I took the family to the State Fair with a large group of other families, and a good time was had by all.  It hit a high of around 84 degrees Fahrenheit the whole time, which was fantastic.  Thought I’d mention some highlights:

I hadn’t seen Big Tex since he was redone post his fiery death.   He looks good!  When he talks he now has a rubber face, which is a tad eerie.  He used to have a marionette jaw.  I don’t think any of the links mention that Big Tex was originally a giant display Santa for a Christmas amusement park.  The original far outlived expectations, I’d say.

My photos of Big Tex sucked, so I stole this one. Courtesy Dallas Morning News.  I wonder if he is still pointing to the Masonic greeting hidden at the front gate?

The kids all wanted to go the the petting zoo.  Turned out it was a petting and eating zoo, that talked about the animals we have for breakfast lunch and dinner.  Yum for me, triggering for some!  Cows hanging out next to a fake butcher display with cuts of meat shown was great.  Being the crap photographer I am, I just took a picture of the main entrance.

PET THEM NOW BEFORE THE CLEANSING BEGINS

I was stuck as the center point for all kids to meet during a few hours of midway fun.  As I looked around, i noticed that Alice Cooper’s face was staring at me from the Love Bug ride.  Secrets like that are always fun to find.  I wanted to post a whole section on the Masonic imagery in Fair Park. but I ran short of time to walk around and snap pictures of what remains.  Exposition Park, outside the state fair (Fair Park), looks totally renovated and no doubt all traces of that were removed.  At the front gate are a number of the traditional symbols, and those are also hidden in the masonry of the other buildings. I had a friend who used to do a tour of such things.  If he did a video, he never posted it on YouTube.

Alice Cooper on the left, Christina Aguilera on the right. Somebody has a sense of humor.

The bird show was great.  Falcons, vultures, tropical birds and various trained crows.  Here a falcon lands in the audience.  I like birds of prey.  For a while I had a peregrine falcon that visited my backyard, until it had wiped all mice and rats from the property.

BIRDS

Final visit was to the Magnolia Beer Gardens.  I got to sit in the shade under yellow Shiner Bock umbrellas.  I had several Shiner Octoberfest beers.  I was amazed how few people were there.  Everywhere else was standing room only.

This is the adult Midway.

A good day, overall!  People were even nice on the train up and back from Fair Park. Shocking, in this day and age, where the media would have you believe the world is full of cartoon villains.  In real life, we all look after each other’s kids, says “pardon me” when bumping into other people,  and give up seats for women on the train.