Sunday, October 19, 2008

fair fare

I bet nobody has ever used that clever headline before.

Today is the last day of the fair. I am proud to report that Tom and I returned on Friday, determined to do a better job of it than last time. And, in fact, we had lots more fun, although we did even less.

Jessica Simpson was appearing that night—part of the impetus for going, just for grins—and the fair was packed. We mashed into the crowd for a few bars of her show and what a caterwauling that was. Yikes. Every time our wandering took us past the Chevy Stage we would watch from afar briefly (a much better view than from in the thick of the crowd) but mostly she was background music for dinner.

We started with a turkey leg. Tom was skeptical, he didn’t remember last year’s turkey leg discovery (thanks MsKrit) but after a few smoky bites he was persuaded. It’s a hideous mess to eat—many tendons involved—but worth the carnivory.

The good thing about the turkey leg, I explained to Tom, is that it allows me to feel a lot less guilty about the funnel cake than a corny dog does. I feel the same about my usual annual caramel apple. (I didn’t have one this year. The chocolate strawberry dipped waffle balls were my poor substitute.) But a caramel apple is an apple, so therefore I am permitted funnel cake as well, since it’s not really like two deserts.

We also had tornado taters and broke tradition with a Reuben sandwich instead of a brat at the Hans Mueller tent. The brats are better.

Friday’s funnel cake was of the highest quality. I will only eat funnel cake from The Dock and they outdid themselves on this one. It was golden crispy on the outside, tender on the inside. Perfect. We ran into someone Tom knows there, and she said The Dock serves a grilled cheese that’s necessary to her annual fair-going experience. Maybe next year.

We ran into another colleague of Tom’s on the Midway (Tom has a lot of attractive young women colleagues) and she agreed with us that the chicken fried bacon was not all that. This appears to be the consensus on the chicken fried bacon: Meh.

The fair full of people is a lot more fun than the fair devoid of people. We arrived in time to catch the big beginning of the light show—with fireworks and bursts of open flame—but then when it got boring (classic rock and laser lights), we wandered off. We watched the rides on the Midway. Neither of us enjoy riding rides but we get a lot of vicarious enjoyment out of watching other people ride them. We sat on a bench and MFOPd. (Made Fun of People.) We somehow managed to kill three hours.

Eating and mocking. It’s our version of a good time. We have successfully done State Fair ’07.

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2 comments:

Joel the Pole said...

We did the fair yesterday, had a blast. The butter sculpture (King Tut) was the best I've ever seen. The Wild Birds show was still excellent. The highlight was still a parrot singing "Camptown Ladies" Shiner Bocks were still 6 coupons($3) at the Food Court. Free ice cream at the Food & Fiber building. Some football game at the Cotton Bowl which was distinguishable by a sign at the gate that said, "Pass Out only at halftime". Never a dull moment at the State Fair. It's like an acid trip, don't enter in a bad mood.

Sophie said...

The highlight of the bird show for me is always when the hawk flies down from the top of the Texas Star. For some stupid reason, it never fails to thrill me.