Field Day of the Past At Pruitt Farm In Rockville, Virginia

Sunshine, blue sky, thousands of people, turkey legs, brats with onions and peppers on a fluffy bun, fresh squeezed lemonade, cotton candy, exhibits of past sawmills, classic cars, kiddie rides, big trucks, old fashioned sodas and ice cream, pigs, cows, goats, army vehicles and so much more was at Field Day Of The Past at Pruitt Farm in Rockville, Virginia, on Sunday, September 21, 2014.

Guess which redhead went to this fun event.

Since 1992, Goochland County has been the place to go for a day with the family at Field Day of the Past and that’s exactly what I did! Let me show you some of our fantastic day…

Field Day of the Past At Pruitt Farm In Rockville, Virginia

First stop…old classic cars! Who doesn’t really love an older model Mustang?

None of my women friends really get into car engines, but I love a clean and shiny engine especially when I know it has some powerful get up and go to it.

The next car was a 1955 Chevrolet 210 4-door sedan. It was an okay car, but rather plain.

Under the tent there was a red and white Ford Fairlane 500 Galaxie Skyliner! Talk about a phenomenal looking car!

The Skyliner had a complicated mechanism that folds the front of the roof and retracts it under a lid in the rear. It actually has three motors and four lift jacks that drive the very large roof to open and close. Unfortunately, it takes up a lot of trunk space which was a negative for sales at the time. However, at the time it was first produced and put on the market, it was the only true hardtop convertible in the whole world.

One of the standard features on the Ford Fairlane 500 Galaxie Skyliner was…are you ready for it? An electric clock. LOL

Even though the Ford Fairlane 500 Galaxie Skyliner only gets around 14 mpg overall, I still think it is a rocking car!

How do you like this white 1959 Cadillac?

All of the classic cars at Field Day Of The Past were pristine inside and outside. It was easy to see that the owners take great pride in keeping the automobiles in gawk-worthy condition.

This blue 1963 Studebaker Cruiser was produced the year of my birth! For whatever reason, when I look at this car I think about the television shows “Andy Griffith” and “Leave It To Beaver.”

A little reflection.

Here’s a little bit of history about the Ford Model T. This car is also known as the T-Model Ford, Model T, Model T Ford, Tin Lizzy and Tin Lizzie. The Model T was produced by the Ford Motor Company from October 1, 1908, to May 27, 1927.

How would like to have to have to crank the car to start it each time you wanted to drive?

The Model T Ford was assembled on a moving assembly production line with completely interchangeable parts instead of being hand crafted. This way of producing the Model T helped to make the car affordable to a larger number of middle class Americans. The car was large enough for the family or more people in the family, but small enough for a single individual. In an international poll, the Model T Ford was named the world’s most influential car of the 20th century.

There was an old fashioned gas station/general store/restaurant at Field Day Of The Past. I loved the fake people. Yes, I’m weird.

Lots of stuff lined the walls of the general store.

I remember my grandparents having a black rotary phone.

How do you like the television? Funny isn’t it?

The moment I saw the sign that said, “Original Rest Room” I braced myself for what I was going to find. Are you ready to see?

The bathroom was not as bad as an outhouse, but I think I would rather use the forest than this rest room. It just really grossed me out. I like a toilet that is sparkling clean, so this one just turned me off. However, do you want to laugh? Look at the toilet lid. Doesn’t it look like a face with two eyes and a smile? Yes! It does look like a face!

At the lovely gas station/general store/restaurant we found original Nehi grape sodas! I’m not kidding! Nehi grape sodas have been around since 1924 and I remember drinking them as a very small child. No, I was not a small child in 1924. Have you ever had a Nehi grape or orange soda?

Totally unrelated to the soda, notice my daughters fingernails. Aren’t they pretty? They are totally her nails and super strong! I have nail envy!

Okay, back to the discussion of Field Day Of The Past.

Your eyes are not playing tricks on you, and you are not hallucinating or in a drunken fog. Well, you may be in a drunken fog, but if you see a donkey and goat in this photo, it is for real. Donkey is chasing a goat wearing a pink hat.

The goats…well, the goats are as cute as they can be and you know how much I love goats even in the living room.

Look at that cute little goat donning the pink cowgirl hat. This picture makes me want to just cuddle her and say, “Awwwwwww, how cute!” Don’t you feel the same way? I even noticed that her collar was the same color pink as the cowgirl hat.

This lovely creature is called a Zebu Cow. The Zebu Cow is sometimes known as humped cattle or Brahman and is a type of domestic cattle originating in South Asia. There are about seventy-five known breeds of Zebu. Cool name!

Now let’s talk about cows. Man, oh man, I love cows.

My beautiful and sweet daughter loves cows too. She’s so cute! I still can’t believe that I have been so lucky to have her as my daughter.

Okay, back to cows. Isn’t this little calf just adorable? I love the black spots!!!!

I wondered what the gray ring around the black spots were and it was explained to me that the spots grow larger. As they grow larger, they start off with the gray color and then it turns black. That’s way cool.

