Kansas

No fairs for 2022, but this is the first of 3 for 2023. It took us two days to get here, including a detour through St. Louis to visit (and ascend) the Gateway Arch. Once we got to Hutchinson, we visited Strataca, which is the underground salt mining museum. Ironically, the Gateway Arch is 630' above ground. Strataca is a trip 650' underground for 2 hours. Quite fun and educational!

The weather for the fair was very pleasant. Just inside the gate we visited the livestock barns, finding that the horses and cattle were mostly gone. There were a few stragglers but those competitions were over, so the barns were quite empty. There were some Llamas in the cattle barn for us to look at, though. On the other hand, the rabbit and poultry barns were quite full and bustling with activity. We enjoyed walking the aisles to look at every adorable bunny. There was also a Birthing Barn with several cows, goats, pigs, etc. Finally, the petting zoo included all the usual animals, and Lisa took way too many pictures there.

Throughout the morning we had to step out of the road, since it was marching band day. Dozens of high school bands were competing, and the sound of the drums could be heard everywhere. Since this is Kansas, there were allusions to the Wizard of Oz everywhere. There was an exhibit building called the Oz Gallery that contained a lot of full sized characters from the film. It contained some amazing artwork, including scuptures, paintings, photos, woodwork pieces, and some really incredible wood carvings.

After a two-year break from the fairs, we found the food prices had really spiked. Lunch was 24 bucks for a single meal which we shared. It included some good BBQ ribs and pulled pork sandwich, and baked beans. It was tasty, but wow $$$. The only other food we had was the obligatory ribbon fries, but they were $9!

The Pride of Kansas building contained the butter sculpture of Amelia Earhart (a Kansas native) and shared the building with the harvest competition (the largest pumpkin was 1233 pounds!). Although this fair did not have the quantity of displays (art, crafts, food, etc.), it was set up very nicely and there were some great quality pieces. The chainsaw sculptures were pretty incredible, and I think the guy stayed at our hotel (his truck is pretty unmistakable).

The 4H building was full of all kinds of prize winning stuff from some very talented kids. 4H projects are really next level compared to when we were kids. From the usual artwork to really high-tech robotics to very crafty woodworking, it was all amazing. Being very tired, we headed for the car via the overhead sky-ride which got us from the back of the fair to the front gates in scenic comfort.

This was also the fair where we got to debut our snazzy new shirts, promoting our www.fairbrowns.com website. No one mentioned our shirts and we didn't make any conversation regarding our bucket list, but I am curious if the website analytics get a bump following this trip.