Big Day in the Country!

As soon as I saw that there'd be pig racing, I knew that I had to check out the Queens County Farm Fair this past weekend. I really don't know much about Queens other than Lefrak City, where I lived as a tiny child and the airports, so I wasn't sure how far Floral Park was. Lucky for the big guy and I, our friends Jannese and Debra are also animal dorks and volunteered to drive because damn, it is way the hell out there.

But boy oh boy, was it worth the trip. . . .

The ladies and the gent needed some food after the long drive, so we went straight to the Bavarian Tent where we found a most excellent Irish step dancing show in progress! After all, it wouldn't be a fair without dancing! And, it being New York City and all, pretty much none of the dancers appeared to be Irish (though I could be wrong about that)

There were pony rides! However, there was also a weight limit of 75 pounds, which sadly, as I'd scarfed a piece of fair strudel, I was just a hair over. Ahem.

This is some prize-winning squash. I know it's not terribly exciting, but isn't it cool that there's prize-winning vegetation happening in Queens? There were also tomatoes and other veggies, and some cakes and preserves as well.

Look how happy this kid is. He's got a lollipop and he's holding a little corn snake. I almost wrote corn snack, but it's actually a snake. We asked one of the owners daughters what they fed them, naively thinking it'd be lettuce or some crap like that. She said "pinkies." I asked what pinkies were and apparently they're frozen baby mice.

Though this snake is about as cute as snakes get (which isn't very), having to buy frozen baby mice to feed it put me right off. Also, you'll note that I actually took a picture of a kid, even though I'm not usually a kid person. We discovered that it's actually NYC kids and their annoying parents that are the problem. All the kids at this fair were very nice and well-behaved.

Here's that same snake slithering between mine and Jannese's hands. It was  smooth and cool and kind of nice to hold for about five seconds. Then I remembered it ate tiny frozen baby mice and handed it back to our new little friend.

See what a big softy I become after a day at the fair? Yet another kid picture, this one holding his prize winning fancy chicken.

Sadly, this tale doesn't end so well. I asked the young man if I could take his photo and he proudly agreed. Unfortunately, it hadn't even occurred to this city slicker that the flash might freak the chicken out. So as soon as I snapped it, the chicken jumped out of his arms, and made a run for it. The kid tore after it and when his mother asked what had happened, he told her "That lady flashed us." Ouch!

Last we saw there were several people in hot pursuit and I skulked out before anyone could yell at me. Oops.

Comments

[Paul]

Ok, what's the difference between Queens and Queens county? My NYC geograpy is shiite. They're different places, I assume.

[Judy McCorrected]

Good point, they're the same place and both in NYC. I just meant the kids didn't seem like the spoiled Manhattan/Brownstone Brooklyn brats you usually come across. These kids were more normal--not five-year-olds already on the Ivy League track.

[kate]

you "flashed" them! bwahaha!

this sounds terrific. i love the prize-winning squash.