We were alerted to the annual Washington County Fair about a month before the event by the sign on Route 138 and immediately put it in our calendars.  The first day of the Fair (Wednesday, August 12) turned out to be a humid and overcast day, and we arrived at the Fair for the first evening.  Now in its 43rd year, the Fair features everything from a dairy clipping show to a tractor pull to country music performances to amusement park rides.

Fair food ranged from the insipid to the superb — a lousy, skinny corndog from some volunteer station versus a flavor-packed steak sandwich from Richmond Sandwich Barn.  Perhaps the greatest surprise came from the Volunteer Carolina Fire Association who made the tastiest, doughiest homemade clamcakes I’ve ever had.

My 2-year-old daughter Madeline had a blast yelling ‘baa’ at the sheep with their never-fail response, and she spent about an hour dancing in circles in front of the antique Wurlitzer band organ formerly used in carousels.

What’s not to love about a fair?

Washington County Fair
Route 112
Richmond, RI
www.washingtoncountyfair-ri.com