Sarah and I invited our friends Jess and Brandon to join us for a day of fun at the Central Florida Fair in Orlando. They eagerly accepted, and the four of us set off for the fairgrounds to begin our adventure.

Since it was a weekday, the gates did not open until 4 in the afternoon, and we were some of the first fairgoers to arrive. As a result, we were the first targets for the midway game vendors. We were heckled and enticed with "prizes for our girls even if we lost" and "little man, why don't you win her something" and "hey, you need an egg salad sammich" (we didn't understand that one at all). Despite the call of the carnies, we passed the games by and headed for the funhouses and rides.

We ventured into several fun houses, many of which were barely operational. The best was the Mardi Gras with its confusing maze of mirrors and windows, its crazy body-warping mirrors, and its corksrew exit slide.

We also dared to experience some of the fair's thrill rides. Brandon and I were brave (or foolhardy) enough to go on the MegaDrop, a 135-feet tall free fall attraction.

We also rode the Zyclon, a rickety, wild mouse-style roller coaster, made even more scary by the manual push by a carny it needed to get started.

Not quite as scary but still exciting was the Giant Slide. We took turns as each couple raced their spouse to the bottom of the huge hill while the other couple remained at the bottom to take pictures and videotape.

And what would a fair be without animals? We saw chickens. We saw horses and oxen in a show called The Animals That Built America. We saw elephants. Sarah got to feed a llama (her favorite!). I milked a cow (well, not a real one). And we met Buttons, a little Monkey that, for a dollar, would give you a kiss and a souvenir photo.

There was live entertainment at the Fair. We watched a ventriloquist, and I even got into the action by volunteering to assist a magician / comedian.

We had a wonderful time at the Central Florida Fair, playing and laughing and riding and eating. And it was a real treat spending the day with another married couple who enjoy the same kind of silliness that Sarah and I do. Jess and Brandon are delightful, and we look forward to more cheesy experiences with them.

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