[But only if you’re smart enough to take your wife (and not eat tooo much of the food)]!
My BBL and I managed to squeeze in about 7 hours at the Great State Fair of Texas a few days before it ended for the purposes of:
Enjoying an absolutely beautiful outdoor October afternoon, and
Ride the huge Texas Star Ferris Wheel, and of course
Savor our 2010 Fletcher’s Corny Dog, and
Sample one of the newest confectionary Fair concoctions – fried Oreo cookies!
I’m happy to report we accomplished all of these objectives (and we are still alive). Unexpectedly, we also thoroughly enjoyed a couple of other experiences, namely:
Discovery Gardens and the Butterfly House (we must be getting old), and
The Russian Bar Troupe (three talented folks from Quebec–go figure).
However, our most favorable unexpected experience was when we visited an unusual booth in the Texas Food Pavilion (after sampling some Nolan Ryan’s sausage). It was displaying signs proclaiming “Your Father was wrong – money does grow on trees” and “Texas’ Best Cash Crop.” Because there was a non-existent crowd around this booth, I sauntered up and inquired about its purpose. The lone worker somewhat boringly explained that Texas has a great amount of unclaimed property which they would willingly return to its rightful owner, pending due process of proper ID, claim, etc.
Intrigued, I asked him to enter my name (18 letters + a space) into his laptop. Nada. I asked him to do it again, since his attitude and the number of keystrokes could easily have produced an error. Zilch. I had struck out.
Enter my BBL (who had been off on her own sampling a quesadilla). She quickly grasped the concept and asked the worker if he could just search by surname. While I suspect she was really trying to see if her or our kids’ names popped up, I struck pay dirt. First initial, middle initial, surname = $75 (a rebate from a computer accessories firm that probably dated back a dozen years or so).
We figure our net gain will be about $10 after deducting parking, admission, food, drink, rides, etc. After factoring in gas, tolls and inflation, it might even be breakeven – but good fortune nonetheless, thanks to my BBL. But a coronary from the corny dogs or the Oreo’s would definitely wipe out any benefit! Live and learn: my tactic for the next visit is to eat healthier and go for the fried chef’s salad with dressing on the side!
And, of course, I will check out the Texas’ Best Cash Crop booth again.
