Evergreen State Fair

If you live in Washington for any period of time then going to the Evergreen State Fair is a must. One of our state's biggest fairs, the Evergreen Fair first began in the 1800's as merely an agricultural display but now it includes the traditional animal showing-everything from bulls to pigeons, even cats and dogs-, art, plants, an army of food trucks, music, vendors of all types, carnival games, and of course rides. I haven't been to the fair in quite a while, I think the last time that I was there was when I was around ten. So this post is all about the day that my friends and I had at the fair, hopefully this post stirs you into going as well. The fair runs until September 7 so get out there while you can.

Well it was a rather blustery day for going to the fair, a wind storm was ripping through the greater Marysville area, but we weren't giving up our plans easily. So my good friends Nathan and Tyler, and their friend Sierra, picked me up from work and headed out. Once we got there it was time to party. A word of warning for those that want to go, the fair is not cheap; entrance is $12, parking is $10, and tickets for the rides are additional as well. We all bought the arm bands which were about $30, those give you unlimited access to the rides for one whole fair day. After stopping by the restroom we headed to the animal barns to try and find another old friend, one of our former substitute teachers Mrs. Weaver-she was showing off some of her animals. We found her at the cat barn and after talking for a bit Tyler and Sierra went off to start going on rides but Nathan and I stuck around and got a VIP tour of the animal barns. Even for those who aren't particularly fond of animals it is a must to go and see the different show animals. My favorites were the pigs, goats, and sheep (I unleashed my inner documentary narrator and narrated what the animals were doing), we even swung through the small animal areas to see the rabbits, chickens, pigeons (yes sweet sweet Al-Rashid), and dogs.

After getting our animal fix Nathan and I grabbed a couple of fresh Fisher scones before meeting up with Tyler and Sierra. Now let me just tell you a thing or two about Fisher scones, they are always sold at the Evergreen Fair and they are always made fresh. For those that don't know what a scone is here is the run down: basically it is a type of biscuit that is slightly crisp on the outside and soft and crumbly on the inside, once they are cooked they are cut open and filled with a generous swipe of jelly (usually raspberry). They are heavenly, at least in my opinion, Nathan wasn't too sure about them. But they are something that you have to try at least once, but be careful because if you get hooked on them you won't be able to stop eating them.

Once our scones were eaten (well I ate mine and Tyler and I shared the rest of Nathan's) Nathan and I left again, this time to go check out Frontierland. Usually every fair has some version of a Frontierland that is set up, that way there is a way to travel back in time to the olden days. Unfortunately, I was a little disappointed with this one, there was only the set up for the lumber jack games, a long house serving salmon dinners, a small historical society building, and lots of chainsaw carved wood. But the lumberjack games were pretty good even if they were scripted, it was interesting to see all of the different games like log rolling and pole climbing (and if you are a small child and you are lucky enough you get to be a part of the show).

Then Nathan and I headed out to try out some rides on our own. We hit up the Himalayas, the fun house, and lots of other rides. Including one that nearly killed me, I still haven't forgiven him for that one. Once I got my fill of the rides I decided it was time for me to get some food. So Nathan and I grabbed some lunch, he had a grilled cheese sandwich (that he said was disappointing), I had a lamb gyro with feta cheese that was pretty good as far as gyros go, and Nathan bought us some curly fries to share (which were disappointing actually, they were good at first but down towards the bottom they were full of grease and not cooked properly, so don't expect much out of fair fries). Eventually we both wanted something to drink so Nathan bought him and me lemonades (he got strawberry, and I got prickly pear).

Our food having been devoured we decided to walk off the massive amount of fries by walking over through the animal barns again. This time with Tyler and Sierra. We had a grand ol' time petting the goats and pigs. Mrs. Weaver even let us pet her cat Merida, a Scottish fold who looked really done with all of the fair nonsense.

Feeling much more settled we decided to go on some more rides, including the giant ferris wheel. Once we disembarked we met up with our other friend Jesse and his girlfriend Jacey who also came to the fair for the day. We hit up some more rides for a bit (including a swing that spun you around in the air, and I almost died) and I bought myself an alpaca wool poncho, but then I started feeling sick so we went to sit down for a bit while the others got elephant ears (I would have gotten one but I missed out because I wasn't feeling good). The others wanted to hit up some more rides but before we could do that it started monsoon raining (and I mean pouring). So we all kind of decided that it was probably the best idea to go home. Nathan, Tyler, Sierra, and I all said good bye to Jesse and Jacey and started heading to the car so we could get home.

And that was the story of how I almost died at the fair. I had such a great time with all of my friends who I hadn't seen in a while. Even though it ended in a huge rainstorm it was so much fun and I wish that I could go again.

Fair Lights from the Ferris Wheel