Good Times Review: The Big E, West Springfield MA

Agricultural art is only the start of what you'll find at the Big E.

 

The road that leads through the Big E

Here it comes, folks!  Each year in West Springfield Massachusetts, the Eastern States Exposition, affectionately known as The Big E, consumes 17 days of life in that part of the state.  Self dubbed “New England’s Grandest Fair” the Big E is a BIG DEAL.  While open for business for those 17 days, the preparation for this fair goes on all year long.  With full time staff and specialized buildings on the grounds, the actual fair days are the culmination of hard work done by so many people that you can almost sense a cumulative sigh of relief at the end of day 17. 

This year’s Big E beings on September 14^th and ends September 30^th.  Tradition rules here.  Each of the six New England states has its own building on the Avenue of States.  The buildings are bona fide brick and mortar replicas of each state’s original state building.  Inside, the state’s finest products and places are celebrated.  There are of course the things you would expect from each state, based on its history and lore, like maple products in the Vermont building and clam chowdah in the Massachusetts building.  There are also many vendors whose products stretch your perception of their state.  In the Connecticut building last year, I had some crunchy, cheesy, savory brick oven pizza.  The guys set up behind the New Hampshire building had the best kettle corn on the avenue.  I tasted lobster ravioli in Massachusetts and bought some really cool pottery in Vermont. 

Vermont pottery

Each state’s building also has tourism information.  That’s where I come in.  I went to the Big E last year for my tourism work, spending the better part of two weeks there in the Maine building.  I’m not sure that this is the case for all the states, but the Maine building is operated by our Department of Agriculture.  This is a true agricultural fair, as I’ll show you later on.  The Maine building’s vendors had products that included our traditional lobster rolls, whoopee pies, blueberry cobbler, and what I think is the biggest food hit of all, the baked Maine potato.  My organization’s booth was set up across from the potatoes and the line to get one was out the side door the entire time.  The line was so long, and the tradition of getting a Maine baked potato so entrenched, that the building operators have had to add a queuing area outside, complete with an awning for protection from rain and sun.  you can get that potato covered with sour cream, bacon, cheese, chives, or loaded with all of them.  Smoked salmon on a stick was also available.  Fine art paintings and beautiful silver jewelry could be yours, too.  

The Maine building on the Avenue of States

The buildings house specialties from each New England State, like lobster rolls in Maine.

The fair has special events and parades every day.  Each state gets a day of its own, and then there are days that salute the local towns, Agawam, Westfield, Springfield and Chicopee.  4H day, Harvest New England Day, Salute to Girl Scouts are planned for this year. 

 

As you would expect with an agricultural fair, there are the animals.  The animals come with their people, the kids and teens who work all year to be able to show here.  Cows, goats, sheep, pigs, horses, the whole barnyard is a-coming.  I went into the Mallary Complex last year and was simply stunned at the number of goats in the building.  Rows upon rows of pens with little goats and big goats, some shorn, others not, the sounds of their rustling and communication just deafening, each of them sporting some insignia or ribbon to announce their success.  Apparently, that was when the goat competitions were scheduled.  In the next days, the animals and the people changed over in a smooth transition. 

looks cozy huh?

Room for the whole barnyard!

Another part of the agricultural aspect of this fair is the produce.  This is where you can check out the giant pumpkins and blue ribbon winning berry pies.  I’m not sure exactly what the competition is built around, but there are beautiful presentations of garden vegetables.  Gorgeous fanned peppers balanced with purple skinned new potatoes and wedged in with bright carrots, the displays are art, or as I like to refer to it, food porn.

Here are a few of the photos I took at last year’s fair:  

Chicks hatching with supervision

Piglets born at the fair

A big winner

 More agricultural art:

Buildings on the grounds, such as the Better Living Center and the New England Center have demonstrations and crafts, gadgets and bargains.  There’s a Super Circus, an Auto show, a petting zoo, and you can even check out a butter sculpture.  There is so much to see and take in, you’ve got to plan at least a whole day. 

And I haven’t even touched on the food . .  yet.  Let’s just go with this:  Deep . . . Fried . . things I didn’t even think you would fry.  Now of course I’ve seen or heard of or tried quite a few deep fried things in my life.  There are things here that I need to study further, like deep fried – get this – kool aid.  Deep fried – yep – BUTTER.  How do they do that?  Okay, so not in the mood for fried food?  How about barbeque or dessert?  The Big E has two historically significant desserts – the crème puff and the éclair.  I’m not sure how they came to be such traditional treats here but the lines for them make it clear that they’re fabulous.  Put them on my list for this year’s fair food.

The Big E also has a never ending midway, with games and rides, and each year brings in some big names for concerts at the Comcast Arena Stage.  This year’s stars are Billy Currington, Jeff Dunham, and Alan Jackson. 

