The Montgomery County Fair is now going on

The midway at the MoCo Fair

It's that time of year. Time for "The best 9 days of summer" at the Montgomery County Fair.  The fair runs through the end of the week (Saturday August 17, 2024) so you don't have much time.  It's a great place to take the kids to see animals, shows, and ride rides.  If you want all the activities, here's a pdf of the full 2024 fair schedule.

Piglets

Every year they have piglets at Old MacDonalds barn. This year's are especially cute

Prize winning vegetables

In the Old-Timers building you can see all the vegetables that people have entered for judging. This picture is of the largest squash by weight. The winner is 10 pounds 5 ounces!

A circus act

Multiple times a day the Circus Incredible does their thing.  Here is the Trapeze portion and a crowd of people watching.

And here's who they're looking at. Lyric Wallenda of the “World Famous Wallenda” family performing on the trapeze.

 

Pig races at the Montgomery County Fair

 

If you go to the Montgomery County Fair in Gaithersburg this year, make sure you check out the pig races. The fair runs through Saturday the 19th.

A fond farewell to Lakeforest Mall

 

Lakeforest Mall "Green" entrance

Lakeforest Mall opened in 1978 at 701 Russell Ave, Gaithersburg, Maryland. The mall is closing for good in March of this year.  I went there frequently when I was young and this past weekend I went again for one last look.

There are not many stores still open at Lakeforest Mall. Here are three of them, Style One, Aeropostal, and Home Decor & More.  There are a few others scattered around. Most that remain are having store closing sales so there is still reason to go there.

Cafes in the Forest food court at Lakeforest Mall

Most of the restaurants at the food court have already closed, but one or two remain open.

Macy's doesn't want you to forget the store is closing and everything is on sale. Signs to that effect are plastered everywhere.

Macy's is the last remaining anchor store at Lakeforest. It is currently having a closing sale to sell off remaining inventory and fixtures. When I got there, some people were loading tables and other furniture into a U-Haul.

Update: See some photos of Lakeforest Mall on the last day it was open, March 31, 2023.

The D.C. Hot Air Balloon Festival is Today

 

The DC Hot Air Balloon Festival is this weekend (More information at that link). They have balloons, balloon rides, crafts, food trucks and music.  I went yesterday, but it continues today.

Gates open at 3pm, but they don't inflate the balloons until the winds are calm enough, yesterday they started just before 7pm. I decided to get there around 6pm but traffic to get onto the grounds was a mess, it took me more than half an hour of waiting in traffic to get to the gate.  I'm sure going early would have made it better.  Also, you can buy your tickets online or at the gate, but the lines at the gate where huge, definitely buy online before you go, it makes it much faster.  I wanted to get a balloon ride, but by the time I got there over 1,200 people were ahead of me in line (you hold your place via your phone so you don't need to stand in line the whole time).  By the time I left after 9pm, there were still more than 1,000 people in front of me, but I don't know how many of them had given up and gone home.  In summary, go early but be prepared to wait for the balloons.

They had a lot of food trucks there, well over a dozen, but the lines for all of them were long and slow.  I waited about 45 minutes for food.  I'd suggest bringing a picnic dinner with you, it would had made my trip more interesting.

 

Once the sun set they had a laser light show (I didn't get pictures because I was in a food truck line then was eating). All the while people are going up on balloon rides which continued for as long as I was there.  Watching the jets of fire and balloons going up and down is pretty relaxing.

Every once in a while they would give the balloon a short burst of flame and the whole thing would glow brightly.

So should you go?  I bet if you went with a group, you could have fun hanging out and watching the balloons.  I'd definitely plan on staying late to watch the balloons in the dark.  Also, bring food, get their early to avoid the traffic to park, and buy you tickets online to save time at the gate.  If you want a balloon ride, get there as soon as the gates open.

Hike on the Seneca Creek Greenway trail

The Seneca Creek Greenway Trail is 7.8-mile natural surface trail.  The trail is part of a planned 25 mile greenway connection between the Potomac and Patuxent Rivers.  I went for a hike on one of the more popular sections, between MD-355 and Watkins Mill Road.

If you are going North on MD-355, at the northern edge of Gaithersburg, the road crosses a bridge over Seneca Creek.  Just after that is a gravel parking lot and a trail head.

