Sunday, May 04, 2008

A Cotton Pickin' Minute

Saturday, the Hipps family headed to beautiful downtown Gay, GA for the annual Cotton Pickin' Fair.

My sister-in-law, Lynley, is a part of the Chattahoochee Valley Cloggers, who were performing at the end of the day.
We left the house at around 1 PM, imagining we'd arrive between 2:30 and 3, but not really having much of an idea of how long it would take. It took a LONG time. It was a significantly longer drive than we had realized, for one thing. And, once we got off the Interstate, traffic was particularly stop-and-go as at least 15 out of every 16 houses was having a yard sale, right on the side of the highway. I think we finally arrived about 3:45, but my brain was suffering a yard-sale induced overload by that time, so it could have been days later.

Upon arrival, we met up with my folks. Maggie went almost immediately to the pony rides, while Daniel opted for the more expensive Super-Tramp bungee trampoline. This was followed by a train ride for just the two of them, wherein someone with a clear financial interest in the event took the kids on a tour of all the various craft tents while, presumably, subtly suggesting to them that what they really want most in life is something from every one. All I know for sure is that, as soon as the ride was over, Maggie wanted to make a bracelet and Daniel wanted to buy a sword.

Finally, it was time for the clogging to begin. I'd never known what clogging is, really. My initial impression was that it's sort of a cross between tap dancing and country line dancing, with the tap aspects being much more prominent. It was actually a pretty cool performance (Maggie especially seemed to enjoy it; Daniel stood next to the seating area quietly putting his sword into the back of his shirt and quickly bringing it out again in a heroic manner), and it was great to see my relatively new sister-in-law in action. The clogging ended at 5, as did the rest of the fair, and man, when they called time that place cleared out. I guess sitting or standing around all the live-long day had taken its toll on folks, because the parking lot was almost empty by the time we realized everyone was leaving. Crazy.

One final note: on the way home, we got to stop at one of the Chick-fil-A Dwarf House restaurants. I don't think they've told the cows about these restaurants; I base this on the greatly expanded menu available, including burgers and outright steak. The kids loved the cool door, and I got to try the new Coffee Caramel milkshake (available only for a limited time! Act now!). The End.


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