The fair

As required by all true Iowegian's, we dutifully made our way to the State Fair on Wednesday afternoon. We waited to hit the half price after 5 deal so we could at least save the rest of our money for overpriced food. Just inside the main gate on Grand we were visually assaulted by a new food vendor called "Butcher Boy's" or something along those lines with a rather large and garish stand. Now to call something garish at the fair when flanked by typically equal displays of disproportionate enthusiasm is really something. Yet, these guys definitely pulled out all the stops. Unable to resist the charms of a bright new food vendor, our quartet wandered over to the stand and proceeded to order a couple steak sammiches along with a chicken one as well. Being the glutton that I am, I loaded mine to the hilt with pretty much every condiment and topping available. My cohorts showed a bit more restraint and chose more delicately. Now, maybe I was just damn hungry, but I thought even for the $7 entry fee, it was a pretty decent sandwich especially considering being at the fair. Miranda and my mom disagreed to the quality and both left a fair amount uneaten, ah well, their loss.

After finding a place to finish off the meals, I went in search of something else to quench my food lust. I opted for a couple of crab rangoon which was definitely a new adventure for me in fair food. They actually were pretty kick ass and I even managed to share. Once we'd eaten our fill, it was off to find something for Corley to do. Apparently, Miranda had heard about an activity for the kids called little hands on the farm. I have to admit, I was pretty skeptical about this one sucking ass, but thankfully I was wrong. Corley had a blast going through the various stations in her little smock and acting like she was a regular joe farmer.









She even earned some "money" for her hard work which she was able to turn in at the store before leaving and bought some animal crackers. Funny enough as we looked around for something good for her to spend her money on, we were surrounded by a sea of junk food. And we wonder why Americans have a problem with obesity...

After the farm journey we wandered through the animal center and got to watch a number of newborn farm animals including some just hatched chicks from Ostriches and Chickens. Pretty cool. It was now time for a little more food and a quick break for the feet so we headed up to catch the opening few songs of the Jason Brown free concert. Corley was a hit with the older couple seated in front of us as she danced and twirled to the music. Our last stop for the night was to hit the photo exhibit. This is probably the only real reason I hit the fair every year. I love checking out all the cool pictures people take and are on display. If you've never seen them, make sure to get up to the cultural building on top of the hill and check them out.

Now we walk. We always get dropped off at the gate or within a block or two by Miranda's parents and then walk back to their place roughly 6 blocks away when we're done. Typically we spend a lot more time at the fair so the walk is something of a death trudge, but with a short night and beautiful weather, it was actually damn nice this year. What a great way to kill off an evening.