Circus! (Part 1: January 22, 2011)

So let's get this out of the way. I have nothing against circuses, or captive elephants and big cats. I realize the nature of man far endangers their lives in the wild than in the modern circus where they travel with a full entourage of trainers,veterinarians and food. So yes, I'd prefer a tired old tiger getting poked with a stick and waving it's paw to a dead tiger. Or an elephant doing a headstand to one with its ivory ripped out and left bleeding to die. Sue me.
Ummm...too dark to start off the circus post?

So we went to the circus!! I had debated going all week and while I wiled the best seats were taken and so we just showed up at the civic center hoping for the best. We sat in the "upper deck", but let's be honest the Savannah Civic Center is about the same size as the fieldhouse at my high school. So no big whoop.
Little known fact: There are three different circuses that make up the Ringling Bros./Barnum Bailey universe. Here in Savannah, with our aforementioned small arena, we get the Gold Tour, the one that comes by bus and truck. If you're hoping for an old timey circus feel, this is the one for you. Housecats walking on high wires. No joke.

Not once during the 2 hour show did Ben ask for a single piece of overpriced spinning whizzing lighting up crap. As we were walking out he was looking longingly at the merch booth. I noticed a cute circus water bottle that he could use again and I said, "Ben do you want me to buy you a water bottle?" And he looked up at me with all the hope in the world and said, "Please?" So I bought it despite the protestations of his father who hoped to escape the arena unscathed by consumerism.

So for the $32 bucks it was a nice afternoon out, not the extravaganza I'd hoped for but good old fashioned family fun. AND the best part is the pre-show, if you show up an hour beforehand you can go down on the main floor and mingle with the cast and the animals and they do little tricks and performances.