The Best of the Fair
Elementary: Grades 3–4
Story
Page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
"What's illuminating?" Joseph asked.
"It means to explain or to light something up," Grandpa said.
Lily was worried. "Which place is the best? We'll never find him!" She wanted to thank Mr. Weller and get the tour he promised.
Grandpa didn't let on that he was worried, too: "We'll just ask people for directions to the best place."
"I think the train was the best place," Joseph said.
Lily rolled her eyes. "Let's look here," she pointed at the Agricultural Building. In they went.
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Compared to the bright sun and white buildings outside, the giant room seemed dim and Lily couldn't see well. When her eyes adjusted, she gasped. The huge room was filled with booths, signs, people, and noise. Everything celebrated farming and farm products—sometimes in unusual ways. They marveled at a giant wheel of cheese from Canada that weighed over 22,000 pounds. One booth featured live ostriches. Lily spotted two different models of the Liberty Bell, one made of grains like wheat and oats and the other made of oranges.
Lily and her Grandpa laughed at a map of the United States made of pickles. "Excuse me," Grandpa asked the man with the pickle map. "Do you know where we can find the best place at the fair?"
"You're here! This is it. You won't see anything better than this map made of pickles," the man replied.
"Do you know Mr. Weller? He's supposed to be at the best place at the fair," Lily asked.
The man shook his head. "Try the movable sidewalk. That's the second-best place at the fair," the man answered. Lily looked at her map. The sidewalk was on a pier that reached into the lake, where steamships from downtown arrived. They headed there.
Lily directed Grandpa and Joseph past a long row of columns called the Peristyle toward the pier. Lily couldn't believe how far the pier reached into Lake Michigan. Joseph liked the movable sidewalk. People could ride the sidewalk to the end of the pier and back. Lily's guidebook said it could hold up to 5,000 people at a time.
"Can we ride it? It's like the train!" Joseph yelped.
"Fare 5 cents, Ride as Long as You Wish," Grandpa read the sign and pulled 15 cents from his pocket for tickets. They rode to the end of the pier and back. Joseph wanted to ride again, so they looped around once more.
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