Alameda County Fair
Today Johnny and I head out to Pleasanton to check out the Alameda County Fair. I hadn't been to it since High School back when I was living out in Livermore so I thought it might be fun to check it out again and see if it was any good. When we first got there we met a couple of weirdos... the guy who we paid for parking, rambling weirdo... and the guy who directed us to a parking space, jump in front of the car, flag waving weirdo... I was apprehensive about how the rest of the fair experience was going to go after those two.
Anyway, we headed into the fair and found that it was actually a pretty fun place to go. I particularly liked the fact that it wasn't very crowded. Probably bad for business but nice for us. We did arrive between 5:30 and 6pm but since it stays light out for so long it seemed like we got there much earlier. The fair stays open pretty late, up until 10pm for the exhibits/booths and midnight for the Carnival. Pretty cool!
There were lots of cool booths with goofy things for sale, both inside the buildings and outside on the walkways. I bought some pretty darn good beef jerky at one of the booths that I promptly inhaled. I had to go back and buy another piece of a different flavor because it was so tasty! There were lots of cooking demonstration booths and gadgetry booths. People were very nice and small town-like at the booths too. I liked the atmosphere a lot. There were also lots of exhibits for different types of things like hobbies, gardens, minerals, bees, art, etc. There was judging on the exhibits and we could see who won 1st prize or got honorable mention and so on. And don't forget the animals! Camel rides, petting zoo, animal exhibits... We saw lots of cute bunnies. They were selling animals too. $30 for your very own peacock! $6 for baby chicks! $6 for a baby duck! Great deals. I like the black tailed japanese hens, they were super pretty. I think those chicks were like $8 each.
As far as the actual carnival part went we rode two rides there. One was a mini rollcoaster which was fun but I had visions of our car jumping the track and us splatting on the pavement. We went on this other ride... Can't recall the name. I like to call it "ohmygod we're going to die!". I was super scared on that one. I'm just not as brave as I used to be I guess. Plus I have a distinct fear of Carnival Rides. They just don't seem that safe to me. I'll happily ride a coaster at a big park though where more deaths have probably occured, but that's beside the point!
Back to the ride... It looked like a big arm type thing with a round wheel bit at the bottom. Basically you go into the round wheel part and boost yourself up into your seat so your feet are dangling. A restraint, is lowered down over your head that holds you into the seat. The thing then starts to spin... Then the thing starts to swing to the left and to the right... and then the thing starts to swing higher, and higher and higher, so that at some point you're looking straight down at the pavement on the side of the ride way the heck up in the air, because you've swung completely up to one side or the other. It was never ending. I had to shut my eyes at one point because I had visions of the arm breaking and us splatting on the pavement. Or my restraint releasing and me falling out and splatting on the parking lot. Yeah, good times! I'd probably go on it again though. It was pretty thrilling. Heh.
The Carnival also contained lots of games for dumb stuffed prizes or goldfish. All your typical carnival games. Johnny tried to shoot a basket. 1 ball for $2 or 3 balls for $5. I played the water racing game where you shoot the water in the hole and try to be the first to get your bear to the top. $3 a play. Other games, like darts games were $5 for 3 darts. That's a lot of dough for a crappy stuffed toy. Suffice to say we didn't play more than one game and we didn't win crap.
The best part of the thing? The food! Oh if I wasn't on a diet, I would have gone nuts! As it was I bought a passion fruit and blue raspberry hawaiian shaved ice, beef on a stick, jerky and a soft pretzel. What I really wanted was fried calamari, fried mushrooms, bbq and so much more. Johnny ate a jumbo corn dog. That sucker was huge! Heck I would have eaten that too, even though I'm not a huge corn dog fan. I'm just craving the fried foods on this diet since I can barely have any.
So yes it was a good trip to the fair. We even got to see some National Guard Recruiters. See the photos below! After seeing Farenheit 9/11 that was particularly amusing.
Oh and while I was writing this post I happened to find the website for Butler Amusements. They're the folks that put on the Carnival. I discovered that the scary ride I was on is called, appropriately enough, "The Freakout". Which is described as follows: "This 16 seat carrousel that lifts its riders 22 meters in the air as they sit around a rotating 360-degree circle. This is a ride for the most daring teens and adults." No kidding. See photo below. This sucker is a lot bigger looking in person. A LOT.
