The San Diego Fair is only open for another week (closes on July 4th)....
Our Fair visit was two Fridays ago and we were fortunate to be gifted vendor tickets from Cathy of mmm-yoso; allowing us to bypass the regular lines and enter an hour earlier than the rest. I love going in early while things are being set up. Accompanying us was TC's boyfriend...aka "the friend that is a boy" (according to Bert). They were off on their own after we walked in...
As you can see, no morning fog; this ended up being quite a warm day.
The main hall housed the informational exhibits for "Where the West is Fun", this year's Fair Theme. It was originally going to be "How the West was Fun", but at least one Native American tribe in San Diego deemed it "highly offensive" given the history of genocide and rape against their people and how their lands were forcibly taken away by the whites. So, having the theme describing the takeover of the west as "fun" wasn't accurate for them. The fair changed the wording for the theme slightly and also made sure to have both cultures represented for the main exhibit hall which highlights the history of the west and San Diego county in the mid to late 1800's as well as the history and contributions of the Kumeyaay Nation. More info will be linked at the end of this post.
So nice and peaceful at 10:15...(you can see the relocated Don Diego clock tower in the back).
In the garden area was a sand sculpture as well as a recreation of the California Tower in Balboa Park (not made of sand).
Of course, part of the fair's allure are the foods...
I like Gansitos, which are like the Mexican version twinkie but better than the American version because there is strawberry jam inside! They have Gansito ice cream at Neveria Tocumbo!
Fried seafood galore could be found here:
Giant toy prizes...
Other booths had the poo emojis (dark brown, light brown...and ORANGE? Hmmm....)
Fair program and fans! We actually got those ourselves because no one was manning this booth near the entrance. The booklet also DID NOT have a map for the various food vendors, which we found out after scouring it. We ended up getting one at the visitor center (with AC).
In between walking around and snacking (food post is forthcoming), we checked out one of our favorite things to see, located in Home and Hobby. Some people don't even know this exists and that the fair is just only rides and food but in reality, these crafts (plus the animals) are really what fairs are about, a way for folks to showcase their expertise.
Awesome cakes perfectly executing the Fair's theme...along with a few pop culture worthy entries!
Harry Potter theme cakes with the Sorting Hat on top:
"Hufflepuff!"
RIP Snape.
We really liked the detailed design on this cake:
Star Wars themed cake (totally deserving of first place):
"Luke, I am your father..."
Small exhibit in the spirits section about San Diego's craft brewing scene
Beer ingredients:
Shot glasses:
Vintage glassware:
It's nice and air conditioned in here and the bathrooms aren't overcrowded and grody like they are at the other spots outside. Because the casual fair goer doesn't know this exists, hardly anyone goes here.
Quilts - This particular one looked like the mom used her daughter's old t-shirts; they are from Chula Vista because I recognize many of the shirts and teams.
So much time and effort goes into making these crafts, whether it's a quilt, scarf, socks, or jewelry, to name a few.
The Collections in Home and Hobby are my absolute favorite. I really enjoy seeing the various collections chosen each year. This year was no exception as there were so many interesting things on the shelves...such as these vintage cast iron banks in the shapes of animals.
Plastic "kandi" bead jewelry - These are made for trading at musical festivals/raves. I guess this is a thing for the young folk. I don't listen to the music they play at raves, which is usually electronic dance music, it all sounds the same to me.
This was kind of funny, a guy collected landscaping flyers that were left at his house over the past year. We've gotten some too and they even came with small rocks.
Candy corn anyone?
Solar toys - I really liked this one. I collect the holiday themes ones from the .99 store. I noticed that the newer solar panel toys have the panel in the back now so that you can't see it.I like it better that way. If you look closely, there is a Virgin of Guadalupe solar toy!
Star War collection from 1977 - present. This was just a small portion of the owner' collection (a female too, yay!):
This was one of the more informative and unique collections, packing peanuts!
Oil cans - whenever I see these, I think of the Tin Man from "The Wizard of Oz"!
Fake food - Not quite as realistic as the plastic replicas in some Japanese restauraunts...
This was cool to see Droopy, a Hanna Barbera character. He may not be as well known as Yogi the Bear or Tom & Jerry but his deadpan voice and delivery is what made him memorable to me.
"You know what, that's not sanitary..."
My favorite this uyear was stuff that a cat literally dragged in. Alvin the cat was featured in the paper about ten years ago. He is now a senior cat but still manages to go out and "steal" things from all over the neighborhood. He's brought home all kinds of strange stuff from construction sights, seed pods, pet toys and even socks (each one brought home on different days).