Of course, when you look at big animals, there is a bit of smell associated with them. Animals just poop anywhere and at anytime. Cow dung piles are much larger than toy poodle poop.

This black cow was absolutely gorgeous. The young man had brushed the cow’s coat until it shined blue. Plus, the cow was so well behaved. It just stood there with long black eyelashes batting. Truly this cow was a magnificent animal.

My favorite cow was the Hereford cow. Oh my goodness I wanted to cuddle this cow. Look at the pink nose and long white lashes! She was an absolutely beautiful cow and had a wonderful personality. Just looking at her makes me smile. I’m smiling now! Seriously!

The Hereford cow originally is from Herefordshire, England, United Kingdom. There are more than five million pedigree Hereford cattle that exist in more than fifty countries. Awesome!

Now let’s chat about pig races. Yes, pig races. These grunting snorting pigs ran up to the top of the swimming pool, leaped in and started swimming to the other end of the pool. They were fast swimming little pigs too.

Then the pigs climbed out of the pool and ran to the finish line where the guy was holding a treat for each of them. I’m obviously not the only one motivated by treats or good food.

Er Er Er Er Errrrrrr! Oh yes! Chickens!!!! I learned at a very early age all about chickens, chicken clucking, chicken eggs and chicken poop. The chickens at the fair were all gorgeous. I’m not even kidding. The chickens had gorgeous feathers and were just beautiful birds. This red chicken matched my hair color. Ha!

If you eat meat, you would love the smell of this smoked meat wafting out of the smoke house. Yum! Yum!

I talked to the gentleman tending the smoke house for a long time. He was a kind fellow that knew all kinds of information about farming. It was such a pleasure talking to him.

His walking stick was gorgeous with all the twists and curves in it.

There were lots of people at Field Day Of The Past. I think in all there were over 40,000 people who attend this yearly fair.

Remember when I wrote about Good And Healthy Tobacco Plant Uses And Facts? I thought about that post when we went into a tobacco house and smelled a square bundle of compressed tobacco leaves.

Anyone want to ride the mechanical bull? The cute kid didn’t last long up there. I tried to convince Alyssa to give it a try just for fun, but she could not be convinced. Of course, I knew I wasn’t going to haul myself up there just so that I could end up in a pile of arms and legs after riding the mechanical bull for just a few seconds. No thank you.

Anyone need to use the potty? Well, here’s a good old fashioned outhouse. You don’t know what an outhouse is or how to use it? Well, it sure isn’t a pleasant place and after using one, you will forever appreciate your current bathroom. The huge hole in the outhouse is a frightening thing especially when it is frothing and snakes are swimming in it.

The outhouse at Field Day Of The Past isn’t a functional outhouse in use, but the one at my great grandparent’s farm many years ago worked and I was scared to death of it!

It takes talent to sculpt and carve anything, but when you carve a giant log with a saw, I’m going to be impressed with your talent. This man was sculpting a bear and not only was he a phenomenal artist, but he was super fast at creating his sculptured art pieces.

Digging overalls and white bearded men who are probably related to Santa Claus. Ha! Ha!

An old fashioned saw mill with big equipment was smelling divine.

Lots of sawdust created as they cut log after log of gloriously smelling wood.

The steam was billowing from the heavy duty equipment and it made all kinds of loud noises. I loved it!

This gentleman was one of the nicest men at the fair. I talked to him quite a long time about the saw mill and Field Day Of The Past in general. He was so sweet and even gave me a walking stick! I’ll show you a picture of the walking stick in a minute.

Anyway, this man beat cancer numerous times and had such a positive attitude. He kept making me laugh and seriously, he was just so sweet.

Inside the train car it was air conditioned. Boy did we need it! I think I was wilting being the delicate flower that I am and all. Actually, I was wearing a hat because the sun got so hot beating down on my head. I tried to wear a baggy shirt that covered most of my torso, but the sunshine still made all my freckles come out of hiding and I still got pretty hot.

Walking on dirt and rock roads made us pretty dirty as is apparent if you look at our dust covered footwear. Sparkly red toenails! Woohoo!

I never realized how long a train car was until I was actually standing on the outside of it while taking a picture. Train cars are long!

“Do you see my cute daughter in the distance?” asked the proud redheaded mother.

Eventually it was time to go home. The last stop was the big rigs where I found a red rig and posed with my walking stick. Don’t I just look tough enough to be a truck driver? Ha!

Seriously, isn’t this red truck gorgeous? Look at all the shiny chrome. I didn’t see a fingerprint anywhere on the truck.

Well, that was our day at Field Day of the Past At Pruitt Farm In Rockville, Virginia. We had a blast and I think we walked a billion miles. I am obviously out of shape. Plus, I was told that I could not wear my tennis shoes because they looked atrocious, so I wore the sandals instead. Can you believe anyone wouldn’t like my tennis shoes? My feet sure did hurt by the time I got to the car! I should have ignored the fashion conscious people and just wore my white sneakers! All in all, I had a fantastic time and it was great fun. Next year, I think I will just have to do it all over again!