattle and clean them off with hoses. We saw two cows being given their baths. As to the sheep, although the temperature was above 90, each of the sheep (again, 20 to 30 of them) was wearing what appeared to be a heavy blanket. I asked and was told that it was to keep their wool clean. But……gee, I am sure it wasn’t too comfortable. By the way, there were sheep shearing demonstrations, and shows of various sorts (none of which we stopped to see but all of which had fairly large audiences) involving cattle, pigs and goats. There were some beekeeping exhibits. And, boy are there a lot of breeds of rabbits! I am sure there was a lot that we missed.

There were also various activities for children of all ages through mid-teens. Now why did 8 year old Joan insist on climbing into and trying to operate every John Deere tractor and other farm implements? Not sure, but it seemed to be the thing to do. Climb up, sit down, buckle the seat belt, turn the steering wheel, and try to move the gear shift.

There were a number of “educational” exhibits for children, and some of them were in fact educational. The Rockville Science Center had an exhibit with four or five volunteers on hand. One of them played tic tac toe with Joan, using fish and barns instead of x’s and o’s, and using them to talk about various ecological matters. Joan seemed to be on top of that subject, but struggled a bit in talking to another man (whose English was a challenge) as he tried to explain how you could light the filament in a bulb by turning a crank where there was no external power source.

Joan then participated in a contest on a mini-stage, where three teams of two tried to answer questions about agricultural practices. Operated like a TV game show, the very corny (and pretty clever) emcee asked the questions, and the participants pushed a button, the first one getting a chance to give the answer. Joan missed being chosen for the game with the youngest contestants (those near or at her age), but was chosen with another girl about the same age to compete against two teams of teenagers. Joan did herself well by pushing the first button and answering “irrigation” to the first question about watering your fields. That was her high point, though, as the teenagers got into the swing of things. And to the question of whether 4-H meetings were during school, instead of school or after school, Joan did give a very blank stare.

Carnival rides? Yes, there are many. We considered the Ferris wheel, but decided against it, in part because it was far away from us and we were really getting hot and tired. There were a lot of bumper car type rides, and a merry-go-round, and a few rides whose names I don’t know, but don’t think they are made for anyone over, say, 40. Rides that lift you up and drop you down, rides that spin you around and turn you upside down. You know them I am sure.

And carnival games. Many, many. Throw darts at balloons, throw balls at balloons, throw rings over bottles, shoot things, catch magnetized fish, show your strength by hitting a target and ringing a bell. These are the “throw your money away” activities – they cost $5 or $10 (depending), and they are geared to losers, not winners, especially if you are young. There was one “every child gets a prize” game that we saw, and Joan walked away with a large-sized stuffed hamster.

There are a lot of sponsored booths. Join the Montgomery County or Prince George’s County police departments, or the Army or Navy, or get a new roof, or a new bathroom (we do have a shower that needs upgrading), and so forth. The booths run the gamut from government agencies, not profit organizations and commercial enterprises. Something for all – and many of them had give aways. Adventist Hospital gave away small flasks of sun lotion, for example.

What did I forget? Oh, yes, food. Boy is there a lot of food. Now, if you keep kosher, your options are limited. I didn’t see a kosher stand – sort of surprising, in fact. But there is something for (almost) everyone. All the carnival food you could imagine, plus booths from various types of ethnic restaurants that actually looked like they could have been pretty good. We wound up in a building where they were serving Dickerson Market fried chicken and Hunt Bros. Pizza. We had never heard of Hunt Bros. Pizza and were surprised to find our cheese pizza was absolutely first class. Because Joan said we needed a vegetable with our pizza, I asked if we could get a side of coleslaw (served with the chicken), which they gave us gratis. Joan decided that the coleslaw should be placed on the pizza, as a topping. When she did that, I gave her “a look”, but then I tried it myself and it was pretty good, I must admit. Other than that, what looked best? I’d say the candy apples – large variety, brings me back to my childhood. Of course, Joan opted for the cotton candy. (I asked her if she knew how cotton candy was made, and she told me how she would do it; she’s probably pretty close to right)

Now the fair is not free. Tickets are $12 on line, or $15 at the gate. No senior discount, BUT TODAY IS SENIOR DAY AND ANYONE OVER 62 IS FREE!! (Of course, we went yesterday, not today). Kids under $12 are free at all times. Parking is an additional $15 (and, by the way, they have parking for those with disabilities that is right at the entrance gate).

Go to http://www.mcagfair.com for info. And, by the way, the fair is open until 11 weekday nights and until midnight weekends. Entertainment every night. The last night for this year’s fair is Saturday. I think you’d have a good time.