“The smell of Sunday chicken after church” was a hit played constantly on the radio that year....
As a foreigner, I got swirled by the multitude of smells, colours and occasional shouts of the carnies at the American county fairs. Imagine a sea of heads, bags and open wallets moving like in some sort of ritual under the merciless summer sun.
Me myself, not a big fan of huge gatherings and parties (getting older) but hey there were so many things to soak in and enjoy. Corndog over there, hot French fries (I wonder how the French call them), Italian restaurant on your right– too brave a saying for a small caravan offering hmm pizzas which look like medium sized bites ..... What you may encounter on these summer events is often beyond explanation and exceeds your expatiations.
Hypnosis - magic or trick
At one stage a hypnotist is performing a strange experiment that got me hooked for half an hour and send chills down my spine. He picked almost a dozen of volunteers and invited them on the podium. He started doing some pendulum movements and after a few moments one by one they fell under the effect of hypnosis. I was not convinced that the participants were some sort of artists (up to this day I am so, so). What got me perplexed and inclined to believe it is a genuine hypnosis experiment was the fact that the look on their faces seemed so dull and distant. Any order from the mesmeriser was followed closely. One moment he told them to dance and the crowd started to shake their bodies, recklessly. The next moment he asked them to act like animal. They were totally under his control. Strange experience!
Cultural activities
One may say OK county fairs are just food and entertainment. I can agree up to a certain point. But what I realized on many occasions is that many places are offering much more than the average stalls. For example, I saw a quite talented guitar duo, young professionals’ dance performance and even crystal exhibition. Meticulously carved wooden, piece of art were to be seen close to the exit of one fairground for those who are more inclined to art.Extreme Rides
Bungee jumping, ejection seats, and for the kids rock climbing. Well, it was said that the bungee tower is 150 feet or something but in private conversation you can see that it is a bit less. However, it looks scary when you are high above the ground and waiting for your turn. Funny, I went off like doing a waterbomb and got my spine in the perfect neutral position, face down. Most people let themselves slowly from the iron bars, I just jumped because I was chickens###. Need a thrill – ejection seat will blast you up in the sky. You can overcome you phobia from heights (for fifteen minutes) and feel the rush!