The Freakout
If you're really bored you might want to check out the History of Butler Amusements. It's actually kinda interesting. I find the whole Carnie thing interesting. Books make the old time carnivals out to sound like fun fascinating places to work and live. I'm sure modern day ones are much different now but it's still really interesting. I wonder if they all live in trailers still and have a strange community of carnies. It's different now though because there aren't freakshows and strange attractions anymore. It's just rides, food and games. I did feel a bit sorry for the carnies operating the games. They really have to hawk those games pretty hard. When the crowd is kind of sparse it's probably hard to earn a living. I'm sure they rake it in on other days too, so it evens out I guess.
So if you're in the bay area you should take some time and check out the fair. It's a nice day out of the house and if you go July 9th you can catch the musical stylings of Night Ranger! Can't beat that! Admission is $9 to get in and $8 to park your car. Johnny and I were saying it should be free since the Fair is one big buy stuff event. Buy buy buy! Oh whatever, I had a good time! I only wish I could have bought a baby chick. So cute!
Photos by Johnny.
Except the one I took of him, obviously.
Heading in to the Fair
Recruiters at the Fair! (see Farenheit 9/11)
Johnny, a Jeep and The National Guard
Cute Giant Fat Bunny!
Chickies! You can buy one for $6!
Eating Tasty Shaved Ice / Not too Crowded There
I hate this ride, HATE IT!
Carnival Crowd
Anyway, we headed into the fair and found that it was actually a pretty fun place to go. I particularly liked the fact that it wasn't very crowded. Probably bad for business but nice for us. We did arrive between 5:30 and 6pm but since it stays light out for so long it seemed like we got there much earlier. The fair stays open pretty late, up until 10pm for the exhibits/booths and midnight for the Carnival. Pretty cool!
There were lots of cool booths with goofy things for sale, both inside the buildings and outside on the walkways. I bought some pretty darn good beef jerky at one of the booths that I promptly inhaled. I had to go back and buy another piece of a different flavor because it was so tasty! There were lots of cooking demonstration booths and gadgetry booths. People were very nice and small town-like at the booths too. I liked the atmosphere a lot. There were also lots of exhibits for different types of things like hobbies, gardens, minerals, bees, art, etc. There was judging on the exhibits and we could see who won 1st prize or got honorable mention and so on. And don't forget the animals! Camel rides, petting zoo, animal exhibits... We saw lots of cute bunnies. They were selling animals too. $30 for your very own peacock! $6 for baby chicks! $6 for a baby duck! Great deals. I like the black tailed japanese hens, they were super pretty. I think those chicks were like $8 each.
As far as the actual carnival part went we rode two rides there. One was a mini rollcoaster which was fun but I had visions of our car jumping the track and us splatting on the pavement. We went on this other ride... Can't recall the name. I like to call it "ohmygod we're going to die!". I was super scared on that one. I'm just not as brave as I used to be I guess. Plus I have a distinct fear of Carnival Rides. They just don't seem that safe to me. I'll happily ride a coaster at a big park though where more deaths have probably occured, but that's beside the point!
Back to the ride... It looked like a big arm type thing with a round wheel bit at the bottom. Basically you go into the round wheel part and boost yourself up into your seat so your feet are dangling. A restraint, is lowered down over your head that holds you into the seat. The thing then starts to spin... Then the thing starts to swing to the left and to the right... and then the thing starts to swing higher, and higher and higher, so that at some point you're looking straight down at the pavement on the side of the ride way the heck up in the air, because you've swung completely up to one side or the other. It was never ending. I had to shut my eyes at one point because I had visions of the arm breaking and us splatting on the pavement. Or my restraint releasing and me falling out and splatting on the parking lot. Yeah, good times! I'd probably go on it again though. It was pretty thrilling. Heh.
The Carnival also contained lots of games for dumb stuffed prizes or goldfish. All your typical carnival games. Johnny tried to shoot a basket. 1 ball for $2 or 3 balls for $5. I played the water racing game where you shoot the water in the hole and try to be the first to get your bear to the top. $3 a play. Other games, like darts games were $5 for 3 darts. That's a lot of dough for a crappy stuffed toy. Suffice to say we didn't play more than one game and we didn't win crap.
