So with summer comes the fun of the local fairs and carnivals, and the James City County Fair was held this past weekend at Chickahominy Riverfront Park. This was the first time I’d been to a “real” county fair, with a petting zoo, 
vegetable, fruit, jam, <insert name of any baked good here> judging, tractor pulls and lawn mower races, and it was a lot of fun. A bunch of us rode our bikes to the fair because 1) good exercise and 2) didn’t have to pay for parking. We watched the tractor pull for a while then wandered around the various booths, had some fair food, watched a few lawn mower races and finished off the afternoon with a funnel cake. A most excellent way to spend a summer afternoon.
On a similar train of thought with fairs and carnivals, I remember that it was at the Dalton, Pennsylvania carnival that I rode my first “real” roller-coaster (albeit a very small one) with my grandfather when I was 5 or 6 (he loved riding roller coasters, even into his 70s). Of course I’ve been addicted to roller-coasters ever since (Busch Gardens season pass anyone?) but some of the other rides at carnivals are really great too. Anyone remember (and I think they still have) the ride that’s one big open cylinder that spins around really fast and it’s just centrifugal force that holds you in place while the ride tilts around, that one’s pretty fun especially when you try to lift your arm or leg against all the force. 
They used to have a similar ride at Kings Dominion years ago called Time Shaft that was indoors and as it was spinning the floor would drop from underneath your feet and you’d just be kinda suspended in midair, pretty cool (apparently the technical name of that kind of ride is a rotor ride), but it’s long gone unfortunately.
Man, now I want to go ride roller coasters…maybe this weekend.
