Up, Down, All Around

In the spirit of hyperbole that is at the heart of the fair experience, every good-size midway is peppered with rides whose names begin with the prefix "Mega," "Super" and "Extreme." (It might be more honest a description if some -- such as that spinning centrifuge with the strobe light flashing in your face -- were called, say, the Puke Machine.)

Yet among all the Matterhorns, Cannon Balls, Zero Gravities, Cliff Hangers and Pharaoh's Furies is one popular ride whose deceptively innocuous moniker belies its stomach-churning prowess. Often known as the Wave Swinger (or some variant of "swing," depending on the concessionaire), the ride typically looks like a carousel from whose canopy hang long chains attached to bucket-seat swings of the sort you may remember from the playground.

But once the engine gets going, watch out. At its best (or should I say worst?), the thing turns so fast that riders are spun nearly parallel to the ground, at a rate of speed that reduces the world below to a multi-colored, vertigo-inducing blur. It's often among the rides that cost the most tickets for a darn good reason.

Although most fairs in our list include some variant of the ride, all swings are not created equal. The version I have ridden in Montgomery County, for example, whose fair claims to be the largest county fair in Maryland, can leave your heart -- or your stomach -- in your throat, whereas Arlington County's, at least in years past, has proved tamer than a gentle spring breeze.