Two old geezers pulled up to the Coastal Carolina Fair with a wide-eyed 3 year old great-grandbaby in tow.
Like all the people we said we weren't going to be like when we got old, here we were indeed, arriving at our destination early, like when restaurants start serving dinner at 4, the matinee movies at 10, and — when the fair gate opens.
The flagman kept moving us further and further away from the entrance. My feet started hurting just thinking of the walk.
Tinley was fixated on the towering Ferris Wheel before we even got her out of the car seat. Rather than follow the crowd walking (who might be lost) I asked the flagman where the nearest entrance was. He directed us to a tunnel that went under the road very near us. Score!
Tinley said "Scary" when we entered the dark tunnel. I saw a shadow of something large lying in the middle of the pathway. Please don't let this be a dead animal, I thought to myself. I laughed when I made out what it was and then I got sad. Someone dropped their $15 turkey leg. It looked like they were on their first bite too.
Waves of nostalgia overcame me when we walked through the gates. I don't care how old you are when you go to the fair, when you pass through the gates and smell the combo of fried everything, you are 10 again.
Little Miss Tinley marched us right up to the Ferris Wheel, first thing. But the two old geezers with bladders the size of walnuts had to find the restrooms right off the bat. She was patient in the line as we waited our turn to board, grinning from ear to ear when she clamored into a bench.
I sat across from Don and his great-grand. 62 years separate them. She doesn't know this, she thinks we are 12 years old.
That 15 minute Ferris Wheel Ride was amazing. 39 years replayed with each belly flop at the top. I remembered my young hubby, our first date, right here. I was a single mom with two little girls not much older than Tinley. We rode the Ferris Wheel that night. I can see their eyes today in Tinley's as we made each loop. I also remembered my middle aged hubby with our first granddaughter, Tinley's mama, on this ride. And here we are today with Tinley, our third generation little girl is giggling with us.
Tinley is fearless for such a tiny tot. She barely comes in at 30 pounds and almost a foot too short for all of the rides she wants to ride.
Don has vertigo now and could barely watch us go by in the tea cups and bumble bee's and various kiddie rides.
While I knew she was having a blast, all of these seemed too tame for the little one who had her eyes on the roller coaster nearby. The screams coming from the ride made her laugh. When we got off of the BumbleBee (which was too much for me) she headed straight to the roller coaster. We showed her she was too short and she didn't grumble, but wanted to sit and watch them as they zoomed by. She said "Here we go '' and "Scream" as they changed passengers 3 times. Finally I saw the operator let a very young child get on with his father. I thought we could try it, I grabbed Tinley's hand and we hurried up the ramp. I could feel her little heart pounding as I held her like a mama bear. She indeed screamed as we whizzed by her Paw Paw over and over. The grin on her face was permanent for an hour. Her first roller coaster!
We rode two sheets of tickets out. I had a couple left and we headed to the pony carousel. A man held out a handful of tickets to Don and told him that they were leaving and we should use them. Don thanked him and we didn't think anything more of it.
We boarded the ponies on the carousel. A Hispanic man came up and wanted to put his daughter beside us on a pony, he asked with his eyes, I answered with the shake of my head. The music started, the ride jerked and around we went, the ponies climbed their poles going up and down. I was looking for Don as we passed to get her to wave and when I looked back at Tinley, she had stuck her arm out to the little girl to hold her hand. They rode like that for several rounds.
When we got off the carousel, Tinley headed to the gate, just done. No whining, no crying, just done. Don asked me for the tickets that were left and went to a father in the crowd and gave them to him. Tinley held her hand out for "tix'' as well. I gave her the little advertising part of the tickets that I was saving to put in a journal to her Mimi in heaven. She held them in her hand tightly, I was pretty sure that I would get them back when she went to sleep in the car seat on the way home. But, that wasn't the case. When we hit the fairway, Tinley picked out a couple and stopped them in their tracks, holding out the tickets/not tickets. I explained to the couple that they weren't tickets but she thought they were and wanted them to have them. They thanked her and she beamed. As we walked down the last feet of the boulevard, Tinley looked up at all of the colors and waving banners for this and that and smiled.
We headed back into the tunnel to leave. The turkey drumstick was gone, but its memory remains and it will end up in a conversation somewhere years from now, "Do you remember the time at the fair that..."
Tinley went to sleep within minutes of getting in the car. I didn't have any ephemera to paste into the journal, but what I had was better. Don and I held hands as we pulled out, "What an awesome day" I told him. We recounted little clips of the day, I told him Tinley gave away her "tix."
"Yes, I saw her holding that little girl's hands too, kids show us what the world can really be like." he said.
The fair will be over soon, the fairway will resemble the boulevard of broken dreams; spilled fries, squished packages of ketchup, sticky everything, lost tickets trampled into the ground and yes, even turkey legs.
Such is life, such is the fair. It is magical, wonderful and scary. Today I think I caught the brass ring.
