Goat Day #12: Fair, Food, and Flesh
16Today was a good day. A long, hot, drawn out day, but it was a good day. It was our annual day at the State Fair. I’ve only ever really been to the Iowa State Fair, so I’m not sure how they compare to the ones that may be in your region, but as an adult, I go there for one reason only. Food.
Sometimes I go there more than once, and both times are for the food. Yeah, there’s a ton of stuff to do, like a lot. It’s great and exciting the first time you go, but after going a few years, the food is where it’s at. I actually miss my small home town where they used to have a demolition derby during that fair. Those were good times.
It seems like no matter what day you go to the fair, it is going to be hot, and humid. This time was no exception. It’s like they crank up the heat to make you spend more on drinks.
Anyways, here are some (yes not all) of the things I ate today, in a span of about 6 hours. No joke, somehow I am still hungry.
Corn Dog
Battered Polish Sausage (not the same as corn dog)
Apple Slush
Crescentis
Smoked Chicken Leg
Pork Chop on a Stick
Fried Cheese Curds
Cup of Watermelon
BBQ Brisket Mac and Cheese
Ice Cream
Missing: Turkey Legs, Burnt Pork Belly Tips, Steak Kabob, Cup of Cookies, Fried Pickles, Fried Oreos, Funnel Cake, and a bunch of various drinks. Oh, and some salt water taffy.
Fun fact: I used to be a Carny. I ran both games, and rides while they were in my town (about a week) for many years for extra cash.
Side Note: Yes, I realize it is pretty damn hot out, but the amount of flesh I saw today was more than anybody should see in their lifetime. To each their own, but I’ll be damned if my daughter goes out wearing the stuff that I saw today. A lot of people go to the fair to “People Watch” as there are hundreds of thousands of people, if not more, that come each year.
Anyways… Do you have a fair nearby? What’s your favorite part?
- 22 comments, 53 replies
- Comment
Nope.
@PlacidPenguin Ever been to one?
@lichme
Nope.
Bonus photo: My little goat feeding another little goat, and the bully that stole the cup from her.
@lichme
So… Goats are jerks?
@PlacidPenguin Look at his face. 0 fucks given
The Louisiana State Fair is in my hometown, but it is tiny compared to Iowa. I went to the Iowa State Fair in 2014, my cousin lived in Ankeny then and one of my good friends is still up there working in politics.
This was my favorite photo. We were looking at the piglets, and this lady was just watching the babies while eating one of those delicious pork chops.
@djslack Haha, took me a second. That’s hilarious.
Edit: before description was added, I can read fine
@lichme yeah I ninja edited on you a couple of times. I have to be in landscape to upload and then have to go back to portrait because I hate typing in landscape mode.
@djslack
This was her view, I saw it today.
@lichme yep, I wish I could have gotten the angle to get both at once.
I’ve been to Texas and New Mexico State Fairs in recent years. I’m pretty sure I’ve been to others but I go to a lot of community fairs so they kind of all blend together.
@lichme
I don’t understand.
Why wasn’t everything deep-fried?
Esp the watermelon and apple slush?
Is everyone is Iowa ill?
Or do they not understand what State Fairs are about, food-wise?
/image “deep-fried butter”
@f00l while there was plenty of fried food, Iowa’s fair seemed much more meat-centric. Especially pork, since a bunch of fine pork is produced there. I think the rule is not so much “can you fry it”, but “can you put it on a stick”.
There is also a lot of good corn, too. The corn we bought from a guy on the side of the road there was some of the best I’ve ever eaten.
@f00l Every year at least 10 new fried foods get added. It’s like the vendors they to out gross each other, but ending up making stuff that is delicious.
The stick thing: also a huge deal
@djslack @f00l That may have been Grimes sweet corn.
@f00l @lichme sooner or later they’re just going to start selling Deep Fried Batter
@nolrak It’s called funnel cake.
@metaphore @nolrak
I’ve had deep-fried ice cream.
@f00l sorry but that sounds gross. I’ll take my ice cream on a cone, in a milkshake, in a dish. Cold like it was intended.
@f00l @Kidsandliz I thought it sounded gross. Refused to try it for years. Turns out, it’s still cold, and it’s pretty damn good.
@f00l @lichme Well when I have money again maybe I might try it. Maybe. Even a hot deep fried “shell” around cold ice cream doesn’t sound very good to me. Of course if I hated it I cold pick off the shell and just eat the ice cream.
@f00l @Kidsandliz @lichme The deep-fried Oreos are da bomb.
@lichme good lord, I hope you hit the complimentary artery cleaning station on the way out
@lichme
Also, this sounds like it would make for a good future Goat Day topic — we need carny secrets! What games are the best bang-for-the-buck when it comes to prizes and stuff like that
@nolrak The ones you should pour endless amount of money into are:
ring toss, milk bottle pyramid, the basketball shoot and dart baloons… these games are all winners.
I don’t think I’ve ever been to a state fair, only the county ones. Was never very impressed when I went as a kid but that was probably because I always went as a school field trip so we had to look at all the boring stuff.
