When Jeremiah Duggan was dropped off at the fair Monday afternoon, he thought a baseball cap would be enough.

"It looked like a good day to go the fair," said Duggan, 14. "Next thing you know ... it just started thundering."

Duggan and a friend, 15-year-old Marcus King, were caught in a thunderstorm on the opening day of the Georgia State Fair. A downpour Monday evening dropped about three-fourths of an inch of rain on the midway, which fair officials closed early.

But only the War Between the States has stopped the fair completely, and thousands showed up this year - the fair's 148th - for the carnival rides, activities and food.

"It was a good crowd until the rains hit us," said fair director Harold Carlisle.

A crowd of firefighters huddled under a tent in front of Luther Williams Field, their eyes mostly on Tim Self and the banner in front of his crock pot proclaiming him to be the defending chili cook-off champion.

"His is the Hormel chili with beans," joked Gary Sanford.

"They're just jealous," Self teased his fellow firefighters and cooks. "Last year I had to defend my title. This year, they're all after me."

Macon-Bibb County Fire Chief Jimmy Hartley said his firefighters have been talking all year about the contest, which was designed as a fund-raiser for Jimmy's House, a temporary home for families displaced by fire.

"The best way to get them to brush up on their skills or make money for charity ... is to make a competition out of it," Hartley said with a smile. "They knock themselves out."

The 2003 competition went to Sgt. Bobby Phillips of Station 7, but not before a "taste-off" that gave him a one-vote edge, Hartley said. Self, Sanford and the others will get another chance at victory - at a firefighters' drill competition at 6 p.m. Thursday.

Gary Tredo and Victor Vega waited in their tent as rain pounded overhead. Although they met while stationed at Moody Air Force Base in Valdosta, Monday's fair was their first in Georgia as business partners.

They make compact discs, with songs like "Your Easy 'ABCs'" and "Every Day is a Happy Day" customized with one of 944 available children's names.

King, the 15-year-old waiting for a ride home, had a happy day, despite getting drenched. He expects to return to the fair today.

As much as he enjoyed the rides, they're not the primary reason for his attendance. The best part about the fair, he said, is "the girls."