The State Fair of Texas

Dear readers,

As you might know, last weekend Jen and I went to the State Fair of Texas. As I know some of you are from out of state, or have never been to the state fair, indulge me for a moment while I give you a brief overview of this annual event.

Since 1886, the state fair has been held at Fair Park in Dallas, home to some lovely art deco architecture built for the Texas Centennial in 1936. Since 1952, a fifty-two foot tall cowboy named Big Tex welcomes visitors to the fair. The fair is also home to a large assortment of fried foods (including fried butter) as well as a large midway. The centerpiece of the midway is the Texas Star, the largest Ferris wheel in North America. The Texas State Fair is the largest on the United States, and has an annual attendance of approximately three million people, second only to the Minnesota State Fair in attendance. It’s a great experience, one which we try to go to every couple of years. We love going for the experience itself, as well as what a great social equalizer the fair is. People from all walks of life come to enjoy themselves, and eat a bit too much fried food.

Jen and I went on a particularly lovely day last weekend, and the weather was not unnoticed by many of our fellow fair-goers. The fair was very busy - so much so it took us about thirty minutes to get through the front gate. Admission was fairly inexpensive due to a free ticket (you know who you are - thanks!) and we proceeded on to eat the only “true” Texas State Fair Food - Fletcher’s Corny Dogs.

Let me tell you, there are corny dogs and then there are Corny Dogs, with Fletcher’s being purveyors of the latter variety of hot dog on a stick. Perfectly cooked with a tasty breading, Fletcher’s are excellent - and best eaten at the fair. Half of the enjoyment of eating the corny dogs is trying to put your condiment of choice on it with your hands full, as well as trying to eat standing up while staying out of the way of your fellow fairgoers. Jen and I managed to successfully consume three dogs between us, as well as take some fun photos of the corny dogs and Big Tex himself.

After our bellies were full, we moved on to the indoor car show. This is one of my favorite parts of the fair - the opportunity to look at and sit in cars, without the annoying salesmen, is wonderful. I can report that the new Lexus hybrid is great if you are in the market, and so is the new Subaru Outback. Our favorite, though, was the new Prius. People were crowded around the new Camaros on the floor, ogling them - but we just moved on. I’m sure my brother James is annoyed by this - but sorry - we just weren’t interested.

As we left the car show, it began raining lightly - which we took as our sign to start wrapping things up. We proceeded into the food hall, home to the many fried culinary curiosities that the fair is well known for. Fried Butter, Chicken Fried Bacon, and most unusual was the Fried Coca-Cola. We did not try any of these foods, as we were out of Lipitor and coupons needed to purchase the food.

Leaving the food hall, we walked around the side of the Cotton Bowl to the Midway. The midway has lots of games you can play, with prizes awarded with varying regularity at each stall. Another highlight of the midway are the rides, all of which looked a little questionable to Jen and I - but maybe that’s just me growing up with a family that runs an amusement park mistrusting carnival rides. I will say everyone on them was safe, and sounded like they were having a great time, though I cannot speak to whether or not fried food and the rides went well together. The Grand Dame of the midway is the huge Ferris wheel, the Texas Star. I rode this once with my dad, and you can hear the slag from the welds rattling around inside the support arms as you go around. With Jen (and my) fear of heights, we passed on taking a ride.

We made our way around to where we came in, and got to the car. We were tired, but we had a great time. I feel sure in saying it will be another couple of years until we return - but hopefully we made a few great photos - which will be posted either on the site here, or on flickr.

Check out the fair, if you can - it’s a great place!

- Jason Dean

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Fair_of_Texas
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Park