I’ve used the word “tradition” a lot in this post.  I’ve done that on purpose because tradition here goes way beyond the fair’s events and other draws.  What I’ve found, from the years I lived in southern New England to the discussions I had with people at last years show, going to the Big E is a tradition in itself for many families.  People take vacation days and plan family reunions around this fair.  I heard lots of “oh I’ve got to get my baked potato” like the day wouldn’t be complete without it or without seeing the butter sculpture or getting a crème puff or visiting the Maine building just for a whiff of home (I did that!) or participating in the parades or working the parking lots or spending too much money and buying things you don’t need (I did that, too) but having a great time while you’re there.

SO GO!  Spend the day at the Big E.  Come to the Maine building and say hi when you’re in line for that baked potato, too!  Make it a tradition for your family.  Schedules, daily events, and lots of fun can be found at www.thebige.com

Spend the day: Six Flags New England

I suppose you could call me a theme park snob. I guess I am approaching that level in my quest for higher drops, more inversions, the smoothest, tallest, fastest . . roller coasters. It started a few years ago, in the first few years of my relationship with my now husband. My previous roller coaster experience was tame, and the only loop I think I had done was a dozen years behind me. Not that it frightened me, in fact I recall enjoying it very much, just that my life at that time did not include targeted trips to theme parks. Not really. Fast forward and I fell in love with the feeling of the launch on the Incredible Hulk coaster at Universal Studios in Orlando. Rode it over and over that first day.






Since then it’s been a fascination and a focus of our travels. We went to both Busch Gardens in one year, riding Sheikra in Tampa and then the Griffin in Williamsburg. Cedar Point’s Top Thrill Dragster was a top thrill and there I found my favorite coaster to date, Millennium Force.



So I was kind of skeptical about going to Six Flags New England Six Flags New England.  in Springfield, Massachusetts over Memorial Day weekend. The ulterior motive was to buy season passes that would save us money when we go to California later this summer and spend a few days at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, home to some record breaking, incredibly innovative coasters. We knew that Six Flags New England (SFNE) had a few coasters, and we had heard they were okay, enough to satisfy a winter’s worth of thrill craving, but my skepticism went deeper. I remember when this park was not a Six Flags, but a run down little local New England amusement park called Riverside. When I lived in Connecticut, we had gone a few times, a Friday night here and there, rode the Cyclone, ate cotton candy, and played carnival games on the midway, that kind of stuff. My memories include heaping trash cans and having to park way down the street on someone’s lawn, kind of like when you go to the fair, long and dusty and hot and sticky.

I’m pleased to say that on this trip, I was quite surprised and we had a great time. The “we” in this case is my husband and 11 year old daughter.

Boy has the place grown up and cleaned up and prettied up. Entering the parking area – a large PAVED – well organized setting (although the $15.00 parking fee is a bit much for this part of the country) – we joined other early visitors on the tram to the entrance. The tram dropped us off at a footbridge over the road – wide and nice, with lots of available trash cans for your refuse, none of which we bulging over with trash – and brought us to the ticketing area. We found our way through the turnstiles and into the season ticket buyers office, got our photos taken, were given a coupon book to use throughout the season – some we can use in California – and once the park was officially opened, with the cutting of the opening ribbon for the day, we were off to the biggest roller coaster in the park, Bizarro. The roller coaster that was once named Superman, and had won consecutive best steel coaster awards, had been renamed a few years before and given a new persona with a soundtrack . We didn’t care who the hero or villain was, we just wanted a great drop (221 feet) and a little air and a lot of exhilaration. It did the trick. And the wait wasn’t too long – about 20 minutes the first time, longer on consecutive rides as the parked got busier during the day.

We rode Bizaro three times that day and twice the next. We also enjoyed Batman another steel coaster with a semi – floorless coaster with some great corkscrew turns. We rode that one a couple of times as the lines were pretty long. We tried Minderaser but all three of us came out feeling like we’d been beat up, and I was really looking forward to it, as I like the seating style, suspended from above with feet dangling. It was just too rough. I don’t like wooden roller coasters for the same reason, too brutal, headache inducing not worth the no thrill, so we didn’t go on either wooden coaster in the park. And for smaller metal coasters with a fun twist, both the Flashback and Pandemonium proved to be really fun. The only ride that gave me pause was not even a roller coaster. It was the twenty story drop tower, aptly named Scream, which wasn’t as bad as I expected. And up that high over the Connecticut River, I swear I could see Hartford, the city where I worked for ten years and where my daughter was born.

I’ve been proven wrong. The park was clean, even the bathrooms, which had attendants and touchless everything – soap dispensers, water, air dryer. The food was typical park fare – burgers, fries, pizza, etc. All overpriced and under portioned, but that’s the theme park way, except for Busch Gardens parks – awesome food – another review . .



Overall, visiting Six Flags New England was a great experience. We had fun. It was well managed and well organized. If you’re in the neighborhood, stop in and give it a try. Before you go, you might want to revisit my THEME PARK TIPS.



Also worth a look is the Roller Coaster Database, where you can find info about the record holders, what’s new, and some park history. http://www.rcdb.com/



I’d love to hear from anyone about their memories at Riverside in Agawam, MA or your experiences at Six Flags Magic Mountain.