Further Afield

Fair is Fair

Story By Dale Irvin
The wine tastings and Sustainable Energy
Pavillion may be a far cry from the fairs of my
youth, but the sights and smells of the the
animal barns bring back fond memories.
I grew up in rural Iowa, just down the road from the county fairgrounds. So the county fair was a huge deal in our lives. It was at a place and time when even as kids we could safely walk to the fairgrounds on our own and wander about enthralled for hours. We even once had a pet monkey who appeared in a tree in our backyard just after the fair, escaped we suspect, from the corresponding carnival show that had just packed up and left. (Squirrel monkeys, by the way, make terrible pets. Cute on first impression, they’re actually filthy nasty creatures.)

So my fondness for fairs lingers to this day, fairs of all sorts. Whirling lights and barker’s calls of big carnival attractions.

It’s fair time again, just when there’s a particularly attractive attractive airfare to Portland, which is just down the road from the Oregon State Fair in Salem. A state fair I suspect quite different those of my experience, with events like a wine tasting, featuring more than 200 vintages, with paired hors d’oeuvres from Oregon’s top chefs. Quite a departure from the humble pie tastings back home.

The fair’s Sustainable Energy Center, with exhibits that highlight solar, wind, wave/tidal, geothermal, and biomass renewal fuels, is a far cry from the carbon-based fuel guzzling tractor pulls of my youth. There’s a Beer Garden, a staple at many state fairs, but this one of course offers micro-brews.

Nonetheless, it’s a fair. Still complete with FFA animal shows and cotton candy along with it’s more contemporary inclusions.

And you can fly to Portland beginning later this month for about $185 plus taxes, roundtrip from New Orleans. I even found this fare on travel dates that bracketed the Labor Day weekend, by leaving the Wednesday before and returning the Wednesday after. I once again recommend the flexible search tool at www.travelocity.com to find available seats.

More musings on my blog HERE.