2010 NC State Fair in Review

Went a total of four times this year - all four were fantastic, per the usual.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/ncsulilwolf/sets/72157625109184059/

Tuesday: The boys wanted to go for dinner. Saw a cow utterly object (nice play on words, right?) to practicing in the show circle any longer by hopping over the fence and running out of the building... with about 10 folks chasing her. Classic! Kicking myself for being too engaged in watching the action to take a video or get a picture of this.

Thursday: We went again for dinner, dragged Little Sister along for the fun, too. It was Can Day, but we forgot to help out this great cause and just paid at the gate. (Darn it!)

Saturday: Saw Hoooootie! (Aka: Darius Rucker). One of the best country shows I've seen in quite some time. Included Darius songs, a Toby Keith song ("God Love Her"), a few classic country hits, and three Hootie hits. Perfection!

Sunday: Breakfast and lunch with the family - NC State fair style! Did the Turkey Shoot. I missed the entire paper target, naturally.

Got a little education in under my belt, too - courtesy of this Deep Fried (NC State Fair) blog post:

NC is ranked 2nd in egg production in the U.S.
NC produces about 25% of the nation’s Christmas Trees
NC grows 45% of the nation’s sweet potatoes…Also, I found the following items to be newly-vegetarian approved at this year's State Fair (in no particular order):Mt. Olive pickles, peanuts, fried pickles, fried Oreos, fried honey buns, Al's French Fries, candy apples, egg biscuits, hush puppies, veggie plate at the Amran Shriners tent, etc.
PS - I also just read that the NC State Fair had 1,000,000 visitors this year... a NC State Fair First!

I Hate the Cold

Never fails, when the fair makes it to town... it'll get cold! (Usually, it's warm in the the day and cold at night - meaning you have to drag a coat around all day to avoid evening freezing, but it's downright cold in the day already. BOO!)

Just FYI, I heart the NC State Fair. Nick and I will be going at least twice. NEB, Grubey, Mom, Mandy, and I started off the 2009 State Fair last Thursday with Jason Michael Carroll. He had a great opening act - Patrick Davis (@pdmusic).


Friday NEB, Adrianne, and Adrianne's YM (reference: Yankee Manfriend), and I left for Charlotte. We stayed with Bri and Drew (can't wait for them to move to Raleigh!) and Cole and Lindsey met us on Saturday afternoon.






The race would've been great, if I wasn't FUH-REEEEZING. Seriously, I had LOTS o' layers on and was too cold to drink more than 1 Beergarita. Lame.

Here's hoping for warmer weather for Eric Church's show!

Zac Brown Band Coming to Cary

It's a little messed up that they backed out of the State Fair, but I guess I won't hold a grudge... and will still put their next local show on my calendar.

Via ZBB email today:

The Breaking Southern Ground Tour 2009
Kicking off September 24th in Cary, NC.

Tickets on sale August 14th, 2009
(Thanks for the advance notice guys... *insert sarcastic look here*.)Thank goodness it's a Thursday concert and doesn't interfere with weddings (Nikki and Randy's that weekend) and wait for it... college football (NCSU vs. Pittsburgh)!

Thrilled!

This fall is going to be one heck of a concert season, all in one NC State Fair's span, too!

If you don't want to watch the whole video, here's the country-heavy (and very much Lisa approved) lineup:

Thursday 10/15 - Jason Michael Carroll($5)

Friday 10/16 - Third Day ($15)

Saturday 10/17 - Kellie Pickler ($10)

Sunday 10/18 - Nat and Alex ($10)

Monday 10/19 - Jamey Johnson ($5)

Tuesday 10/20 - The Temptations ($10)

Wednesday 10/21 - Julianne Hough ($5)

Friday 10/23 - Jeremy Camp w/ 10th Avenue North ($10)

Saturday 10/24 - Blake Shelton ($10)

Sunday 10/25 - Eric Church ($5)
Tickets go on sale Aug. 3rd at 10am. You will also need admission tickets to the fair to get into any show.

Seriously though, DO NOT MISS your chance to see JMC, Jamey, Blake, and Eric for $25. Might as well get Julianne, Kellie, and Temptation tickets, too since you'll be saving so much ;-)

PS - Thursday, Oct. 22 is intentionally blank because the artist has backed out of their contract. The State Fair is working on a replacement.

Recognize that Little Curly-Haired Girl?

Readers of the NC State Fair's blog may have recognized a familiar face yesterday!

http://2008ncstatefair.blogspot.com/2008/09/fair-fan-lisa-jeffries.html

(Note: Fall 1987 was just before the first appearance of my younger sister, Mandy.)Check out some of our family's fair pictures from the 22+ years we've been going together (18 since my sister was born) in the following slideshow.

View Album

Get your own

The NC State Fair - definitely one of my favorite family pastimes!

Halloween in Wolfpack Country

I loooooove Halloween - and all that it entails: decorating, parties, costumes, and other devilishly fun stuff.

This is must-have for any Wolfpack household. ESPECIALLY the house divided so that the significant other never forgets which team is really tops. ;-)

(FootballFanatics.com)Thanks to CottonCandy from the NC State Fair blog for sharing this great pumpkin carving tool!

Facebook vs. MySpace

Dear facebook,

You are SO much better than MySpace.
Just wanted to make sure you are aware of that.

Love,
LisaWhile yes, I do have MySpace (it's necessary in the marketing/social media/bar industries unfortunately), I hate it. It's so abused and full of crap, spam, and people who don't know how to write literate messages thanks to text messaging that it's nearly impossible to use without frustration every time you log on. UGH.

Clearly, everyone else is starting to see things the way I do. Even the venues and associations are starting to take notice and respond accordingly!

Proof? Previously referenced events (many times over): Beer, Bourbon & BBQ on facebook and NC State Fair on facebook with a profile and concert events.

Yay!

Country Music Junkie

...and proud of it!

I was really excited to see the line-up for the State Fair - especially Lady A and Heidi (I'm in love with "Johnny & June"):

Rites of fall: NC State Fair
Feel that nip in the air? The 2008 NC State Fair gets underway in a mere 92 days, and the concert lineup (which is, as usual, heavy on the country) has been released. Online ticket sales start Aug. 1 , and the lineup is below. Scope the details here.

Oct. 16 -- Josh Turner
Oct. 17 -- Jason Aldean
Oct. 18 -- Toby Mac
Oct. 19 -- Lady Antebellum and Heidi Newfield
Oct. 20 -- Bobby Flay
Oct. 21 -- Bucky Covington
Oct. 22 -- TBA
Oct. 23 -- Mario
Oct. 24 -- Leeland
Oct. 25 -- Joe Nichols
Oct. 26 -- Montgomery GentryLooks like I'll be attending the fair nearly every evening!

Oooh... and we can take Mom and Dad to Bobby Flay... wonder if he'll do a local showdown while he's here?