We Couldn't Find Napa County Anywhere!

The California State Fair is in full swing – having kicked off another year of exhibits, baby animals, fair food, and judging a range of creative endeavors like making quilts, drawings, diorama’s and all that livestock!  I’ve attended the fair a few times over the years.  If you skip the rides and games, what’s left is the opportunity to learn a little about the state and individual counties and what makes them unique.   That’s what my husband and I did – skip the rides, that is.  We spent this past Saturday afternoon browsing through all of the buildings filled with vendors and exhibits.  When we came to the hall filled with all of the counties, we naturally looked first for Napa County.  We found Solano, Mendocino, and even Lake County … but where was Napa?  After circling around – and checking out Placer, Butte and other more obscure areas of California, we went back to the North Bay … no Napa County to be found.  I don’t know all the rules about entering your county in the state fair, or if it’s a requirement or whatever to show up.  Perhaps Napa was too busy planning for Bottle Rock – which could have been a pretty cool feature in this year’s exhibit.  I’ve done a little online searching, but found nothing to explain why Napa County wasn’t included.  Maybe it’s no big deal, but I did feel a little disappointment – don’t you always have a little pride when you see your home place represented?  It’s kind of an affirmation of where you live – that regardless of the attributes of all the other counties you find a reason to think yours is the best.  We finally gave up looking for Napa and consoled ourselves with a big, hot bloomin' onion.  We had a great day at the fair – if you have a chance to go, you should.  You probably won’t find Napa County in the exhibition hall.  But you’ll be reminded that we live in the best county in the state  when you drive back home – just past Jameson Canyon as you drive up the hill on Highway 29 and past the Grape Crusher Statue where the vineyards spread before you and the hills rise up beside you.  And that’s all the reassurance I need!