Sunday, September 26, 2010

Fair Time

The Fall brings about many things that I enjoy because of this particular time of year: cooler weather, leaves changing colors, Halloween and fairs.

Having grown up in Texas I knew what true State Fairs looked like. The Texas State Fair is, in a small word, huge. For a state that big, it better be, right? I do indeed miss the Texas State Fair, with its food and rides. But I can't miss an opportunity to attend another State Fair, can I?

How about 6 States Fairs...all in one! Too good to be true you say? But halt, no...it is true! Welcome to The Big E, held at the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield, Massachusetts.

My roommate and myself went to The Big E, as we did last year, and while it was a different experience, it was still a good one. We ate tasty food. I believe the best quote of the night was as follows:

Robyn: I'm hungry!
Me: We'll get you a corn dog to tied you over.

I wasn't lying. We had a plan ahead of us on food to eat. Unfortunately for me, having been in the ER just a few days before, I wasn't in the best of shape to eat a lot of food, but I tried my best.

We started the evening with corn dogs (best fair food anywhere, I believe). As we walked through the fair, we stopped at the craft section. This was for Robyn. She was looking specifically for an ear cuff, something she buys every year, and we found a new one for her.

Next was the baked potatoes. Baked potatoes? At a fair? Why yes, at this fair. At The Big E, there are state halls, one for each of the states represented. You want a great baked potato with all of the fixings?! Go to Maine! Maine is one of the largest producers of potatoes in the country, which I didn't know until last year. So of course, we dined on them!! We walked around the hall for a bit following the starchy goodness and decided, when in Maine, we would split a lobster roll. It was good, though cold and I prefer warm with butter.

Next we moved on through a few more state halls, including Vermont. Robyn was all about this state and saying that if she was going to buy maple syrup, it would come from here (we had a slight disagreement about that). Anyway, we did agree that below was not edible...


My night of food was done, but we still had rides to go on. Well, ride...as my roommate was not a fan of spin-y rides and without an extra person, I didn't want to ride alone. So we rode "Crazy Mouse" and had a good time. We were pretty much the oldest people in line...rather sad, but it didn't stop us. We continued around the Midway looking at all the other rides. We found this one and I couldn't resist photographing it in honor of our current production of Antony & Cleopatra.


We ended our night with purchasing new watches (something we both actually needed), followed by (sadly) a failed attempt to find the Craz-E burger: a bacon cheese burger on a donut. We would have split that too, if we had found it. Robyn wanted to end her night with a caramel apple (for the road) and ice cream as we walked out. I convinced her to try frozen custard, something I like from the boardwalk in New Jersey. Needless to say, she liked it!
So we left The Big E satisfied and tired. I was a little weak due to being up and about so much, but it was worth it. I only wished we had others there with us, like last year.

Well, maybe next year...

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