Autumn has arrived in New England. That means pumpkin spice lattes are available at Starbucks, mums are sold outside grocery stores, and town, county, and regional fairs are in full swing on the weekends. My data administrator bid me goodbye on Friday and. said “I’ll see you at the fair.” He was referring to the Deerfield Fair which is held the first weekend in October in Deerfield, NH. Of course, you know by now that if someone mentions an experience then I’m going to be there the next day or the next week. And so it was that I went home and mentioned it to Janet. She thought it would be a fun way to get out of the apartment for a few hours and that’s how we ended up on the fairgrounds on Saturday morning. Deerfield is a tiny hamlet in the woods of New Hampshire, but judging by the line of traffic coming in you’d have thought we were attending Woodstock. Though it was long when we arrived, it was massively longer when we left.

I haven’t been to a fair in decades. When you enter there are competing smells of livestock and fair food. The food won out and we reveled in the aroma of apple crisp, fried dough, and your typical pizza, pretzels, and hot dogs. New Hampshire isn’t the most vaccinated state and there were very few people who practiced any kind of social distancing. It didn’t bother us so bad while we were outside, but going into the exhibit halls did raise the blood pressure a few notches. We enjoyed looking at the flower competitions, the prize cattle and work horses and just wandering through the grounds. We stopped at the edge of the midway because the rides didn’t really interest us. Only later did I learn that the alpacas and the crafts exhibits were on the other side.

The smell of apple crisp finally convinced us we both needed a slice. I got mine with ice cream and we headed to the horse riding arena. to sit and enjoy our treat. Unfortunately a child fell from their horse and stopped the procession. We didn’t see much reason to stay so we made a few more trips down side pathways and decided to call it a morning.

The Deerfield Fair boasts attendees that come back every year. Whether it’s the food, the rides, or just the vibe there is a group of people that just love this atmosphere. It was fun to experience that part of New Hampshire. We’re thinking of next year going to Springfield, MA to the Big E that showcases each state in New England. I don’t know if the fair is my favorite thing to do, but it’s kind of nice to mix things up and have new experiences. After all that’s what we tourists like to do!