NY State Fair - a fun post! (with lots of pictures!)

Richard and I had a really fun time last weekend - we went to see two concerts (5 artists!) at the New York State Fair.  The fairgrounds happen to be about a 3hr drive from our place, so it is easy to get to.  We spent three days in NY state and managed to get in a bit of shopping as well!

Not long after crossing the border, we stopped for a snack and some gas.  I was surprised by the number of Amish people in this area! I just can't imagine living like they do in the midst of modern society...interesting stuff.  The guy that owned this horse and buggy was getting some supplies at the dollar store and the grocery store.

We swung into downtown Syracuse to go to Richard's favourite restaurant - Chipotle.  They make a delicious fast food burrito - kind of like Subway, but with burritos! We have a similar burrito place here, but it just doesn't taste as good as Chipotle.  Whenever we go to the US, we search out this restaurant and drive all over just to have a burrito!  We were in the midst of Syracuse University campus and we were surrounded by students and their families - it was fun to see all of the young faces getting ready to start school!   Go Orange!!

We then found our hotel, dumped our stuff off and made our way over to the fairgrounds.  I was pleasantly surprised about how big the fairgrounds were.  Of course, at any fair, there was booth after booth of fried food and all kinds of treats.  I have a bit of a sensitive stomach, so I was very cautious about what I ate.

It was fun to wander the grounds and see all of the wacky things that were for sale and do some people watching.  Here is a photo of one of my favourite booths from a local radio station...One of the staff posed for a photo. He was pleased with the count of 21 mullets on the first day of the fair! I'm sure by the end of the two weeks of the fair, the count would go up dramatically!

We did get some cotton candy - it's just one of those things at a fair that I need to try.  We didn't eat much, but we did take time to make cotton candy mustaches... What? You don't do that?  Come on! :-D

We fought through the crowds to get over to the track to get into the concert. I was very, very excited about this concert - we were seeing Gavin DeGraw, Train annnnd Maroon 5!  I'm a huge Maroon 5 fan and when I saw that the tour was coming fairly close to us, I knew I had to go.

Gavin DeGraw opened the show - I'm not as familiar with his music, but he was really good.  A few weeks ago, he was mugged in NYC and just recently got out of the hospital!

Next up was Train. I love these guys - the lead singer is unique and their music is fun.  I've wanted to see them for years, but never really got around to doing anything about it.  We were in the 11th row from the stage, so our view was pretty good.  Unfortunately I just had my small camera (we weren't allowed to bring in big cameras with long lenses, boooo!) so my shots aren't the greatest.  These performers also don't stand still for long, so catching them is tricky!

Patrick Monahan - the lead singer

And by about 10pm, the big act was ready to get started...I really like Maroon 5 and their music and was even more convinced I needed to see the band live after watching the Voice this winter, where the lead singer Adam Levine was one of the celebrity coaches.

Their music was excellent and the lighting and other effects were great too. It was a really good show and the best part? They sounded just as good or better live! Some bands just aren't great live, but these guys really know what they are doing.

Adam Levine

We went to another concert the next night, but it wasn't as good, so I won't bother posting about it.  Needless to say, we had a really fun long weekend and I would definitely recommend you go see these bands if you are a fan and get the chance!

I'm going away again this weekend (no concerts sadly) but I hope to have some horse posts coming up in the next few days!