Oh, I can think of things. I just set myself a challenge this year to write and submit stories to three convention books, over and above my usual writing. But I didn’t stop there–they have to be different stories for each con, they have to be within the theme, and they have to be set in the Tai-Pan universe.
😛
The simple out is to have some crew members of one of the starships visiting a fair while dirtside. But now I need a plot. 😛

The 4H meat auction. [shudder]
Midway rides? The demolition derby [I never have understood that one.]
Country and Western singers.
Horse show. [yay!]
Pony rides.
Cotton candy [icky-sticky]
Skunk races. Greased pig chases. More politicians than you can shake a… stick… at.

Heh. You can have my share. Though I like the county fair idea. 🙂

Well, hopefully it will bring new, interesting and creative ideas to mind.
The process to get to “County Fair” was pretty amusing, actually. I tend to take the pessimist approach: “How can a theme be twisted to make it utterly, horribly wrong?” One of the original ideas suggested was “Circuses” whch immediately brough to mind: CLOWNS Or, even worse, FURSUITS WITH CLOWN MAKEUP. This was, of course, too horrible to contemplate, so it was back to the drawing board.
Even with “County Fair” there’s still ways the theme could take unexpected and unpleasant detours. Livestock competitions? Sideshows? Oh dear…

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, corn dogs! [/homer voice]

Junk food made out of junk food. Eeew.
I suppose you could offer corn dogs. Those are a long standing tradition at county fairs, though I dunno why people eat them.
Soft pretzels?
Elephant ears?
Lemon shakeup? (way too much sugar) Or maybe just pink lemonade and cotton candy.
Around here, freshly made cream puffs are a feature worth sampling, but that sure isn’t going to be practical.

Most recently? The North Carolina State Fair. But I hear they’re really taking off all over the country, along with Deep-Fried Snickers and Deep-Fried Oreos.
Mind you I didn’t say they were good. Because I was curious, I tried the deep-fried Snickers. It was about as exciting as melting a Snickers in a microwave then eating it. Bleah.

Eeeyuck. What travesty of a county fair did you find those at? ;P

I’m just trying to figure out how we’re going to get the hotel to sell deep-fried Twinkies…