Getting in touch with what fairs are all about. If you’re wondering, the shirt says “ENGLISH IS IMPORTANT, BUT HISTORY IS IMPORTANTER.” Which of course is very true.

I used to always go to the State Fair. Especially when we lived in Kansas, where farming was such a HUGE deal. You may know that Kansas grows the most winter wheat in the country, but did you know it has the third most cattle, after Texas and Nebraska? In Kansas, the Fair was such a huge deal that when I was there, the Wichita paper parked a trailer there in Hutchinson (53 miles away), full of reporters and photographers, for the duration.

When I came to The State in 1987, there was no need for trailers, since the Fairgrounds were right across the street — and in easy walking distance even after we moved to the new building (which is now crumbling in decay). It still got fairly decent coverage, but not as much as in Kansas, because farming isn’t as big a deal in South Carolina. People here are far more interested in what goes on in that stadium that loomed over the old newspaper building.

But I still loved going to the Fair. I don’t normally enjoy walking around through crowds of people, but the Fair has always been an exception. And for years, as my kids grew up, and then when our grandchildren were young, we went every year. But we haven’t gone that often in recent years, as grandchildren have moved into adolescence and beyond. They still go, just with their friends.

But this year, I DID go twice — once with my wife last Sunday night, and once with my youngest daughter on Friday. And a fine time was had by each of us. We didn’t stay long, but we touched the main bases, which for me are:

• The art competitions in the Cantey Building.
• The prizewinning row crops — watermelons, pumpkins, sweet potatoes and such.
• The farm animals in their buildings on the eastern side of the fairgrounds.
• Fiske Fries (twice)
• Cotton Candy (also twice, getting a monstah bag the second time because I was wearing one of my Red Sox hats).

You’ll note that there were no rides on the list. Also, the activities (aside from fries and cotton candy) were free. Our admission was also free. The first time because we wore our Walk for Life shirts, and the second time because we did the lunch deal. Two hours is plenty enough time for me to do what I go there for.

How about you? Did you go? How did you spend your time? How was it?

There are ways to avoid the crowds. There was a slight drizzle — a mist, really — falling on the first Sunday night. This in no way diminished my enjoyment. Note that my Walk for Life shirt clashes a bit with my rain jacket, but hey — it got me in free.