Tennessee Valley Fair

Friday night I went to the Tennessee Valley Fair with Bob and his girlfriend, Lil’ Bobbi.  Unfortunately, Ben couldn’t come with us because he was already on vacation (where I met up with him a week later).  Bob and I were talking at lunch a couple of weeks ago and realized that neither of us had been to the Fair in many years, so we thought it would be fun to go.  I have developed a mean case of motion sickness since the last time I’d been to the Fair (virtually any kind of movement makes me sick – except riding on our boat, go figure).  Thus, I didn’t think I’d be able to ride any of the rides that used to be my favorite, like the Himalaya and the Scrambler.  Bob assured me that would be okay, as Lil’ Bobbi also is not a fan of the rides.  We just planned to go and play all the games and win a huge stack of stuffed animals.  My parents would never let me play the games when I was younger because it was a “waste of money.”  I figure that I make my own money now, so I’m free to waste it.  J  We also looked forward to eating corn dogs at the fair – we both love corn dogs, and good ones are hard to find.

Anyway, we met at Bob’s house for some “pre-gaming” prior to venturing to the Fair.  Bob started getting hungry around 6:00, so off we went.  Lil’ Bobbi scored us a great parking place right next to one of the side entrances to the Fair.  We started our Fair experience by buying some corn dogs and going to watch the hypnotist show while we ate.  Bob decided he wanted to be hypnotized, so he became part of the show.   After Bob got finished with his hypnosis, we proceeded to play several games.  Mom and Dad were right – those games are such a crock of crap.  We played the balloon pop game, the “bowling with baseballs and milk cans” game, some game where you tried to get a wiffle ball in different colored holes in a table, and Bob played the basketball game (where the balls are always over-inflated and the rims are approximately 2 inches smaller than the balls).  Bob also tried this rope-ladder-climbing thing and almost broke his ankle.  Here is a picture, which should be blurry enough to protect Bob's anonymity:

We won several tiny small animals, and Bob won a big plastic sword.  I had the best luck at the balloon pop game and went back to try to win something bigger.  I finally conned the guy into giving me a foot-tall tiger, but the big-ass tiger I really wanted would’ve cost me at least $40 – and that’s assuming I popped a balloon with every dart I bought.  Totally not worth it.

Anyway, we had a great time in spite of all the money wasted on the games; and the corn dogs tasted great, although my stomach was very unsettled later in the evening.  I ate a Taco Bell taco to help calm it down.  It’s pretty bad when you have to eat Taco Bell to settle your stomach.  Ahh, Fair food.