The State Fair

Hungry piglets

Fried Oreo

Yep, that says fried dough.

Hatching Chickie's

Chicky

Big Hat

The Fairway

It had been a long time since I had been to any State Fair. I had some flashbacks that led me to believe I had once been to one but memory is a funny thing. I was later told by the rest of my family that we went to a State Fair while living in Allentown, PA. That made sense to me as I think I blocked out most of the time we lived there. (Not a pretty place - I do remember black snow)

Anyway, I was very excited to take HNS to the State Fair for his birthday. I was agonizing over what to do for his big day. For me a Birthday means having dinner in a fancy restaurant and perhaps having a few too many Cosmos. This past year my dear friend Erin threw me a great party which included a beautiful sit down dinner and a good time was had by all. Unfortunately, HNS was not able to attend as he was getting busy at his Nephew's bachelor party (No I haven't forgotten)...but enough about me...my point is HNS doesn't need anything fancy. He just likes to have fun. The Fair was a perfect match.

The Fair was all about eating everything we could get our hands on that was fried. We were so excited about this that we forgot to bring our camera with us. It turned out to be a good idea since most of the time we needed both our hands to hold the goods. We were joined by his Bro and Sis-in-law. The weather was perfect, if not a bit on the cool side (love that!) and we all had a great time. Thankfully they were just as excited about eating strange fried food as we were.

The Fair looked perfect. We could have been on the set of a Ray Bradbury film. Lots of lights and strange noises and odd smells. Almost spooky. No clowns though, that would have been overkill.

The first thing we ate were fried pickles and they did not disappoint. The salty, sour, crispy, bitter flavor was a great way to start the evening. We decided we would split everything we ate in an attempt to not make ourselves sick. Normally I am not a splitter so this took some sacrifice but I knew it would be the best thing under the circumstances. And as I watched those fried eating, Fair goers around me - most of them in scooters because the gravity of their own weight had betrayed them - splitting seemed like a fine idea.

I was on a mission to find fried Pepsi. Do I really need a reason for that people? Fried Pepsi, it boggles the mind. HNS had done some research on this and so we were pretty sure what to expect...or so we thought. That was fried Coke HNS knew about and apparently fried Pepsi is a whole different confection. It looked like a large deep fried dumpling. The outside was crispy and the inside was a soft mush that tasted exactly like Pepsi. Very interesting. Not a good "mouth feel" so I am glad we split this since HNS had the majority of it.

Next it was corn dog time. Well, lets call it corn dog #1 - this was the only thing we did not split since corn dogs are about as sacred to me as my Grandfathers Bar Mitzvah kiddish cup. (Not that I posses that but you get the picture.) It was a hand dipped piece of heaven.

After that it was time for some wandering. The rides did not tempt me at all since A.) I had a just eaten a variety of fried stuff and B.) they were nailed into the ground just a few days before. I am sure my Mother knows someone who rode on a State Fair ride and died. I am sure of it.

Eventually we made our way to a few freak tents. At first I loudly protested and was really hurt that these, well, these Freaks were still being exploited in this way. HNS laughed and told me it was all smoke and mirrors and none of the real Freaks were going to be here. Then I have to admit I was a little disappointed.

I still spent a dollar to see Snake Girl. They went to all that trouble. Snake Girl looked tired. I told her to "hang in there". I hope she never saw that just down the Fairway they were selling fried snake.

We went to see the animals too. Some were happier than others. I petted a pony who's eyes seemed to be saying "sure, pet me, everyone else has."

It had been a good 15 minutes or so since we last ate and I was getting hungry. We tried another type of fried pickles. See, the first kind were wedges and these next pickles were chips. It makes for a whole different experience. Both very good.

Finally it was time for the fried Oreo. Mmmm...fried Oreo. I was able to eat two before I gave up. Crispy on the outside and mushy, warm chocolate inside. Not bad. We had these at Galaxy Diner once served with Ice Cream and Whipped cream. I preferred the Diner ones to the State Fair ones for anyone keeping track.

We spent some time checking out all the sites and finding a few neat gifts that folks will be getting later.

It was getting late so I had Corn dog #2 and shared a few vinegar fries with everyone.

We took a few pics with my phone and I said goodbye to fresh corn dogs until next year.

I had a great time with everyone and I hope HNS had a great Birthday. Maybe we can make this an annual event.