Running Away with the Circus

A couple weeks back we took the opportunity to visit the Greatest Show on Earth as it came through town. The circus pre-show started at 10:30(am) so naturally we had to fill up with a big breakfast beforehand.

For any of you who live hear in the greater Richmond area, we found what John Grayson called the 'Greatest Breakfast in the World' at Perly's on Grace Street. I do have to admit that I have not tasted a better biscuit in the Richmond area and our son has not stopped talking about it for 3 weeks. After walking a few blocks over the Coliseum, we arrived and were first in line to get into the building. We ended up being down on the floor with the performers for a full hour before the show. John Grayson had a hat thrown on his head from across the room by a clown (it was a clean looking clown so I'm not too worried about his sharing hats...).


To my surprise, the clowns continued to show and affinity for our family by calling me out into the middle to be part of a clown ring toss game. I have to say I was a rather good target.


Not wanting to be left out, John Grayson ran out into the middle with me to see if the clown could hit a smaller target. At first the clown avoided the challenge preferring to stay with the larger target.

But after some coaxing (me walking away) the clown finally successfully rung John Grayson. By the way, I'm all for clowns being hip, but I was not a fan of this guys clown outfit. Sure he had the big shoes but he was light on the clown makeup, did nothing with his hair, and was essentially wearing a jogging suit. Clown school must not be what it used to.

The clown affinity for our family spilled over into a demonstration by the world's strongest man. (Note: I doubt the man they had there was the world's strongest man, he may have been the strongest man in the building that day, but this guy was a runt compared the the fellows I see on ESPN Classic) The assistant to the worlds strong man brought John Grayson over to have a tug of war competition.

John Grayson didn't quite grasp the idea of the tug of war so the world's strongest man easily retained his title. We stopped by the concession stand to buy the world's best popcorn (for $8.00 a box it damn well better be the world's best) and headed up to our seats. This year the circus had video screens and that just happened to by our son's favorite part.

This year we nearly made it through the entire circus, with about 10 minutes left John Grayson declared that the circus was over and that we were leaving. There really was no grand finale, and we had been there for 2.5 hours already, so we obliged.

All in all, a very successful trip to the circus and we look forward to bringing Delia along next year!