Our state fair is a great state fair

Saturday was actually kind of a hard day as a hospital advocate so when Kyle brought home Ohio State Fair tickets, I was relieved to spend the evening out and about. It was closing weekend for the fair so it was pretty crowded but we enjoyed ourselves. One of my biggest passions/interests is in American popular entertainments and I especially love carnivals and sideshows so, naturally, I had to take pictures of the all classic midway spots.

Fair food is scrumptious which is a good thing since it’s also deep fried and overpriced. We saw the sign for the smorgasbord and all I could think of was this.

And as crowded as the fairgrounds were, up at the top of the Ferris wheel, the world felt very small and far away.

Speaking of which, did you know the first official Ferris wheel was constructed in 1893 in Chicago? Now you do.

I love that you can see the Columbus skyline behind Kyle in this picture.

We didn’t get a chance to see everything but we did spend some time in the sheep barn and met this fuzzy guy. I wanted to give him a hug but I’m not sure he felt the same.

Have you visited your state fair recently? What’s your favorite thing to do at the fair?

love, elizabeth

Vacation Day Five: Photographing Strangers

Mom and I spent our last day of vacation in Myrtle Beach.
We had amazing crab salads at the pier.





I wrote a bunch of postcards (and then actually sent them which is sort of a vacation miracle for me).




We rode the Sky Wheel. Apparently, its very fancy name constitutes a very fancy ticket price but I’m a sucker for a ferris wheel. 







I was walking down to Ripley’s Believe It or Not and these guys offered to pose for a picture. This is the kind of thing that makes me want to be a photo journalist who can walk up to strangers and ask to take their picture all the time.





The Gay Dolphin is supposedly the largest gift shop on the East Coast and it’s been a landmark spot on Ocean Boulevard since 1946. It was seriously enormous and had absolutely everything you could possibly imagine buying in Myrtle Beach.



Mom indulged my curiosity about the other big draw in Myrtle Beach, the never-ending seafood buffets. This place, The Original Benjamin’s Kalabash Seafood, had 170 buffet items. 170. I can’t even think of that many different kinds of dishes. We both tried to be adventurous and I can now tell you that Oysters Rockefeller is as awesome as its name. Really awesome.




Also, I had fresh crab legs for the first time. I love crab but I’ve never been brave enough to order it in the shell. It’s a lot of work to eat but it makes an excellent moustache.

Thanks for letting me share all these pictures with you. And now back to regularly scheduled programming…

love, elizabeth