It's State Fair Time

I'm going to start this hub off with a riddle. Riddle - What's the longest word in all of the English language? You will find the answer to this riddle at the end this hub. Good luck to all!

Every time the season of Fall rolls around an October original starts all over for a few colorful weeks. I'm not talking about all of the leaves on trees changing colors here. I'm talking about it's time for those state fairs to open their gates. The state fair is the perfect family vacation with something for every member of the family. There's food, rides, games, music, farm animals, and the list goes on like the always moving Energizer bunny rabbit. ‎

State fairs originally began for the purpose of promoting the state's agriculture, which is why today it's supported by a division of the state agriculture department. Today state fairs include carnival amusement rides, games, a variety of products, automobile racing, entertainment, and food. Some state fairs admit more than a million visitors each and every year through it's gates. All 50 states have a state fair, and New York was the first state to hold a state fair back in 1841. Australia holds it's own version of a state fair, which are organized by state agricultural and horticultural societies and are known as a Royal Show.

The state fair is a collection full of bright colors everywhere you look. These colors are all over the rides and individual booths. The colors cover all of the prizes that you can win from playing the games throughout the state fair, and bright colors are generally just about everywhere you look throughout the fair grounds. Next it's the distinctive smell that associated with a state fair. Yes there are the smells from all of the different livestock exhibits that are associated with a state fair, like horses, cattle, chickens, ducks, geese, rabbits, etc.., However I was really talking about the smell from the aroma from all of the different food vendors throughout the state park. The smell from everything that's deep fried, to hundreds of 2 pound turkey legs that are roasting on top of wood fired grills find it's way to every nose throughout the state fair. There's no way a person can't get hungry from smelling all of this great tasting food that's being cooked everywhere in a state fair. I believe that's the secret plan anyway at a state fair!

I'd like to add a special note that I took all of these photographs at the North Carolina state fair, and that anyone who wishes, may reuse these pictures however they wish.

Answer to the riddle - The longest word in all of the English language is "Smiles". This is because there is a mile between the S's (S"MILE"S). Now if that isn't enough for you, then you might want to know how long a smile is. If you were to measure a smile in just inches, it can vary greatly. Some smiles are made up of a great big smile that almost covers the whole entire face, while other smiles have just a grin. There's another way to measure a smile. That is a smile for time is valuable, but a smile forever is priceless. Smiles are very contagious, and one simple smile to someone else can have a ripple effect like throwing a stone into a still pond that continuously ripples out in all directions for a long time. So give it a try to smile at someone today, and if you are a state fair then try a deep fried Twinkie which will certainly make your taste buds smile as well.