the altamont fair

I've been going to the Altamont Fair since before I can remember. If there was one thing I could count on every summer growing up, it was that Mom and Dad would take my brother, sister, and I to the fair. Of course, when I was younger, I had no concept of time so every year it was a great surprise when mom and dad would announce that it was fair day!

Before this past weekend, I hadn't been to the Altamont Fair in at least 4 years. So when M's friend told us he would be taking his son to the fair, and M agreed we'd meet them there I was so happy!

The Altamont Fair did something a little different this year. I guess the idea was to appeal to the people looking for some "recession buster" fun. Normally, you pay a small fee to park, pay a small admission fee, pay for ride tickets, pay for food, pay for games, pay for any little chatchki you may feel the need to purchase. But this year the Altamont Fair was offering a deal for the masses: pay $15 per person and that one flat rate includes: parking for your car, admission, AND UNLIMITED FREE RIDES!

Sounds like a great deal, right?

I thought so until we made our way to the midway and saw that the lines to get on rides were longer than the lines at Disney World. I guess when people don't have to be stingy with your expensive ride tickets they go all out. Because of the ridiculous lines, M and I only made it on to one ride: Sea Ray. The giant ship that goes back and forth. And we only went on that ride because our friend's son wanted to ride it and his dad didn't want to go on that one.

The rest of the fair seemed to have a lot less...THINGS than previous years too. It was actually pretty disappointing, and after buying food for each of us, we ended up spending about $60 to walk around, people watch, and ride one ride. That's a pretty steep price for our current budget. Infact, before getting the call to go to the fair, we were planning on getting dinner at a chinese buffet, and THAT was going to be stretching the budget.

Despite being an overpriced disappointment, it was fun to hang out with our friends and walk around. But we left the fair with the distinct feeling that we were kind of ripped off.

So, unfortunately, this will probably be the last hurrah for me and the Altamont Fair.