Marshfield Fair

We hadn’t gone to the Marshfield Fair in years (over a decade I’m certain) as Sue and I had grown weary of hauling our burgeoning load of young children through the carny scene.   So when we were trying to decide what to do this past Saturday afternoon and Jessica suggested that the Fair was in town, we agreed to pack up our now mostly teen-and-older-no-longer-needing-to-be-hauled kids and go.  Turns out, it was cleaner, better organized and less stressful than I remember, or maybe this was just the difference between being independently mobile compared to the days of packing multiple strollers and diaper bags and all the acoutrements of young familyhood.  What’s more, either the fair just isn’t as popular as in years past, or we got lucky and went on a day when much of the rest of the local population decided to go elsewhere, the result being that there were no dense crowds or long lines to speak of.  And finally, we were delighted to find that Fiesta Shows, although still offering all of the old classic rides like the zipper, flying bobs, and swing-ride, had updated their repertoire with some truly impressive high-tech additions.  Even the drive down rte 3 to Marshfield wasn’t bad and making the quick loop around the high school to come into the fairgrounds on 3a from the north proved to be traffic-free.  We parked in the lot that supports the Marshfield School Music Boosters (of course!) and headed into the fairgrounds, lead by our noses  to the tantalizing aromas of Fair food.

Jess, Jelisha and Jay pose with the french fry bucket pirate.

Yours truly taking a spin on the bumpers with Jay. Photo by Jess.

The fam has the best seats in the old-school wooden grandstands for an all-american event - the truck pull.

Jules and Hayley took a spin on this colorfully lit piece of high-tech machinery.

Jules and Hayley took a ride on Freak Out, unquestionably the most popular ride in the midway featuring thumping dubstep music including fam-favorite Skrillex. While waiting in line, Jules and Hayley had to make way for the exit of Aerosmith Rocker Steven Tyler who went on the ride before them.

Jess notices the camera pointed her way and flashes a Mona Lisa.

Anonymous turtle-shell backpacker spotted on the midway disappoints all by failing to shuffle.

Granite Spoken Here

Granite Spoken Here

To the rest of the world it’s a gravestone, but to folks from Quincy and those from the South Shore of Massachusetts, it’s a familiar landmark, similar to one that formerly graced the grassy rotary on the Quincy side of the Fore River bridge.  As young kids riding up route 3A on family trips to Grammy’s house in Quincy, we knew as soon as we approached the “Singing Bridge”, that the “Shiny Ball” lay just beyond.   Sadly, the Singing Bridge in all it’s art-deco splendor has been dismantled and a temporary erector-set structure stands in its place.  The original “Shiny Ball” has been moved to a place of prominence in front of Quincy City Hall, a quiet reminder of Quincy’s distant quarrying past as the premiere source of black granite. This photo is of a similarly sized “shiny ball” (6-8′ diameter) used as a gravestone in the Mount Wollaston Cemetery … “granite spoken here.”