When I lived in Utah, I only remember going to the county fair once. It was uneventful. We took a picture of a man wearing overalls without a shirt and giggled. We watched a little bit of a demolition derby and the friend we were with made a man from a political campaign feel incredibly uncomfortable with some direct questioning. That’s it. That was the extent of my fair-going.
And then I moved to Indiana and my friend Casey introduced me to the Indiana State Fair. I don’t know what I love more – the idea of the fair or the actual fair itself. Whatever it is, I LOVE it. I went twice in one day and even went back again later in the week for a the Kelly Clarkson concert. (If you just sang, “Since you’ve been gone” out loud, don’t be embarrassed because that was the most common reaction whenever I told someone that I was going to that concert.)
One of my favorite thing about the fair is the food. Last year, I was amazed to see deep-fried Pepsi, deep-fried Twinkies and deep-fried candy bars for the first time. Then there was the Pork tent. And the ginormous turkey legs. I couldn’t believe my eyes. And here’s my confession: I’ve only had a bite of a deep-fried Twinkie and a bite of a deep-fried candy bar. I don’t have much standing to say that I love fair food since I don’t eat it but, oh how I love the idea of it all. It kills me. I honestly don’t know how they come up with this stuff. The signature food this year was deep fried pizza. And a new food this year was chocolate dipped bacon. Yes, you read that correctly. Chocolate covered bacon. I heard about it before I even went to the fair and I had to actually see it. We happened upon the booth and I plopped down on the bench directly in front of “Pigs in the Mud”. When I came to my senses, I noticed an unfinished portion of the chocolate covered bacon. Seeing that a person couldn’t finish it, that they couldn’t even throw it in the garbage two feet away made me laugh even more. It must have been just as disgusting as it looked. And that my friends is the essence of fair food – there is no hiding, no subtlety, it’s exactly what you would expect, fattening and over-the-top in all of it’s deep-fried glory.
Ohh, Betsy! 
This is so great because guess what, I also can’t tell if I love fairs or just the idea of fairs more. I feel the same about cupcakes, I love them SOOOO much, but I can’t tell if it’s them I love, or the idea of them. Either way, I guess they make us happy right? And that is all that matters.
I really can not believe that about the chocolate covered bacon. Ha ha! I say “No, No” to that concept. I like chocolate and I like bacon, but together….makes my stomach squeamish.
I love it. I ate about half a fried Twinkie once and I must say, it made me happy.
On a silly side note: I once sang at the [lame] Utah State Fair, and won a ribbon. I can’t even remember which ribbon – 1st? 3rd? Who knows?
Um, you really need to track down that ribbon. Because, that my friend, is awesome.
Ah geez, your face in that picture is classic! The only thing that sounds worse to me than chocolate covered bacon is chocolate covered ham. Or maybe chocolate covered spaghetti. Gah.
right before you ATE IT.
nom nom nom