State Fair Report

I took a 1/2 day and took my 2 kids to the State Fair of Texas. As soon as my daughter and I stepped out of school it started to rain. The forecast was for 60% coverage and the radar showed a huge system pushing through downtown Dallas. It was in a full fledged downpour when I picked up my son so I decided to back track to our house to get aqua shoes and rain gear for the my kids. Good move.

Traffic wasn't too bad once the rain let up. We hit a little downtown traffic due to a tractor trailer that had spun out. Got there at 2pm and paid the $10 parking. We got in free with a teacher pass and student passes. As we walked into the fair there was a light drizzle. It continued to rain between 2 and 4pm. We visited a few indoor venues: petting zoo, dancing dogs, horses and the market. I searched the market hard for the Dallas Morning News guy. Last year he was giving $50 in vendor coupons just for subscribing. No luck this year.

I ended up buying $30 in coupons. It bought 1 Fletchers corn dog, two $1 hot dogs, 1 kiddie ride a piece for the kids, one family ride on probably the scariest ride for my 39 inch tall 4 year old son. He was petrified. We also bought a bag of cotton candy.

Overall it was a good experience. The place was a ghost town compared to most other days I'm sure. I couldn't imaging being there last weekend during the UT/OU game. It stopped raining in time for me to enjoy my favorite fair event, the Birds of Prey wildlife show. We also watched a domino exhibit. My daugher said her favorite part was her one kiddie ride. The kids did GREAT! My son loved jumping and splashing in all the puddles since he had on aqua shoes. We did a lot of walking and looking at all the games and rides. Part of me felt bad that I kept declining my daughters attempts to get me to allow her to play the games. Every ride cost between $4 and $5 so if you let them ride a few rides a piece AND play games this fair would make Six Flags look like a discount park.

I could easily have given the kids each $100 in coupons and it wouldn't have lasted the afternoon. We left the park at 7pm having spent 5 hours frolicking in the rain and cool weather. A cool front pushed in and with the windows open, I'll get a great night's sleep.

Tomorrow: St. Louis!