Hello Friends and Family,

Link to this year's index by clicking here.


Maui County Fair — Rides, Food Court and Livestock Tent

As I have mentionted before, one of my favorite things to do on Maui is attending the County Fair. It has a long history — the 2016 version was the 94th edition. Obviously, if you wish to attend, you have to schedule your Maui vacation for the dates when the Fair is being held. Usually it is scheduled for the first full weekend in October, although scheduling conflicts may require the dates be plus or minus a week. Just search online for "Maui County Fair", get the dates and schedule your visit to the Valley Isle. Of course, if that is too complicated, simply move to Maui then you'll likely be there on the scheduled dates.

I've already shared my favorite attraction, the orchid show — but Johnny's favorite attractions are the rides. A new system was in place this year from the traveling vendor, E. K. Fernandez Shows, Inc. — you have to purchase a card with credits for rides, games and food within the rides area (food in the Food Court is cash only — confused? Join the club). Each ride has a price and that is deducted from the balance on the card. So we purchased a card for Johnny with a $20 balance. He then headed for the rides and I headed for the orchid show — after designating a meeting place in case we had difficulty communicating by cell phone.

When I came back from the orchid show, I took a few photos of the rides while I kept my eye out for my little buddy. I was certain he would not be here at the Ferris Wheel — too tame.



And I doubted he would be on the Zipper, he and Mizuki rode it two years ago and she nearly got sick. He wouldn't want to take a chance on a similar outcome.


Finally I found him around the Fire Ball and yep, he had ridden it several times.


I asked him if he rode the Pharaoh's Fury and he said "No", because the ride is too short and he did not want to waste his credits. I like the way this young man thinks.


Eventually, he used up most of his credits on rides but he still had 20 left, not enough for a ride. So we wandered into the game tent and he spent his 20 credits on a milk bottle game — all you needed to do was throw a ball at three bottles stacked up on a table and knock all three off.

He watched for a few minutes while others tried it and failed. He then figured out that he needed to hit the two at the bottom of the pyramid — which he did successfully, knocking all three bottles off the table and winning this huge, colorful stuffed Chameleon. It was too much to carry so we took a quick walk to our rental car and threw it in the trunk.


All that excitement left us hungry so we visited the food court. Johnny is not so adventurous so he went with a plain cheeseburger. I enjoyed a cone of chow fun followed by a plate of kalbi ribs with a side of potato macaroni salad.


One "adventurous" food Johnny will eat is malasadas. These are originally from Portugal and are similar to donuts that most of us are familiar with, except no holes. They are freshly cooked in hot oil then sprinkled with granulated sugar. A half dozen to a bag, $4.00 per bag, two bags (Johnny wanted his own) — perfect treat for dessert. (Be sure to shake the bag to get as much sugar on the malasadas as possible.)


Eventually we wondered over to the Livestock Tent. Being a city boy, Johnny is not very knowledgeable about where our food comes from. His main impression? Stinky!


Many of these animals are being shown by 4H kids. Here a couple of ponies — to me they look like Shetland ponies.


Next were pheasants...


...followed by goats...


... and a rabbit.


Outside the Livestock Tent was a Paniolo (Hawaiian cowboy) showing kids how to use a lasso to catch a heifer. Johnny actually did quite well, lassoing the wooden cow on his third attempt.


On a subsequent day, Johnny brought two friends he met at Napili Beach (earlier in the trip) back to the condo to show them the chameleon that he had won at the Fair. We had tried to meet them at the Fair but they were unable to find transportation. Regardless, I think they were as happy for Johnny as if they had won the stuffed animal themselves.

To be continued...

Life is good.

Aloha,
B. David

P. S., All photos and text © B. David Cathell Photography, Inc. — www.bdavidcathell.com