The best part of the thing? The food! Oh if I wasn't on a diet, I would have gone nuts! As it was I bought a passion fruit and blue raspberry hawaiian shaved ice, beef on a stick, jerky and a soft pretzel. What I really wanted was fried calamari, fried mushrooms, bbq and so much more. Johnny ate a jumbo corn dog. That sucker was huge! Heck I would have eaten that too, even though I'm not a huge corn dog fan. I'm just craving the fried foods on this diet since I can barely have any.
So yes it was a good trip to the fair. We even got to see some National Guard Recruiters. See the photos below! After seeing Farenheit 9/11 that was particularly amusing.
Oh and while I was writing this post I happened to find the website for Butler Amusements. They're the folks that put on the Carnival. I discovered that the scary ride I was on is called, appropriately enough, "The Freakout". Which is described as follows: "This 16 seat carrousel that lifts its riders 22 meters in the air as they sit around a rotating 360-degree circle. This is a ride for the most daring teens and adults." No kidding. See photo below. This sucker is a lot bigger looking in person. A LOT.
The Freakout
If you're really bored you might want to check out the History of Butler Amusements. It's actually kinda interesting. I find the whole Carnie thing interesting. Books make the old time carnivals out to sound like fun fascinating places to work and live. I'm sure modern day ones are much different now but it's still really interesting. I wonder if they all live in trailers still and have a strange community of carnies. It's different now though because there aren't freakshows and strange attractions anymore. It's just rides, food and games. I did feel a bit sorry for the carnies operating the games. They really have to hawk those games pretty hard. When the crowd is kind of sparse it's probably hard to earn a living. I'm sure they rake it in on other days too, so it evens out I guess.
So if you're in the bay area you should take some time and check out the fair. It's a nice day out of the house and if you go July 9th you can catch the musical stylings of Night Ranger! Can't beat that! Admission is $9 to get in and $8 to park your car. Johnny and I were saying it should be free since the Fair is one big buy stuff event. Buy buy buy! Oh whatever, I had a good time! I only wish I could have bought a baby chick. So cute!
Photos by Johnny.
Except the one I took of him, obviously.
Heading in to the Fair
Recruiters at the Fair! (see Farenheit 9/11)
Johnny, a Jeep and The National Guard
Cute Giant Fat Bunny!
Chickies! You can buy one for $6!
Eating Tasty Shaved Ice / Not too Crowded There
I hate this ride, HATE IT!
Carnival Crowd
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Sounds like a blast! What are your tattoos of -- they look so cool! Looks like a pin-up chick of some sort.
I have many tattoos! The one you're asking about is a Geisha. It's an old Sailor Jerry Tattoo that was done with cherry blossoms on her dress vs daisies. Plus it was changed a bit to have better detail than the original one. With a nicer face too!
Yeah it was a blast. I think the key to having a good time at a county fair is to go in with the understanding that you're going to be surrounded by simple folk and the things that they love. If you're not an uptight curmudgeon then you'll have a good time. I just wish I had taken a few more pictures. Like why didn't I take a shot of the dude who was so impressed with your tats that he peeled off his wife-beater shirt to show us the old-English lettering across his back that read "FRISCO" ha! ( I'm laughing with them not at them. ) And we should have bought one of those deep-fried Twinkies and had you pose with it. I wonder how long something like that would keep?
Hey, you know the Solano County fair starts July 14th. Maybe we should to take a trip to that one too. Also I think the fear of possible equipment failure adds to the fun of these carnival rides. What a way to go, SPLAT!
Hey, you know the Solano County fair starts July 14th. Maybe we should to take a trip to that one too. Also I think the fear of possible equipment failure adds to the fun of these carnival rides. What a way to go, SPLAT!
Yeah I'm in! The Solano County Fair is the only other fair in the bay area that looks decent. The rest look a bit small. The Alameda County Fair must be the largest since it goes the longest. The Marin county fair only lasts for 5 days for example. Santa Clara County Fair in San Jose is only about a week long. So Solano looks like another big one! Different carnival company too!
