Dutchess County Fair

Saturday afternoon I took the hour long drive with my wife to Rhinebeck, NY and the Dutchess County Fair. I hadn't been to a county fair in a few years and last time it was in Tennessee. The Dutchess County Fair wasn't all that different from other fairs I've been to. Situated about 2 hours up the Hudson river from New York City, Rhinebeck is a trendy little town with the fairgrounds and tons of antique shops, I even think I saw an art house movie theater. The traffic was terrible the closer you got to the fair because it's a two-lane road through the town. After 1 1/2 hours in the car we were able to get through the gate and get a decent parking spot near the 4H entrance to the fair.

Who would have thought that so close to New York City you would even have a 4H competition, I didn't know that New Yorkers knew about 4H. But there it was in all it's glory and smell. We saw some prize winning hogs, plenty of cows and steers, goats, sheep and horses. Not far from the 4H stalls we found the food.

I'd been wanting a funnel cake since we found out about the fair. We started off with a corndog for $3.50, a drink for $5 and a cheeseburger for $4.50. Once we polished those off we found the french fry guy and got a large basket of piping hot taters for $5. The funnel cake came later though and it was awesome! It was fun to be full of fair food again.

The fair was crowded with people, more so than others I've been to. The weirdest thing was that for a few minutes there I totally forgot that we were in New York, but then all of a sudden there's some guy yelling to his wife in that Brooklyn accent... "Hey, get me a hotdog while you's is up. Where d'ya think you're going?"

The ever popular pig racing was too crowded to see anything but the dog agility course was open and we got to see everything from a Chihuahua to a Lab run the course. The announcer was a rough looking woman who kept yelling into the microphone. "The next dog is a LONG HAIRED CHIHUAHUA.... her NAME is BUTTONS.... she's a FEMALE and 2 YEARS of AGE!" Everyone kept cringing every time she opened her mouse because it was so loud.

This year they added a grand stand to the fair. Little Big Town was the headliner that night and the bleachers were free but pregnant women and benches don't mix. So we thought it wasn't such a good idea to stay around for that. We thought about riding the ferris wheel but by the time we got ready to ride it my wife was starting to get very tired from walking around so much. By the time we left we had stayed for 3 hours. It took us another 30 min. to get out of the parking area with all the traffic.

I would go again, if not just to get a $5 funnel cake.

No reason to complain

Today it was a very sunny and there was a gorgeous blue sky. The 3 hours on the train are worth it when you can be outside and enjoying the scenic views of the Hudson river. There is not a lot of places that look like this and some of the things you pass by in the river make you wonder just who built them and when.

West Point Military Academy is one of these architectural wonders sitting up on the cliffs above the water. The buildings overshadow everything around them and sometimes you can catch a mirrored reflection on the water below. Around Beacon, NY there are the ruins of a castle on a small island on the east side of the river. Who built a castle in the Hudson and why did they let it go into disrepair?

Sometimes the water is smooth as glass and other times it's so windblown that whitecaps appear and mist is blowing off the tops of the small waves. But today is one of those days where the blue sky is reflecting off the top of the water as you go past Yonkers, Sleepy Hollow, the Tappan Zee bridge and of course Sing Sing prison. It's beautiful and makes me glad I don't live in the cramped city and that I get to enjoy such sights.

To tell the truth, I have no reason to complain. If I had to pick a place to live and still have proximity to New York City I'm not sure I could do any better. The train ride is a little long but in my opinion it's worth the trip to be away from all the hustle and bustle and stink of the city.

Speaking of stink, ever walk down 48th street between Madison and 5th avenues on a warm summer day? It smells like garbage and vomit. There is a milky-white liquid in the gutter of the street that won't go away and it stays there and the smell gets worse as the day gets warmer. Then there is a cafe on the block where for some reason people sit outside and eat their breakfast. I guess tried and true New Yorkers have lost their sense of smell.

But what a place! Tourists everywhere in midtown. Today there were three groups of people blocking the sidewalk and by the time I got to the third I was audibly telling people to move out of the way. "Excuse me... move please... THANK YOU" was all I said and the tour guide
says, "It's ok sir, settle down, it's ok." I think they were from Indiana or somewhere like that, I wasn't even being rude. If I wanted to be rude I would have said, "HEY! PEOPLE BLOCKING THE SIDEWALK!! THERE ARE OTHER PEOPLE IN THIS CITY BESIDES YOU!! MOVE!!"

I like New York but I won't be sad when I leave it all behind me... for the second time. Ok, maybe I did a little complaining, but who could blame me?