Way better than going to the fair was this food festival called Pig Out. Tons of food vendors come out and most of them will do smaller sized cheap plates so you can try food from a bunch of places without going broke.
Where I lived a few years ago there was an annual street fair a block away, would go exclusively for the food.
Food is the best part of any fair.
Does the JazzFest in NOLA count as a ‘fair’? Cuz they have the best food of any I’ve been to, hands down.
And there’s some pretty good music to listen to while you’re eating
@compunaut As a native New Orleanian, yes, it counts. And you’re welcome. Make sure you pass a good time, cher.
ProTip: Get a couple of Monsoons “to go” from Port O’ Call and consume as you head to da fest. (You can’t bring em in).
You can get Crawfish Monica at Rouse’s gricery stores, btw.
@mike808 I haven’t been in a while; 'spect there’s been some changes. Maybe in a few years when the kids are out of the house, I can resume visiting on the regular. I’ll have to search you out for the latest info then
Between the Red River Valley Fair, The Fargo Street Fair, & Island Park Art in the Park, we Fargoans know a little about eating the “good stuff”! My favorites are Kettle Korn & Fried Cheese Curds…Oof-Da Tacos rank pretty high on the chain as well…
There be a glimpse of a sleepin baby in that first picture!!! And your goat baby is precious!
Been to a number over the years. The last time with a friend and she insisted I ride a camel with her. Camel was soft like a cat. I was not expecting that. I was expecting more coarse.
Funnel cakes are my favorite fair food.
@Kidsandliz Funnel cake forever.
Very few places serve it with my preferred prep: tossed in cinnamon sugar rather than sprinkled with powdered sugar.
I was also a carny! My grandfather, now uncles, own rides & games and operate them at festivals in their area. When I was a kid I worked there several summers.
We went to our county fair yesterday. Had bacon & jalapeno poutine, maple syrup soft ice cream, pierogies, and a donut grilled cheese with bacon sandwich. That’s the only item I took a picture of.
@lichme Do you live in Iowa now? (Earlier in your reign you mentioned living in the midwest.) I was in the metro area yesterday but not at the fair. My brother, dad, and I went to Adventureland (hooray for discounted tickets). I’ll probably go Thursday instead.
I usually get the egg on a stick. I like the giant turkey legs because they are enough for 2 meals. When I go, I always check out the 4H and FFA projects. And don’t forget the butter cow! There are a few new foods that sound interesting so I might have to try one or more of them.
One of my coworkers camps up at the fair every year. I texted her yesterday joking about being in the area but not at the fair and she replied back that they weren’t going to the fair that day either because of the crowds. Instead they were going to Walmart.
@msklzannie I live in the area still, but moved out of DSM about 3 years ago. Adventureland is a good time. My daughter loves playing in water, so we’ll probably take her soon. We’ve been to Great Wolf Lodge with her, but not Adventureland.
I have a coworker that camps too. I think the wait time for a lot is something like 15-20 years. Crazy.
@lichme If you’re planning on going to Adventureland this year, keep in mind that after this week it switches to weekends only. Tickets are also $45/adult so if you can get discounted tickets through work or your bank it helps a lot. My brother was able to get tickets for only $26 each through work. I got mine from the local bank for $33. The coupons at Hyvee and metro Casey’s are only good for $2 off.
@lichme is possibly one of the few up in here who might actually eat more than I do. Respect.
@ruouttaurmind
Sounds like a challenge.
@PlacidPenguin
@ruouttaurmind
@PlacidPenguin ok, but what comes after the hors d’oeuvres?
@ruouttaurmind
This is only the first of many trucks.
@PlacidPenguin @ruouttaurmind Did the sanitize the truck first? Wouldn’t want either of you to get food poisoning to go with your soon to be upset stomach.
@ruouttaurmind - I don’t know what she’s talking about. Do you?
Did you put ketchup on a corn dog?
Because I didn’t know that was an option.
@2many2no It’s not. Just for the record.
@ruouttaurmind Thank you, my faith is restored.
@2many2no It is when you have to share with a 2 year old.
@lichme OK, 2-year-olds are always the boss, because they can scream louder and hold their breath longer than you.
Both at the same time.
@2many2no @lichme Always carry ear plugs. Solves the your personal pain of the screaming problem. I was in the grocery store with a 4 year old who was throwing a ear splitting tantrum in the main basket of the cart, abet carefully so as not to hurt himself. I put ear plugs in and ignored him, repeating over and over, “When you are done with your tantrum you can get out of the cart.”. Abruptly he stopped screaming, stood up and started to push my hair out of the way to get to my ears. He said to me in a pissed off tone, “A tantrum is no good if you have things in your ears!!!”. (Reminded me of when his mother said to me once, “I hate it when you use your calm voice when I am trying to make you mad”.)
@2many2no You must have alternating stripes of ketchup & mustard so that it goes 1/4 ketchup, 1/4 mustard, 1/4 ketchup, & 1/4 mustard… #HeavenOnAStick
@2many2no ketchup is a wonderful condiment and makes hot dogs taste even better, corn or in bun. Chicago’s wiener bigotry must not be allowed to prevail!
@duodec Yes, ketchup has its uses.
