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.

 

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.

Mormon Temple open house is going on now

 

The D.C. Mormon Temple is open for visitors from now through June 11th.  This is a rare opportunity to see the inside of a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  After June 11th the temple will be rededicated and only LDS members will be allowed in.  You can find out more about how to visit at their DC Temple open house site.

This is not the first time the temple has allowed visitors.  When it was first built and prior to it's use there was an open house, but that was in 1974, so this is a a very uncommon event, it is only happening now because they just finished extensive renovations of it.

I went yesterday and it was a lot different than I expected.  I had thought it would be more like a cathedral with a huge, high-ceilinged common room, but it isn't. There are multiple floors in the temple, each largely dedicated to a different use.  The tour is self-guided but you are following a path, with plenty of knowledgable people around if you have questions (like since there is a sealing, can their be an un-sealing? [answer: yes])  You can see the tour information here and on the tour you can get a paper copy of that information.

You can't actually see every floor.  The top floor for instance is closed, but I was told that is a large gathering room with chairs and a pulpit.

You also are not allowed to take pictures inside the temple, which is why I only have exterior shots.  However, at the tour information link above there are interior pictures.

Even though I call it the "Mormon Temple" because that is what I grew up with it being known as, officially that is not it's name.  In 2018, the LDS church decided that the word "Mormon" didn't convey what they wanted.  Here is a quote from the FAQ: 

This sacred building was often called the “Mormon Temple.”  However, in 2018, the Prophet and President of the Church, Russell M. Nelson, offered correction to any inaccurate name of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, including improper reference to the “Mormon Church.”  Mormon was a great prophet, whom we honor, but the Church was named after our Savior Jesus Christ. The correct name of the Church is: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Thus, the proper name of the Temple is the “Washington D.C. Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” 

The reference to “saints” in the name of the Church references the Apostle Paul’s use for people who try to follow Jesus Christ’s teachings.

It's not too late to go see the sunflowers

 Sunflower season is drawing to a close, but it isn't too late to go see the fields of sunflowers at McKee-Beshers wildlife management area.  I went there today, and even though many of the flowers are drooping, there are still a lot that are looking up and following the sun.  Next weekend is probably the last chance to go this year.

Every year the state of Maryland plants these sunflowers to food for mourning doves and other songbirds, pollinators and mammals.  These fields are open to the public and many people go there and enjoy them each year.

 I went today and the parking areas were crowded, but the fields themselves are large so everyone spreads out when the get there.  There are several parking areas and the fields are a short walk on level ground away.

 

Directions:
From the Capital Beltway, take Exit 39 (River Road) west toward Potomac. Proceed for approximately 11 miles to the intersection of River Road and MD 112, Seneca Road. Turn left and continue on River Road for about 2 1/2 miles. McKee-Beshers will be on your left as you head west on River Road.

Kensington Labor Day Parade

This morning was the annual Labor Day Parade in Kensington, MD, I went and took a few pictures.

The start of the parade

An old car with the grand Marshal

Ike Legget

The Finest! performance foundation

JennyCakes Bakery float

Magruder High School band

Abe

Teddy

An old chevy truck

Cub scout pack 478

Stancill's Guitar Studio band

Miss White Oak

Jim Moyer Circus Club stiltwalker

Jim Moyer Circus Club unicyclists

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.

This year's Winter Wonderland

This year Bethesda will again have it's Winter Wonderland weekend. It starts on Friday December 3rd at 8pm at Imagination stage (4908 Auburn Avenue) with a free Choral Concert featuring American University Gospel Choir, BlueLine, Euphonism, and Georgetown University Phantoms.

On Saturday from 1-4pm it continues in Veteran's Park on the corner of Norfolk Avenue and Woodmont Avenue. There will be live Ice Sculpting from 1-2pm (see the picture below from last year's Wonderland). From 2-4pm there will be Santa Claus and singing by some local schools (Garrett Park Elementary School, Our Lady of Lourdes, Seneca Valley High School, St. Jane de Chantal, Watkins Mill High School, Winston Churchill High School).

Kolmen 3-day makes its way through Bethesda.

The Susan G. Komen 3-day walk for the cure came through Bethesda, MD this afternoon. It started as a trickle, a few people set up by the Bethesda Metro station, an occasional person or two wearing a pink shirt mixed in with the normal lunch time crowd, making their way up the sidewalk towards Gaithersburg (their stop for the night). Later, it turned into a frequent, larger groups walking along the sidewalk and bunching up as they waited for traffic lights.

There was a good sized cheering section by the Metro who cheered and shouted encouragement to walkers as they went by.


According to the website for this event:
How does Susan G. Komen for the Cure utilize the contributions?
Net proceeds from the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure fund innovative global breast cancer research and local community programs supporting education, screening and treatment. Every major advance in the fight against breast cancer in the last 28 years has been impacted by a Susan G. Komen for the Cure grant.

According to Charity Navigator, for fiscal year 2009,the Susan G. Komen for the Cure organization spends 84.4% of its budget on program expenses, 10.5% on administrative expenses, and 6% on fundraising expenses. The president of the charity, Hala G. Moddelmog made $531,924.

Update 4:45pm:
As the afternoon has progressed, the flow of people has really increased. Earlier in the day you'd see groups of 5-10 people waiting to cross streets, now it is more like 15-20. Here are a couple pictures from around 4:30.