The Big E 2013

Since 1975, George and I have attended the The Big (Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield, MA) for all but one year. It's our tradition. Our very first time there together (and George's first time ever) was a month before we got married. We were "talked into" buying a Saladmaster set of pots and pans. I think my parents wondered about our decision making when they learned how much they cost. However, 38 years later, we are still using those pots and pans and they are all in excellent condition. Only the electric frying pan suffered some damage to the cord and had to be replaced, but the rest are indestructible and will out live us for sure.

We have purchased many new products at the Big E and some have been the wonder products that they tout and others have not. You never know. Nowadays, if we had a smart phone, we could google people's reviews but we are not up with the technology yet. There was a pricey item that we plan on googling at home to see what people say. We just dared not base our decision based upon the salesman's wonderful pitch. Even an unsolicited person in the crowd came by and said how much they loved it and we were almost swayed but decided to wait. We know if it is good, it will be back next year or we could buy it for more online. If we really, really want it, maybe we'd have to "suffer" going back to the Big E.

One thing we look forward to every year is the Mt. Moosilauke Candies in the New Hampshire building. Mike recognizes us and we stop to chat a little. He is a wonderful guy. He also owns and operates River Meadow Campground in NH where we have stayed in the most adorable little cabin on the Connecticut River. We really want to go back one day. I guess that will be after my retirement at this rate.

From the first time we had this fudge, we never tried any other and we drool with anticipation over it every year. Creamy and delicious!
When my favorite one was not on display--this gooey chocolate with nuts and caramel in the middle (to die for!), he went to a special stash and got me some. They are also one of the cheaper priced fudges at the fair at $9.95 a pound.

We pestered them for years to sell online and they dabbled in it, but went full speed last year and I did a lot of Christmas shopping there. A portion of the proceeds goes to cancer families, as this has touched them personally.

They are wonderful people and have wonderful products and I encourage everyone to visit their booth! I just can't say enough about them.

Another food tradition at the Big E for us is the Maine baked potato. Here is a picture of one of their masterpieces being created.

 And here is our masterpiece! Ooey, gooey, artery clogging, but oh, so good! It was our breakfast.

 We had such a long but casual day, with a lot of walking but a lot of sitting too, which made it all doable for us old folks. We saw the parade too, this year. George caught a lot of Mardi Gras Beeds which he bestowed upon me.

 These are some random fair shots.

 Often we go and go at the Big E running ourselves ragged, but this year we went to the circus. When I read about the acts performing, I felt good that I would not go away worrying about the treatment of the animals. It was fun to see the Olate Dogs in person after seeing them win America's Got Talent last year. I knew from the TV show just how much they love their dogs. They were so cute and entertaining.

At the circus we also saw a quick change artist, who was amazing, jugglers, the Human Arrow, dancing camels (the only act that made me wince worrying about the treatment of the camels) and a comedic performer All very entertaining and a nice chance for us to rest. We were glad we had the sense to line up almost an hour ahead of time and they let us in early enough for us to have longer to rest.

It was a great day. We thank the Big E for letting veterans in for free the first day. We also found a $3. parking place which was no further to walk than our usual $10. spot! We will go there from now on.

We did buy one new product without reading the reviews and perhaps I will review it at another time.
Food, entrainment and things to buy. Who could ask for more?

Hope you get to go and please go see our friends at Mt. Moosilauke Candies!

Part 2--The Big E

These are the State's Buildings--one for each New England State. We always make our way through each one of these. We used to get a new free highway map for each state, but with map quest and a GPS (though we haven't read the instructions yet), we really don't need too many maps, so we only got a couple. We love to see the products featured in each state from Vermont cheese to Maine potatoes, CT's Lego's (this year they had a Lego Indiana Jones), etc.

One must for us is Mt. Moosilauke fudge in the New Hampshire building. These people appear to only sell the fudge at the Big E and don't care about getting any bigger. We think their fudge is fantastic and yet happily for us, they price themselves cheaper than any others. Every year we treat ourselves. This year I got chocolate peanut caramel (Yummm!!) and George got vanilla. We have never been disappointed in them--except we keep asking them to get a website or catalog so that we can order their fudge other times of the year. Oh, well. It's an extremely special treat for us once a year.

We usually get a Maine baked potato with the works. They actually give you almost a potato and a half with butter, sour cream, cheese and bacon bits for $5. This is such a popular item that if you will click on the top right picture, you will see the canopies---in there is a line that goes up and down in four rows and as you can see the line is continued outside. This is all for just the potatoes. This is the longest line we ever saw-we always started under the canopy in the past, so this year we passed on it.

We even had to pass on a couple of state buildings but a few hours later when the parade started, we were able to go back because they weren't as crowded.

Next post will continue more about our annual pilgrimage.