Florida Strawberry Festival, A Study in Lights

This afternoon,we went over to the Florida Strawberry Festival in Plant City. There was method to my plan of arriving around 4:30-5:00: I wanted to take pictures of the pretty lights.

After a lunch of homemade pork lo mein, we ventured across I-4. If you're a local and you are going, understand that once you come within about a mile of the Festival grounds, you're going to be sitting for a while. Just so you know.


(Obviously, we got there after crawling along US 92)

Tonight's concert was Third Day, but that wasn't why we were there. We're all about the food, the rides, and the strawberries (but that's another story.) I'll give you two different views the Festival-the pretty light report and the Festival food preview.

I need to note this here. If you've ever considered getting a Gorilla pod, do it! I bought the cheap knock off at WalMart to shoot that video that wouldn't upload and it worked like a charm. Tonight, I wrapped it around ride gates, stood it on the edge of food kiosk counters or just held it in hand and it gave stability to my pictures. I think I only had one blurry picture with the S9 tonight, which is 1/50th the usual result with night shooting.

YoYo swings. This was taken while Gameboy rode.
None of us actually rode the most of the rides pictured, like the Hurricane here, but the lights are pretty. If you're curious though, many of the rides require 4 tickets, some 3 or a couple 5 and the tickets are a dollar each on non wristband nights.

My boys adore the funhouses. Chef Jr went on this and spent a lot of time enjoying. Gameboy wanted to do so, but he'd worn his Crocs. If you like this type of ride, you don't want to wear shoes that can come off easily, otherwise you'll be sad.
The view down one of the Midway ride areas.
Another ride I just liked the neon lights, so I snapped away.
The Cliff Hanger. Gameboy rode this. It looks like what Sea World's Manta has been described as-a ride where you lay flat and look at the ground while you ride.
While Gameboy was enjoying his ride, I snapped this one and listened to the insult clown. He wasn't nearly as good as the one at the State Fair last year(who also was at the Frederick County Fair each year.)
My profile picture on MySpace was originally from this booth. We had to go back to get more pictures.
If you're a MySpace friend, you can go back and compare this one to the one taken two years ago. I like this one better-but they're nearly identical.

And that is the Florida Strawberry Festival in neon lights. Stay tuned for the preview of "Your Fair in Food!"

Comments

Jientje said…
That looks like fun!!
torture me, why don't you, as I sit and wait for a foot of snow.
Anonymous said…
I don't think we have as good of fairs up here like you do down there. It looks like a lot of fun!

I would have loved to see Third Day perform too!

Popular posts from this blog

Glad that I'm not "Guilty By Association" on this one

Webmaster Alex speaks Anonymously

Wal Mart Your Zone $500.00 Gift Card Contest!