July 25th, 2009

Today, Jen and I took the bus up to Paso Robles for the California Mid-State Fair. Jen didn’t want to drive, and we wanted to avoid a repeat of last year’s drunk bus fiasco, so we decided to go during the day. We picked up SLO RTA Route 9 in downtown San Luis Obispo and headed to Paso Robles.

The bus driver was kind enough to take us a few blocks passed the designated RTA stop in Paso to get us to a local shuttle bus stop. Problem was, we were there around 10:45AM and the shuttles didn’t begin service until noon. We already knew about the shuttle bus schedule, and had planned on walking from the bus stop to the fair, so it was no big deal. (We even picked up an extra person for our walk in the form of a girl who was working at the fair and had taken the bus up from Arroyo Grande.) We arrived at the south gate to the fairgrounds and found a group of people standing around, waiting to be let inside.

Eventually, the others were let in as they already had passes. But we didn’t have passes of our own, and the ticket booths weren’t being opened. Finally, someone advised us to go around the side of the fairgrounds to the main entrance, where we were able to enter.

It was early, and there weren’t many people yet at the fair. Some of the event’s many vendors hadn’t even opened for the day.

We walked around for a bit and checked out some of the things that are permanently set up at the fairgrounds. Like this bear family statue?

We were both hungry by this point, and some of the food vendors were now ready to serve. I had a Philly cheesesteak sandwich.

Jen had a “Chicago hot dog.” We shared her french fries.

My Philly was good, and Jen enjoyed her hot dog. The cynic in me says a vendor at a fair in California can’t really make a true Chicago-style hot dog. But, who knows?

We walked through some of the commercial exhibit pavilions and saw some interesting/odd things for sale. For example, this LOLZ-worthy poster/sign.

And these statue people for your lawn?

These portable cooling fans are placed throughout the fairgrounds. I like the name.

As expected, there were many animals on display.

There were even some lizards, snakes and turtles. (And a parrot!)

We decided to split a blended raspberry margarita before leaving the fair.

The drink was good. But it cost $13.00. I know they give you a light-up souvenir glass and everything. But, $13.00? We sat for a time in the shade, people watching and drinking the ‘rita. Then we left the fair and caught a local shuttle bus back to the RTA bus stop and headed home. We had a really good time at the fair. (Many more photos available here.)

Tags: alligator, bunny, California, chicken, Flickr, food, goat, iguana, Mid State Fair, parrot, Paso Robles, pig, San Luis Obispo, SLO RTA, snake, turtle
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