These days, $20
won't fill your gas
tank, but it can get
you pretty far at
the 2012
Pennsylvania Farm
Show.
Photographer Jeremy
Drey and I have
spent several days
covering the Farm
Show in Harrisburg
and all of its farm
competitions,
animals, exhibits
and food choices.
For our latest
adventure, Jeremy
and I decided to see
what two people
could do with $20
and a day to spend
it at the Farm Show
complex. Side note:
This doesn't include
the cost of gas to
drive to Harrisburg
or the $10 parking
fee. But, happily,
admission is free.
We started the
morning in the
Exposition Hall with
a vanilla and
chocolate mixed
milkshake for $3.
With its rich,
filling flavors, I
counted the
milkshake as a full
breakfast (or at
least my dairy fix
for the day).
Already in need of a
food break, we
walked to the other
end of the complex
to work up an
appetite. Once
in the Main Hall, we
stopped by the
french fries booth.
One plate for $3.50.
"No vinegar," Jeremy
advised. We opted
for ketchup.
The crispiness of
those Pennsylvania
potatoes gave us the
energy to walk
through the rows and
rows of food and
craft vendors also
in the Main Hall.
For anyone who would
like to avoid
spending money while
inside the Farm Show
complex, I recommend
following this route
(though you will be
extraordinarily
tempted to purchase
something). I
sampled hot dogs,
beef jerky, mustard,
four kinds of
apples, teas and hot
chocolates,
pretzels, dips.
Whatever there was
to sample, you can
bet we tried a
piece. Everything we
tasted was free.
Trying small bits of
food for an hour
made us hungry for a
real meal. We walked
back toward the food
booths and purchased
a beef brisket
sandwich for $5.
By this time it was
roughly 3 p.m.,
leaving us with an
hour to spend $8.50
before catching our
bus home.
Having eaten way too
much, we decided to
check out the
butterfly house, one
of the Farm Show's
new exhibits.
Tickets are $2 a
person. More
than 800
butterflies, from
Folk's Butterfly
Farm in Nescopeck,
Luzerne County,
fluttered about
inside the large
tent, which was
pretty toasty.
I'll go ahead and
admit this: the
butterflies scared
me. Monarchs and
buckeyes are
beautiful creatures
- from afar. Up
close they look like
the fuzzy offspring
of an alien and wasp
disaster.
Nonetheless, I
learned a lot about
the amazing
critters, and didn't
step on a single one
(It is actually a
concern. Be careful
if you go). And I'm
sure Jeremy had a
blast laughing at
me. After
checking each other
for hitchhiking
butterflies, Jeremy
and I made sure to
check for any food
booths that we
missed, which
resulted in buying a
2-pound bag of Burnt
Cabins Grist Mill's
whole wheat hotcake
mix for $3.75.
That left us with 75
cents. The
last purchase, and
last sugar rush, of
the day came from
three candy sticks,
each for a quarter.
And that's how we
spent our $20. I'm
sure all that
walking burned off
the milkshake and
other treats. Right?
Contact Jamie Klein:
610-371-5016 or
jklein@readingeagle.com.
