The Iowa State Fair

My daughter has become a proponent of her adopted state, Iowa.  According to her, the people are friendlier, the sun hotter, the farm land richer,  the football better, and the winters longer.  She is pretty much right (although, I don't think they have a lock on all the friendly people) .  However, when she started in on how much better their state fair was than ours, I protested.  After all, in Kentucky, we have the largest climate controlled facility, under roof, maybe in all of the United States!

Then we went to the Iowa State Fair.

The granddaughters were showing for the first time at the fair, so naturally the grandparents had to attend.  The girls are showing miniature Herfords, their parents method of getting them hooked on showing cattle.  These gentle little creatures are the perfect introduction into cattle showing.  The girls, at seven and nine, were able to handle them with ease and fell into the routine of caring for them with enthusiasm.  It took a little getting used to for us old people, seeing these perfect cows in small sizes.  

Part of showing at a State Fair is that the animals are part of the fair experience for the people attending.  Therefore the cattle have to be on display in the barns for a certain number of days before and after the show.  That means we have time on our hands that we can use to explore the fair.

So, Hubby and I took it all in.

No wonder two movies and a long running stage production were based on it.

No wonder the New York Times best selling travel book, "1000 Places to See Before You Die" listed the Iowa State Fair as a must see.

No wonder the attendance is over one million people.

It was FUN!

It was an old fashioned county fair on steroids.

The fairgrounds cover 435 acres in Des Moines.  Established in 1878, the grounds are covered in trees, streets, sidewalks,  grass and shrubs.  It's rather more like a little town than a facility.  Adding to the small town feeling is the fact that 160 acres are set aside for 2300 camper sites.  Families move in for the entire two weeks and "vacation" at the fair.  These sites are rented for years in advance with families passing their sites down through generations.  The campers arrive and compete to "outdo" each other on their spots.  Decks, awnings, patios, even pools appear overnight.

The animals are stalled in wonderful, old brick buildings built in the early 1900's.  Exhibits, 4-H projects, agriculture displays, activities, and commercial booths were all housed in a variety of other buildings along tree lined streets.  Benches are placed invitingly in the shade of the trees.  Fairgoers wander from building to building in a seemingly endless parade.

Ask anyone what their favorite thing is at the fair and their answer will probably be "the food"!  My daughter had proclaimed that she was planning on eating her way through the food booths.  After wandering through the over 200+ food vendors, I began to see what she meant.   In Kentucky, we have the same basic vendors for all events with a few special "fair food" booths.  The fair foods tend toward how many calories you can put in each bite.  Think deep fried hamburgers on a doughnut. 

Now don't misunderstand, the Iowa food wasn't low calorie (although they did have a list of low calorie, healthy foods offered on their website.)  However, the emphasis was how delicious and representative of Iowa could you make it.  The highpoint of our list was the Pork Chop on a stick.  (Iowa is #1 in hog production)  This is a boneless chop, grilled to delectable tenderness, served on a stick so you can eat it like a popsicle.  Yum!  (In case you wondered, they serve 60 different items on a stick, ranging from caprese salad  to the delicious pork chop.)  You can grab a bucket of homemade cookies or a full sit down meal at one of the restaurant type booths.  Originally all the food at the fair was provided by local churches and you can still get breakfast, lunch and dinner at the Methodist Church booth.

We tried to taste it all.

Some favorites.  Hot Beef Sundae--mashed potatoes smothered in roast beef and gravy.  Smoked Ham sandwiches (and beef and lamb).  Macaroni and cheese with sweet, spiced barbeque on top.  Red velvet funnel cakes.  Gigantic sweet rolls.  I never could find the chocolate covered bacon on a stick!

Now if I could just button my jeans again!