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Friday, April 26, 2013

Sparkles and Boots

Cowboy hats. Cowboy boots. Sparkly jeans and huge belt buckles.
We finally arrived in Texas. Stereotypical Texas where the smokers were going...smoke pouring out spreading the aroma of delicious smoked brisket or ribs or turkey legs...
 We had entered the Galveston County Fair...so so different than any county fair I have ever been to.
First off, it is only April. It must be to dang hot for the fair in August. Next, beer. They have beer for sale and you can just drink it all over the fair, just like a lemonade. And next... that delicious smell of smoked foods... We went to track it down, only to find that there are private parties set up at the fair. Parties with big smokers going. There were quite a few of these parties, surrounded by fencing with fancy entrances, complete with a cop to keep you out, if you weren't invited. What??
  No smoked goodness for us. I  settled for a deep fried Twinkie...ok, Cloud Cake since there are no more Twinkies. Yes, Gross. I knew it would be, but, it was the spirit of the fair...I was so  filled with the Spirit...and then the twinkie.
  The Galveston County Fair does not have a demolition derby like most of the other county fairs I've been to. Here, they have a rodeo. A real rodeo complete with bull riding, barrel racing, bronco riding, and even a rodeo clown. The crowd was just as entertaining as the actual rodeo. Everyone was out dressed in their finest.  It was a people watching dream...
 Then there was the skill. It was a junior rodeo, so the contestants were all young, teenagers mostly. I love to watch kids with skill. These kids could ride, and they could ride well. and you could see the pride they felt. That was what I loved about the rodeo.


Get a Turkey leg on the way to fair. We should have.

What we didn't win in the raffle. Oh we wanted to bring this home badly.



Not the yummiest beer.


private party











Boots and a forsaken cookie.


5 comments:

  1. you are really great at taking pictures! Could have told you about needing a ticket to the parties. We have to ask around everywhere to get as many tickets as possible to parties at the Houston rodeo cookoff. The best thing is that when you get a ticket(s) its free beer (not the yummiest).

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  2. i'm having a good time trying to imagine how you got some of those photos...you know i want the stories!! amazing faces. i would have tried the deepfried twinkie too...tonight we wandered into a sweet shop on the street with about 50 different versions of baklava...yowza, so sweet!
    xo
    d - in bethlehem tonight

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  3. Great photos, Tokarz! I agree with D - I want to know about the conversations you had with the people who let you take photographs of them. I used to work county fairs in eastern Washington, doing science shows. There was a nice mix of main event entertainments: demolition derby, rodeo, and moto-cross. That was the place to witness local celebrity and all the relationships involved. The coolest rodeo event was the "Pony Express": a four lap horse race in which the rider had to change horses with each lap. It was anyone's guess who was going to win. So exciting!

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  4. Good morning!!! Loved the pictures!!! Love your blog!! Love YOU!!! Smoooooch!!
    Your Mother. :)

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  5. Gorgeous pics!! Glad your family and my family have reunited - even for just a short time. They sure do miss you!!

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