I’ve lived in Ohio since First Grade, but I’d never ever been to the State Fair. Until now.
Our State Fair is a great state fair
Don't miss it, don't even be late
(our state fair is great)
It's dollars to doughnuts at our state fair
It's the best state fair in the state
-Rodger and Hammerstein's "State Fair"
Deep-fried Buckeyes covered in soft batter topped with powdered sugar and chocolate syrup. It’s not a complete sentence, but it’s so much to consider that it deserves punctuation all on its own.
This was but one of many crazy sights, smells, and sounds I experienced at the Ohio State Fair. That’s Ohio (State Fair), not an (Ohio State) Fair. In other words, this is something done by the State of Ohio, not by the University. Not that that made it any less awesome, of course. My Columbus (technically Dublin) -based friend Erica accompanied me for this adventure.
And so I present to you, dear blog reader, the Top 10 Lessons Learned at the 2009 Ohio State Fair:
- If you believe you might be at all susceptible to hypnotism, you should be wary of your friend in the audience with a cell phone camera that will be sure to capture you flopping around the stage like a fish. Yes. It happened.
- “Deep-Fried” knows no bounds. Chicken, Lamb, Turkey, Potato, PB & J, Buckeyes, Oreos, Snickers, Funnel Cakes, Twinkies… My arteries are very, very unhappy.
- When given enough butter and a climate-controlled environment, it is possible for an artist to sculpt not only a full-size cow, but also a farmer, a farmer’s daughter, a baby cow, and– here’s the kicker– a giant stick of butter.
- Petting zoos are ALWAYS awesome, no matter how old you are.
- The easier a carnival game looks, the more impossible it is to win.
- LEGO towns are insanely cool (The Central Ohio LEGO Train Club had a display!)
- “Chicago-style” hot dogs are apparently hot dogs with every conceivable (and several inconceivable) topping EXCEPT for ketchup. Pretty tasty though.
- Finding water fountains can be really, really difficult when you absolutely need one.
- Fair rides are safer than they look. Then again, they don’t look all that safe…
- It’s a truly bizarre mishmash of farm, family, and freaky entertainment. But the State Fair was a sufficiently fun time that I recommend checking it out at least once in your life.
Take care,
Rob
Erica is clearly happy with our selection of deep-fried buckeyes, complete with powdered sugar and chocolate syrup!
I feed the adorable yak. Petting zoos are ALWAYS awesome.
I hope I didn't throw off his groove...