The trail between 355 and Watkins Mill Rd is about 3 miles, so about 6 miles round trip (according to the sign at the start of the trail, it is 2.9 miles).  The trail doesn't follow the creek exactly, it is up on the side of a hill at the edge of the stream valley.

Many years ago I would go on this trail very frequently, and it used to be right on the edge of Seneca Creek for the first mile or two.  They have relocated the trail further away from the creek.

I just took these pictures on November 10th, and you can see it is late fall and most of the leaves have fallen.  There is still the occasional tree with green or yellow leaves and they really stand out against the other bare trees.

This isn't Seneca Creek, it is a very small stream that flows into Seneca creek.  You can see the bridge where the trail crosses it.  The trail is well maintained, and all stream crossings have bridges (or in one case, a huge rock).  It can get muddy and the fallen leaves can be slippery when wet, so you do have to pay attention.

This area hasn't always been a park, and there is one spot where several cars were left to rust decades ago.  There isn't a whole lot left of them now, but it is neat to see them out in the middle of the forest.

 

More Montgomery County Fair photos

 Here are some more pictures I took at the Montgomery County Fair (which runs through Saturday).  I posted other pictures and more information yesterday.

First, a video of one of the pig races.

 Lots of people go to the fair just for the rides.  They have rides for all ages of kids, here is the merry-go-round and the dizzy dragons (below)

 Before being judged, most sheep get a very close hair cut.

 

Small animals get their place too.  Here are the chickens.  They also have an incubator full of eggs, some of the chicks have already hatched, but the rest will over the course of the week.

  

  

Old MacDonald's barn has some cute baby ducklings.

 

They also have a birthing center with half a dozen pregnant cows, due to give birth during the fair.  Last year I got to see a birth in person.

 There is a flock of dressed-up geese wandering around the fair.  The geese drink gatorade to keep themselves hydrated.

 Towards the top of the fair you can take a camel ride.  Not something I have ever done.

 One booth near the kidzone had live birds sitting on perches.

I got to see Michelle's magical poodles for a second time.

Go visit the county fair

The Montgomery County fair in Gaithersburg, MD runs from August 9th to the 18th.  There is tons to see and do there, especially if you have kids.  The first can't-miss event is the pig/sheep/duck/goat races.  These little critters race around a track to the cheers of the crowd.  Lots of people go so plan on getting there 5 minutes early if you want a good view.

Right next to the race track is a stage where they have different shows.  I saw Michelle's magic poodle show (suprisingly, not a magic show) and Agricadabra (not surprisingly, a magic show)

Old MacDonalds Barn is another great place to go, they have various animals such as a lama, an alpaca, sheep, goats, horses (including two miniature horses), baby ducklings, and piglets.  This year the piglets are really small and cute.

In the evenings at the grandstand there are events such as tractor pulls, demolition derbys, and monster truck shows, there are also numerous free events throughout the day.  Take a look at the schedule of all events.

The fair runs for a couple more days

The Montgomery County Fair runs through Saturday at Midnight. If you haven't been, you still have a couple of days left. If you have young children, the fair is great, they will love the rides and the animals (cows, pigs, goats, sheep, chickens, rabbits, etc) If you don't, check the schedule of events and see if there is something you like.

Tonight there is a Monster Truck show in the grandstand, it costs money to get in to, in addition to your fair entrance fee. Friday and Saturday nights there is a demolition derby in the grandstand area (again, for an additional fee).

If you have never seen pig racing, it is really fun, its free and is at 12, 2, 4, 6, and 8pm every day. They have races with pigs, as well as ones with goats an ones with ducks.

There is also the Wild West Follies show, honey bee demonstrations, chainsaw carving demonstrations, and various musical events during the day, check the schedule for times.

The Montgomery County Fair is in Gaithersburg Maryland, if you get off i-270 at exit 11 there will be signs directing you to it.

The circus is coming

Cole Brothers Circus will be at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds April 24-26. The two hour show features High Wire acts, Elephants, the Globe of Death, Dogs and Pony Review, Aerial Ballet on Streaming Silks, Clowns, Camels, Jugglers, Acrobats, and The Human Cannonball.

[where: Gaithersburg, MD]
[where: Montgomery County, MD]

Sugarloaf Craft Festival this weekend

April 3rd through the 5th is the Sugarloaf Craft Festival at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds in Gaithersburg, MD. Their website has coupons for $1 off admission. They will have jewellery, clothing, paintings, sculptures and a lot more.

[where: Montgomery County, MD]