A Fair to Remember

Alright, corny title, I know, but it’s been stuck in my head ever since our visit to the L.A. County Fair a few days ago. I’d always had the idea that fairs were basically some throwback, agricultural exhibit with a Ferris Wheel to provide the thrills. Well, they may have originally started out like that sometime way back in the past, but apparently they've come a long way since then! We decided to go on opening day this year, and made the drive up to Pomona, CA to check it out, quickly realizing what a massive event it really is.

We grabbed a map on the way in and began planning our strategy for seeing as much as possible. The whole Fair is broken into roughly three or four major sections, so even though it’s quite big, it’s nicely grouped into areas of interest to explore. Of course we had to see them all, so it was just a matter of picking which one to go to first and making a loop to the others. We started at the closest one, which was a combination shopping and themed-attraction area that they called the Shopping Place. Well, it was a lot more than shopping, that’s for sure! The first street we headed down was filled with all the colors, sounds and action of Esmeralda’s Traveling Circus. You could test your nerve on a real flying trapeze, or calmly relax with an Icee or cotton candy and take in the Big Top atmosphere. Around the corner we suddenly found ourselves amongst swarthy pirates and other scallywags, in the Pirate’s Life area, then just as quickly at the door of their Jurassic Planet exhibit.

There was exactly zero discussion necessary for that… 

life-sized, animatronic dinosaurs? I was all in! I could have spent an hour in there alone, but knew that there were tons more to see, and we had barely scratched the surface, so we headed over to the next buildings (yes plural) to check the shopping. I have a bit of a shopaholic streak in me, so seeing all the different vendors there with all their different types of products is always fun, in my opinion.

I might have stayed right in that first area for the entire day, but as it turns out, my GF’s favorite part of the fair is the Carnival area. So we decided to grab a bite to eat before heading over there. Now, keep in mind, eating lunch right before going into a crazy carnival scene, with unbelievable, gut-wrenching rides, maybe wasn’t the best plan of attack, but hey, first things first, and the barbeque places were calling our name.

We did decide to keep it simple, and passed on the chocolate-covered bacon and fried candy bars, and opted instead for a smoked turkey leg and roasted corn on the cob, which was not actually terrible for us, and potentially easier on our stomachs for what was to come. I’ve seen the little carnival areas at various amusement parks, but this was on another level! It was a carnival lovers’ dream, with blocks and blocks of lights, rides, games, booths, vendors, food, and full-on craziness.

Everything you can think of when you imagine carnivals is packed into the area, making for maximum fun per square foot. The earlier action of roaring dinosaurs, sword-wielding pirates, and crazed shoppers now seemed tame in comparison. It seemed to me as though the rides that both continuously flipped and spun at the same time were the big favorites with the kids. For us sane people, a simple ten-story plummet, or something that spun or flipped (but not both), and the good ol’ mega Ferris wheel were more the order of the day.

After all the sensory overload of the Carnival area, it was, of course, time for some ice cream! Apparently, I was told, we weren’t allowed to go to the Fair without stopping at Dr. Bob’s Handmade Ice Cream… duh. That happened to be located in the heart of the agricultural section, and was at the last part of our big loop through the whole Fairplex, so it was a perfect way to relax a bit and reflect on our decision of lunch-then-carnival.

They have all the farm animals, agricultural exhibits and events, cowboy demonstrations, and even a full-blown horse racing track… just in case the flying twister rides aren’t dad’s forte. It all has a very comfortable feel of tradition, so despite originally thinking that sort of thing was some crazy throwback of old, it was actually a lot more interesting than I ever would have guessed.

When we decided it was time to head out, I realized we had spent the entire day there, and I still felt like I had only seen barely half of it. There were so many rides, attractions, vendors, food, games, and things to see and do, even intrepid movers like us couldn’t possibly cover it all in one day. I think it would take a short novel to describe it all in detail, so I’d simply say that if fairs, or carnivals, insane rides, shopping, games, racing, novelty food, characters, or anything else I’ve described sounds like it’s up your alley, the L.A. County Fair will deliver it for you, and on a grand scale! Enjoy.

The L.A. County Fair is at Fairplex at 1101 W. McKinley Ave., Pomona.

For more information, call 909-623-3111, log on to lacountyfair.com,

or check out twitter.com/lacountyfair and facebook.com/lacountyfair.