/giphy Impressive
Wisconsin State Fair. Over a half-million cream puffs can’t be wrong.
Suck it, Iowa! You betcha!
@mike808 Love 'em, but they’re pretty much only reason to go.
@mike808 Okay, those actually look pretty damn good.
@mike808 They remind me of the best donuts in the Philly area, which are actually in Westmont, NJ at McMillan’s Bakery. More cream filling than a… (self editing out porn joke).
I completely forgot what was a very weird (to me) thing to me about the Iowa State Fair. We paid a guy (not much) to park our car in his yard just across the street from the fairgrounds. How it worked, though, was that we had to leave the keys with him because they would shuffle cars around to get the car out that they needed at the time so they could park a lot of cars in the yard. That is something we would NEVER do at the Louisiana State Fair. Everything was fine, though, and that guy probably made a couple hundred dollars a day sitting at home being a parking attendant.
@djslack in the big city, we call that ‘valet parking’.
@djslack People that live nearby take the entire week off of the fair to have people park on their lawns. They are everywhere, standing on the street with a cane/wand/umbrella/stick trying to get your attention to show you they have an open lot. I bet they make a lot of cash. The fairgrounds lot can hold tens of thousands of cars, but it’s nowhere near enough. Some of the lawns get absolutely demolished though, especially if it rains.
@mike808 lol yeah, I guess you do. Home-based valet parking. It’s a little less official than when the valet is at the place you’re going to, though.
@djslack @lichme I usually go to the Park and Ride at SEP. Last year it was completely full (I’d gone shopping beforehand and got there later than I usually do) so I ended up parking at the fairgrounds.
@djslack @lichme I live across the street from Merion Golf Club, one of the more elite bastions of snobbery in the golf world. Once in a while they’ll have a major tournament there. Five years ago it was the US Open (the record 18th time held there). I took off work Thursday and Friday and parked cars in my driveway for the four tournament days. The first day I used my backyard but it rained and I didn’t want to thoroughly destroy it so the remaining three days was just on the driveway. I was the first in the area to get creative and bought a Square reader to accept credit cards. A few neighbors saw my sign advertising such and followed suit. Final tally earned for four days of hanging out was $2400.
@cinoclav @djslack @lichme
Here the local neighborhood at the golf tourney doesn’t do that.
Either it’s banned by City code (most likely) or else the neighborhood is way way too snooty. (also kinda likely, as for many of those people, $2400 is pocket change).
But TCU is v close. Colonial tourney parking is at the TCU stadium and other large City lots, and buses go back and forth.
Uber stays busy I think.
In Dallas, at the State Fair, and for football games, everybody who lives near always did paid yard parking. They did nicely off it.
I hope they still do.
@djslack The family of my ex lived near the local basketball stadium. He had a very enterprising kid brother who would put full gallon jugs of water on the street with signs saying $3 to park. Mind you this is public street parking. But people still paid him to park there. I don’t know if it was the cute factor of a 10 year old demanding parking money for the street parking or just the no hassle factor of not arguing with him. He did promise to watch the cars while they were parked, and car theft and vandalism can be a problem in that upscale neighborhood. He made a fair amount of dough as it was a big three story corner house and he could park probably 10 cars for every game throughout the season.
@f00l The parking lots for the Open were really far away and required shuttle buses. One was at the stadium used by the Philadelphia Union, which is a solid 25 minute ride on the best of days. My township had cracked down and would not allow anyone to park cars in their yard, only on paved property. Not sure if they even knew I was using the backyard that first day as it’s mostly out of sight. Even more questionable was if they had the right to tell you what you could do with your own yard. On Sunday my gf’s brother-in-law stopped by and parked his lifted F250 in our front yard. Township officials drove by several times, slowing down to look until they realized whose truck it was. He’s worked for the township for 30 years. I took a lot of enjoyment out of seeing how annoyed they were, not being able to give me any grief. There are plenty of mansions around the corner, and even though those people didn’t need a cent of anyone else’s money, many either rented out their entire home or their properties for corporate events. If I could’ve made $50k for someone to use my lawn, I’d have been pretty okay with that.
“I used to be a Carny.”
Least surprising thing I’ll read today.
Did you get a free yardstick from the vendor booths? It’s tradition in my family. If you’re going to the state fair, you HAVE to bring back a yard stick.
@medz I did not. I try to avoid the varied industries building unless there is something specific I need.
@lichme @medz Free yardsticks are the highlight of the Kansas State Fair.
Anyone ever been to the illinois state fair in Springfield? Being illinois I don’t expect much beyond getting pickpocketed but maybe, just maybe, it would be worth going one year.
We were going to go to the Renfaire yesterday (which anymore is also mostly for food) but a blowup at a customer site once again ate most of a weekend. Meh.
@duodec I’ve been, but it was 40 years ago. All I remember was visiting all the FFA animal barns and eating award-winning pie.
I suspect it’s changed a wee bit since then.
That food all looks amazing. But WTF, pork chop on a stick?! lol, that goes too far.
Around me the fairs are very small, even sad. But the longest lines will always be for an oyster po’boy. Usually made by some of the local volunteer fire departments.
But they are yummy!