i like what i'm herring: rachel does dothan!

It's fall, y'all!

And you know what that means????

TIME FOR THE PEANUT FESTIVAL!!!!!!!!!!!

I was so excited that I took pictures through the window!

EEEEEEEE!

I brought the ol ball and chain to town for his first ever Peanut Festival experience, and my sissy came as well!

It was wristband night. If you're from Dothan, you know that means you buy these tickets before the fair, then you get a wristband at the door that allows you to ride unlimited rides!! THAT'S A BIG DEAL, Y'ALL!

Before the midway, you walk through all these booths selling various things from candy to cowboy hats to purses. Very random. The livestock arena is off to one side, along with the stage for the different musical acts that play every night. Then you walk through the food booths, where there are stands selling all kinds of things, like turkey legs, BBQ, chicken on a stick, and of course the world famous corndog man!

Finally you end up at the rides! MY FAVORITE PART!

There's Binky walking up to buy tickets. She decided to come to town last minute, so she didn't get a wristband (you have to buy them before you go to the fair and my ma got them for me and Richard).

Bink is thrilled to be there!

The rides are in a big loop. First up was the Orbiter.

EEE!

A bit creepy, but we were super pumped about the first ride!!

As was Binkster.

The Magnum!

View of the midway.

Next up was the Wild Claw. Richard decided to sit this ride out, so he ripped off his wristband and gave it to Binky (it was one of those paper bands). They were going to pass it off back and forth so no more tickets had to be bought.

WELL Binky and I walked onto the ride, pushed ourselves up into the seats, and Binky says: I can't find the wristband. WHAT?!?! YOU HAD IT FOR FIVE SECONDS!

Before we could get out of the seats, the safety bars came down. Great. The floor drops, and the ride began to spin. Then, miracle of miracles, I see it! On the crack of the floor! We'll just get it after the ride, we say. Well wouldn't you know, as the ride spins, it swings back and forth which caused the wristband to blow away. Rats. Before we started mourning the loss, I checked the side of the ride after we got off, AND FOUND THE WRISTBAND!!!!

IT WAS A PEANUT FESTIVAL MIRACLE!!!!!!!!!!

The Zipper. Probably the scariest ride at the fair. While Binky and I risked our lives on this machine from 1978, Richard showed off his skills at one of the carnival booths..

And won this Angry Bird! I don't know if I've ever had anyone win me something at the Nut Fest.. HoW rOmAnTiCaL!

Ferris wheel!

We had a gondola all to ourselves. You know what that means...

Tons of overhead pictures!

YAY!

I love all the colored lights!

Richie admired them as well.

So pretty!

The Angry Bird enjoyed it too..

but they enjoyed it more together.

This ride was intense. You had to stand up and be strapped in before it lifted you way up in the air and spun you around.

There are tons of food stands.

The Tornado. One of my favorites!

They finally stopped the rides about 12:15am. I got my traditional candy apple on the way out.

And this has never happened before but...

They turned the lights out on us!!!

It was super creepy.

See ya, midway!

Goodbye, nut fest!

Of course we stopped here to get some boiled peanuts on the way out, because it wouldn't really be the Peanut Festival without the peanuts.

The George Washington Carver statue. He's holding up a peanut!

We walked back through all the random booths. Here's one selling hot tubs.

Like I said: Random.

Here is the giant peanut! I just love the Peanut Festival!

They have these buckets of raw peanuts for people to grab on their way in and out. How nice!

Now, even though the nut fest was the main reason for the trip, we had the luxury of hitting up Dothan's finest restaurants while we were there. Starting Saturday at lunch..

MEXICAN CONNECTION!

It moved from a free standing building on hwy 431 to this strip mall on hwy 84. We have TONS of strip malls in Dothan. It makes me think there is some sort of regulation for building upwards.. erroneous, let me introduce you this delicious goodness:

THE BEST SALSA EVERRRRRR!

AAAHHHH! If you're from Dothan but don't live there anymore, I know your mouth is watering.

Sweet decor!

And here are the best chicken and cheese nachos this side of the Mississip! Hell, probably the other side too!

I aint lyin!!

Seriously. Even Richard agreed. It's something about those flour chips. My mouth is watering as I look at these pics. They sell the salsa to go, and you better believe I brought the biggest container they had back to B'ham.

I'm trying to make this last as long as possible.

Richard and I went to cruise Wiregrass Commons Mall while waiting for dinner. We actually found a lot of things! Dothan shopping!! Who would've thought?!?

For Saturday dinner, we went to my all time favorite restaurant ever, Conestoga.

Would you believe I didn't take a single picture there? I'm really upset about it. I call it Connie's or The Stoga. It's really just a hole in the wall steakhouse that only has steaks, potatoes, and side salads. The best thing about this place is the steak sauce. It is a secret recipe, and they are quite stingy with it. They bring it out in little tiny cups and if you get a to go meal, they won't give you any extra. I keep trying to replicate the sauce. I hear it has Dr. Pepper in it..

Lucky for me, they have changed their policy on side salads, and they'll let you substitute a side! You better believe I got two baked potatoes so I could bring home leftovers!!

Here is the to-go box I brought back. There is the mouth watering sauce in the tiny cup, and my baked potato with cheese. Also, the delicious roll. Yummmm. It is magical to dip the potato into the sauce. This is why I go through about 5 cups while I'm there. My mom calls me the sauce queen.

And I gladly accept that title.

We watched the football game of all football games at Binky's friend's house. It ended up being 6 Auburn fans and one Bama. Poor guy. LSU ended up winning in OT. It was a crazy low scoring game that had us on edge the whole time.

The next day we went to the last awesome restaurant:

Mama Rosa's.

I went here so much in high school that the waitresses still know my order. AWESOME!

Here is the logo on all the tables.. it's ol Mama Rosa herself.

Whenever I bring people in town, and they ask what I get, and I respond with (everyone together now)...

CHEESE BREAD STICKS!!!!!!!!!

When you tell people that, they picture regular ol breadsticks with cheese, but this is more like a pizza without the sauce. I get mine half plain and half cheese and pepperoni. You can get them all kinds of ways (with turkey or ham or any pizza topping) with ranch or red sauce on the side.