|
INDIO,
Calif. -- Hundreds,
if not, thousands of couples made it a "date" at the
69th Annual Riverside County Fair and National Date Festival on
Valentine's Day.
"What
are dates? I've never had a date before, I swear over my life,"
said attendee Garrett Johnson from Oceanside. "It feels great,
nice and hot outside with cold beer."
Dates
are fruits that look like grapes, but taste a lot like raisins.
They can be found on date palm trees throughout the desert.
"Awesome,
fun, we rode a couple of kiddie rides," said Nicole Conrad,
an attendee from Indio. "We saw the snakes, walk around all
of the booths. We're going to see the monster trucks and ride
the rides. We haven't tried any of the bacon-wrapped stuff, but
we may."
At
the fair, I had the rare opportunity to see a date shake being
made. It's a top-secret recipe.
"We
can't wait to get to some of those dates," said attendee
Karen Barone from Crestline. "So far, we've just had some
of the food. We plan on attending the monster truck activity with
our kids. We only got here an hour ago. We had food and now the
kids are in the petting zoo. I ate the fried artichoke sandwich,
it was delicious. We're going to go for the deep-fried snickers
pretty soon."
The county
fair offers tons of activities designed to appeal to everyone.
It features a petting zoo, lots of amusement rides and games,
all of the fried food you can handle and free entertainment throughout
the day.
"Its
a great, it's a really cute idea, I think," said Sabrina
Gold, an attendee from Santa Monica. "No, we haven't gone
on any rides yet. He wants to go on the big ball one. There's
like a hamster cage ball thing in water. I had some fish tacos
and corn on the cob."
There
was sign for the world's smallest horse so I just had to check
it out.
"He's
an extremely small, miniature horse, of course," said Anna
with Hedrick's Zoo Crew. "He's a little tiny fella that fits
in this little tiny trailer that we've got over here."
With
performances by Brett Eldredge last Saturday and with Andy Grammer
performing this Friday, the county fair offered a taste of what's
to come to Indio at the upcoming Coachella Valley Music and Arts
Festival and the Stagecoach Country Music Festival.
"It's
been fun so far, we got here an hour ago and we're going to see
Brett Eldredge tonight," said Lindsay Mathers from Orange.
"We may go on one ride. The food is good so far."
There
are several ways to get free or discounted admission to the fair.
Veterans and three guests are admitted free with proper identification.
Bring in a proof of purchase from O'Reilly Auto Parts to get in
free on Thursday. On Friday, admission is only $5 thanks to a
promotion with Fantasy Springs Resort Casino.
"We've
only been here five minutes and we came straight to the food,"
said attendee Brian Monks from Desert Hot Springs. "I'm eating
a foot-long sausage. No matter what fair I go to, I always get
the sausages. I saw the bacon-wrapped jalapenos and that's it.
My stomach can't handle that."
"We're
going to see Brett Eldredge, that's why we're here, we're just
looking at the llamas right now," said attendee Heather Harwood
from Cherry Valley. "No, we don't do rides. We're on the
way to get some corn."
Her
husband, Chris, added: "I'm just happy to be here with my
wife. So far, I've ate a tri-tip sandwich, shrimp cocktail, lemonade."
What about all of the bacon-wrapped stuff that clogs your arteries?
"That will be for dinner."
Daily
admission is $9 for adults, $8 for seniors (55+), $7 for kids
(6-12), free for children (5 and under) and veterans). Parking
is $8 per day or $12 per day in preferred parking, closer to the
gates. The Riverside County Fairgrounds are located at 82-503
Hwy 111 Indio, CA 92201.
For
more information or to purchase tickets to the Riverside County
Fair & National Date Fest, visit www.datefest.org.
Related
Stories: PHOTOS:
Hot Chelle Rae performs at 66th Annual Riverside County Fair and
National Date Festival in Indio, CA
| |
| PHOTO
BY JASON RZUCIDLO / ©AMERICAJR.com |
Bacon-wrapped
turkey legs
| |
| PHOTO
BY JASON RZUCIDLO / ©AMERICAJR.com |
Is
this the world's smallest horse? Maybe
| |
| PHOTO
BY JASON RZUCIDLO / ©AMERICAJR.com |
Camel
rides
| |
| PHOTO
BY JASON RZUCIDLO / ©AMERICAJR.com |
Kids
can test their pitching skills at the fair
| |
| PHOTO
BY JASON RZUCIDLO / ©AMERICAJR.com |
Dates
from Hadley Fruit Orchards
| PREVIOUS
PAGE |
:::
PAGE ONE ::: |
|
