New England Travel and Vacation Gazette and Other Wicked Good Content

Article and photo by Eric H. The Big E (Eastern States Exposition) is sure to offer you more than a "fair time" with its entertaining and educational late summer and fall fair from Sept. 18-Oct. 4 at the Eastern States Exposition Fairgrounds in West Springfield, Mass. Like a county fair on steroids, the Big E is best experienced during a full day visit with its overwhelmingly enjoyable mix of amusement rides, circuses, parades, animal exhibitions, agricultural displays, comfort food vendors, musical entertainment, horse shows, cooking contests, and leather-lunged, fast-talking carnival barkers selling their merchandise in the finest infomercial style. Our favorite exhibition is the replicas of the six New England original statehouses: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. Inside, you'll find a delightful vendor presentation of educational, travel and tourism information relative to each state. Even better: the local food selections, ...

Article and photos by Eric H., at VisitingNewEngland.com Upon entering the Eastern States Exposition (The Big E) in West Springfield, MA, from "Gate Five," the following thoughts occurred to us amidst the hundreds of colorful fair activities and its overwhelming Saturday crowd of 150,889 people: what do we do and where do we go? Looking straight ahead, the Ferris wheel and all the other amusement rides looked liked the best deal, but the aromas from a virtual city of food vendors kept us intact. So, we just stood there for a minute, with our right side of the brain offering Homer Simpson-like, cartoon captions of sugar-powdered mini-donuts above our heads, and the left side trying to figure the whole darn thing out. To the right, we knew the Avenue of States with all its replicas of state buildings with regional gifts, food and fun educational displays and exhibits would provide us with hours of local entertainment -- and the rare opportunity visit state houses run a lot bett...