I don’t know what it is about fairs, but their sketchy amusements excite me. Last fall, I had the opportunity to accompany a friend and her daughter to our local fair. I was very excited about going, 1) Tilt-A-Whirl! and 2) Funnel Cake, but little did I know what I was getting myself into.

Growing up, my county fairs rarely had any rides. Instead, it was strictly an “old timers” fair with homemade game booths and agriculture competitions. I haven’t been to a “real” fair with rides in probably 10 years and everything I thought I loved about fairs wasn’t quite as I remember…

The Tilt-A-Whirl that I was able to ride 5+ times in a row as a kid? I barely made it through one ride as an adult.

The funnel cake I could practically taste on my lips just by smelling it? I ate maybe half of it before it got to be too sweet for me.

The things I enjoyed, that I didn’t think I would?

Carnival games, I was the Skee Ball champion of our little group.

I also developed a new found appreciation for my parents [all parents, really] who take their children to the fair year after year. Who knew you could blow 40 bucks in the blink of an eye on ride tickets, only use up said tickets in 10 minutes on 4 rides. Seriously, those amusement companies have to be making some serious bank.