The Girl came to hang out with us over the long Labor Day weekend and so on Saturday we all headed to the Windsor Fair in Windsor, Maine. We hadn’t been to a fair since our kids were little so we figured it would be a fun way to spend the afternoon.
Plus, we had heard that there was a ladies fry pan throwing contest and well, we wanted to check that out too. 🙂
The exhibition halls were filled with prize winning fruits and vegetables and it was fun to walk around and see all the different varieties {some we knew about, some we didn’t} and to see what qualified as “prize winning”.
I think the Duck Lady and I should enter a few of our canned goods next year. Who knows, maybe we’d win a ribbon.
Giant pumpkins! One of these years I’m going to grow one. Maybe I can have the HH do some “research” for me and see what it takes to grow a big one.
I think I heard {a long time ago} that injecting milk into the stem as the pumpkin grows is supposed to help. Although I have no idea why that would work.
Harness horse racing.
The Zipper.
I had no idea these rides were still in use. Or that anyone would actually put their child on one.
The cost to ride the zipper was $7.50.
The cost to go down the fun slide once was $4.50.
I didn’t see how much it was to pop balloons.
I did try to get The Girl to get her face painted though but she wouldn’t. Ha! It was a very popular stall though and probably had the longest line of any of them.
And the food stalls. OH MY WORD. There were so many of them. I had no idea there would be so many choices. Has anyone ever had a fried Oreo before? How was it?
Stuffed baked potatoes. Now that sounded good.
And Totchos. The HH was eyeballing those.
We thought about getting a blooming onion {is the Outback Steakhouse still around? If so, do they still sell bloomin’ onions?} but The Girl and I didn’t think we’d even be able to finish half of it so we decided to pass.
We opted for $5 corn dogs instead. Neither of us had had one in like 10 years and well, we both think we’re good for another 10. 🙂
We also entered the ladies fry pan throwing contest.
Which amazingly had a huge crowd and a ton of participants. It was broken down into age categories and there were rules and a regulation frying pans to use {that apparently because they’re “official” pans, they cost $200 each}.
Each participant got two tosses and basically, the person who threw the furthest, won.
The lady standing next to me threw a pan 81 feet!!! Clearly, it wasn’t her first time and she was a total pro and so I asked her for some tips.
But even with a bit of advice, neither The Girl nor I placed in our age division {the farthest I threw was 47.2 feet, and I don’t remember how far The Girl threw}. But we had a great time and it was fun to listen to the comments and all the oohs and ahhs from the crowd as each person went up to do their toss.
Country fairs, they’re so much fun and there’s always something new to see. Local, family friendly entertainment. You just can’t beat it.
Have a great day everyone,
~Mavis
carrie says
My son tried to grow a giant pumpkin this year!
We love in your old neck of the woods and the cold sprING didn’t set our garden up for success. He got a start fro Azure standard for a giant Atlantic pumpkin. Everything in the garden basically stalled and didn’t start growing until July. It finally has one pumpkin that isn’t basketball size yet. There will be no record sized one for him this year. It has led to tons of discussions about what he could do to increase his odds next year though.
Linda says
Fried oreos are the bomb! They are covered in funnel cake dough and are soft and gooey on the inside. A must try!
Shelle says
How fun!
Our Fair is this week. The daughters have livestock, canning, baking, sewing, and art projects all ready and I even got some canning ready to enter this year. We don’t have a Ladies Pan Throwing contest though, but we should!
Kimberly Vassar says
First…Outback is still around and they still have the Bloomin’ Onion. Not in our tiny Wisconsin town, but last time we were in Illinois, Outback was still around.
In the Laura Ingalls Wilder, Little House book series, one of the books is the story of Laura’s husband from his childhood. His father shows him how to grown a milk fed pumpkin, and he wins the prize at their little fair. Gives instruction in the book, too.
Kimberly Vassar says
The title of the book is Farmer Boy
Cindy Brick says
I was thinking of that book, too. Laura Ingalls Wilder tells you just how to milk-feed a pumpkin. They’re supposed to turn out a bit paler this way, but I’d bet they’d be tasty.
Ca says
I have been looking the recipe for beets and carrots but can’t seem to find it. Can anyone help? Thanks
Mavis Butterfield says
I haven’t posted it yet but I will soon. 🙂
Judy says
Hi Mavis, a man I met years ago told me that to grow a giant pumpkin he would take one of the stems from the plant and keep it dipped in a container of milk. Won’t pay that price for rides, no interest. Neither for games. But … the smoked turkey legs and a funnel cake, you bet! Never tried a fried Oreo though. Next year.
Vicki says
The smoked turkey legs at a couple of the fairs in Missouri were 15.00 this year. Price had gone up quite a bit since lat year.
Julie says
The fried Oreos are good as are all the various fried tidbits out there. They are very easy to duplicate at home too. We used to have fair food week during the week of the State fair and made our own at home. Much cheaper than hitting up the fair even for one day.
Patti says
I had never heard of the frying pan throw until this summer -had a friend go to Maine to throw one with her sister-in-law! About the giant pumpkins. My brother-in—law says the seeds are very expensive (as $50 each) because there is big money to be made if you grow a big one. He tried two and they both died. Not sure if that is true or if he got taken for a ride!!
KC says
I rode on The Zipper once, and once was ENOUGH. (now wondering exactly how much money someone would have to pay me to do that again)
I had a disappointing fried oreo once at an employer-sponsored sort of mini-fair thing, but the funnel cake batter was entirely unsalted, and I think that was the problem; from what I’ve heard, they should be *good* – but unsalted funnel cake batter is hard to redeem.
Torry says
Mavis, the Washington fair in Puyallup usually sells seeds for giant pumpkins. I don’t know if they are better grown in this area or not.
Mavis Butterfield says
I miss the Puyallup Fair scones! 🙁
Pat says
I can’t believe it cost that much for a ride. I live in WV and it costs $10 at the gate. That includes riding everything all day long. We also have big name entertainment, (mostly country music stars), mud bogs, demolition derbies. There’s something for everyone and once you’re in it’s all covered except food.
Melissa says
I have been entering my canned goods in our local fair for years. It’s so fun to go see what things won! I highly recommend it. I’ve also participated in the skillet toss. Love, love, love the Fair!
Dee Patterson says
Here in Devon, England, we have had a few fairs locally .
We had welly wangling , ( throwing a rubber boot ) all sizes for children, men , women.
Coconut shy , preserves tend to be jams mostly , not so much savoury thought there are a few .
Cakes too get marked first , second third or highly commended .
What else ?
Oh yes, there’s usually some sort of funny animal or vehicle made out of a fruit , say a cat made out of a orange or a car made out out a marrow for children to enter.
We also have just daft entries to make everyone smile, such as the longest weed or the most unusual fruit .
There’s almost always cups of tea and homemade cake which goes towards the cost of the village hall , sometimes there’s knitting and crafts like rope making too.
I really enjoyed seeing all your photos , and yes, like lots of others , thought of amanzos milk pumpkin , from Farmer boy .