Gord and I went to
the Ex (Canadian National Exhibition) this afternoon. It's been here since August 19 and is over on Monday.
We were looking forward to seeing some of the
airshow but it ended up getting cancelled because of the weather.
We had just been to the
gym and were hungry so had a late lunch in the Food Building. After walking around the hot muggy crowded building, we decided to have a burrito.
I ordered a small chicken burrito ... and it was small (and expensive at $8).
But it was good and hit the spot.
There was a lively jazz band outside the Food Building.
The midway was really crowded.
A few people were carrying these huge Rasta bananas around. Gord swears he could win me one (??!!) but then one of us would have to carry it around for the rest of the day (and it wouldn't be me!).
It started raining so we headed inside to wait it out. There was a craft beer and wine garden so we went there. There was a special beer that Gord wanted to try that was made just for the Ex. It's called
Great Weiss North and has ingredients from every province and territory in Canada.
I had wine.
BTW, Gord liked the beer.
There was a jazz band entertaining.
The beer and wine garden was a popular spot!
One of the origins of the Ex was to showcase veggies, flowers, etc. They still do this and give out prizes.
There had been a sand sculpture competition ... amazing stuff!
The rain had stopped so we wandered outside and went into some other buildings. We came across the
Bra Project.
There was also a
Marilyn Monroe exhibit. Marilyn's first husband,
James Dougherty, was my first cousin, twice removed.
We also looked at the animals.
Outside, Gord came across a fella selling socks so he excitedly bought some. Gord has a thing for socks, you see. If he ever won the lottery, he said he would always wear a fresh pair of socks every day (and never wear them again).
Outside the casino, there was a beer garden and the
Paul James Band was there. They play old rock and blues and are really good.
Paul James is a great entertainer ... he went to the bar, drank a bottle of beer and then used the bottle as if he was playing a steel guitar while wandering around the crowd.
Alas, it was getting late and it was time to go home.
The Ex seems to have gotten a lot bigger and we didn't get to see all of it. We didn't go on any rides (I'm a big chicken!), didn't play any games of chance, didn't go to the casino nor did we watch Tommy James and the Shondells with Andy Kim at the bandstand ... but we had a fun fun time!
The play was at the Avon Theatre and we walked there from the train station (it's about a ten minute walk).
Having survived the drought of the 1930s Dust Bowl only to see their home repossessed by the bank, the Joad family embark on a harrowing trek from Oklahoma to California, intending to begin anew as migrant farm workers. Their arrival in this “promised land,” however, brings its own test of the human spirit.