This was also really cute, Little Golden Books (the mini ones)...Bert and I had fun looking at the titles and recognizing the ones that we own (or used to own).
Livestock - Goats
Small farm animals - Roosters. Boy, were these noisy!
This was the first year we saw the larger livestock in the barn on the easternmost side of the fair.
Stylish goats, wearing some sort of covering.
Goat or sheep setting stands.
We wandered into this building, which we learned was hosting the Beer Festival. This was our view from afar. The entrance fee for this event was $50! So, no for us...
Pig race track ("Swifty Swine"). No pigs though...
The exhibit focused on the history of how folks in America ventured out west. Native American contributions were covered as well (in San Diego, the tribe is the Kumeyaay)...
"Indians" in advertising exhibit:
Live entertainment above...they sang "Oh Susannah" and "Jimmy Crack Corn" to name a few.
Near the bathroom were walls plastered with movie posters with western themes. Heh, "Blazing Saddles", one of Bert's favorites.
"Where the white women at?"
So not PC! Well, that's a Mel Brooks movie for ya!
On another wall was Bert's favorite western movie, "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"...
We took one of our breaks in the Flowers and garden patio...
Succulent wall planter:
Cool metal sculptures:
Landscaping plan for one of the featured gardens:
The trains were fun to watch in this garden set up...
Festive!
One of the vendors in the hall had a plethora of wild Aloha shirts. These were going for $49.95 each.
At Bert's work, every Friday is Hawaiian shirt day. He already has quite a few in his collection but none so wild as these. I really liked the one in the middle with the cute hula girl and tikis.
It's been awhile since we rode the Skyride. As we ascended and I watched our vessel move up the thin cable, I remembered why we stopped going. Just know that I was pretty terrified while on this ride and was hoping I wouldn't drop my camera in fear...
View of the Midway facing south.
Cripes...
Over past the Kids area was the infield farm. They moved World of Horses as well.
I want to try doing this square foot garden idea next spring!
Why can't my chard look like this? :(
The plants below are amaranth (there is another name for it in Tagalog). We have some growing in our backyard but I ended up pulling them out, thinking they were weeds. My mom got upset and told me to leave them there because told me they were actually edible, ha ha.
I always love seeing the beautiful passionfruit flowers. The fruits they bear are so expensive in the stores but taste so good.
Gypsy Time Traveler show. Looks very steampunkish.
Mexican village - I bought beaded earrings from a vendor from Nayarit (will have to post a photo of those beaded earrings later), dramatic white and lavender flowers with drops. They were $20 but worth it due to the intricate beadwork involved.
This year, we took a look at Woodworking, Minerals & Gems and the fine art work.
Woodworkers were also in action.
The Don Diego clock tower was moved to the front near the O'Brien Gate. It was set to be torn down late last year but it was saved and relocated (a video will be linked at the end of this post).
The kids wanted to stay 'til night time to ride the ferris wheel. This gave Bert and a lot of time to see things more in depth this year. We normally don't even stay past 5 pm, so this was new for us...
This dude did the bungee jump plunge...
My favorite colors!
The kids were able to get in their ride (the line was pretty long)...
It was a long but fun day...we had the chance to try a few new foods and some tried and true favorites. TC and her boyfriend also enjoyed themselves.
Link to video about Don Diego clock tower can be seen here
Article about this year's fair theme controversy:
"Fair changes 2017 theme after tribe complains" SD Union-Tribnte, Dec. 27, 2016
You can see the original logo in Cathy's Fair Post Script post
Who else went to the Fair?
Cathy of mmm-yoso brings her unique perspective with her posts:
"Before it Opens..." June 2 and "It's Open!, June 15
[Update Hot off the press! Lynn's recent post, "San Diego Fair 2017 "Where the West is Fun + Taste of the Fair] where she had $3 taster portions for the popular "Taste of the Fair" event.
Parking - Unless you want to fork over $13, I highly suggest parking at the Horse Park and take the free bus ride and enjoy the time spent relaxing while riding to and from the fair.
website:
sdfair.com
Last year's post for "The Sights":
"Mad About the Fair SD Fair 2016" June 2016
Up next...the Food!
2 comments:
Those collections look so cool! I've viewed the artwork section and I remember passing the woodwork and gems exhibits, but where do I find the home and hobby? I also briefly walked into that 'sales' area right next to the gardens. Maybe I need to be more thorough in my search next year!
They were pretty cool, but there have been even more interesting ones in years past as well. Home and Hobby is located in the buildings next to and behind the Plaza House. You should make sure to check it out next year. This is my favorite part of the fair, along with seeing the garden area (of projects I'll never do, but, hey).
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