Fond Memories of Good Food, Great Fun, and "Firsts"!

I loved the helicopter rides at the North Carolina State Fair and I knew the fair was coming to town when a helicopter landed on the lawn of the Ranch Motel on the Raleigh-Durham Highway. In the fifties and early sixties my parents managed the motel and the fair’s helicopter pilot stayed at the motel while working at the fair. I had my first wonderful candy apple at the fair. My mother’s fair favorites were the quilt and flower arrangement exhibits. Also, she loved winning a prize for me at the "Guess Your Weight" booth. My mother was less than five feet tall and she weighed less than 100 pounds, but her purse weighed almost as much as she did so since the guess was incorrect due to her purse, I always received a prize. She wasn’t cheating, it was simply that her purse was just as much a part of her as if she had a third hand that held everything from car keys to hairspray. We moved to Georgia when I was nine years old and now I live across the street from a cattle farm. Every time the wind blows the smell of cow manure through the air, I fondly remember the NC State Fair and the livestock shows that I loved as a child. I had my first Ferris wheel ride at the fair and to this day, I believe that Ferris wheel was more fun than any ride at Six Flags Over Georgia. I wanted to share my “firsts” at the state fair with my native Atlantan husband so we attended the fair in 2010. He loved the fair just as I did when I was a child so I am certain we will be there for the food and fun in 2012.