County fairs / State fairs

[Deleted]

What always happens to me is I jump on the first thing that looks awesome (usually my old standby of cheese curds which is near the entrance), then the grease sits like a rock and I'm stuffed.  I go in with grand expectations of trying all this stuff, but it never seems to pan out. 

[Deleted]

Deep fried snickers are awesome!  I'm hitting that first if I can find it.  I don't care about the calories.  I have a theory that your body can assimilate only so much in a day, so as long as it's just that one day, might as well go crazy. 

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Ever had a deep fried Twinkie? I normally hate Twinkies but they puff up and the filling gets all oozy when they are fried, it's yummy.

I figure between getting to the actual fairgrounds from the car, walking around all day and then back to the car I'm probably burning a decent amount of calories. Enough to burn off everything I eat?  I doubt it but it's not like I am the guy driving around on a rascal either.

And it's only once a year.  We don't eat like that on a regular basis so I figure 2 days out of 365 isn't going to kill us.

[MN-Investor]

Aug 26, 2014 14:20:57 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Deep fried snickers are awesome!  I'm hitting that first if I can find it.  I don't care about the calories.  I have a theory that your body can assimilate only so much in a day, so as long as it's just that one day, might as well go crazy. 

Try the Minnesota State Fair Food Finder. Type in snickers for what you are searching for. Or anything else you might want to find. It even shows you a map of where the item is!

There are also Android and iPhone apps for the Minnesota State Fair which will also find food, events, etc. I haven't downloaded it for this year yet.

[Deleted]

Nope.  If I see the Twinkies before the Snickers, I'll give it a try. 

Last time I was at the fair I wore a pedometer and had over 30,000 steps. 

[Deleted]

Aug 26, 2014 14:37:54 GMT -5 MN-Investor said:

Aug 26, 2014 14:20:57 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Deep fried snickers are awesome!  I'm hitting that first if I can find it.  I don't care about the calories.  I have a theory that your body can assimilate only so much in a day, so as long as it's just that one day, might as well go crazy. 

Try the Minnesota State Fair Food Finder. Type in snickers for what you are searching for. Or anything else you might want to find. It even shows you a map of where the item is!

There are also Android and iPhone apps for the Minnesota State Fair which will also find food, events, etc. I haven't downloaded it for this year yet.

A food finder app!  I love it!  I'll look for it. 

[ArchietheDragon]

Aug 26, 2014 14:19:14 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

What always happens to me is I jump on the first thing that looks awesome (usually my old standby of cheese curds which is near the entrance), then the grease sits like a rock and I'm stuffed.  I go in with grand expectations of trying all this stuff, but it never seems to pan out. 

Get yourself some ipecac syrup and just keep the food bag going. 

[movingforward]

I haven't been to the fair in many years but this thread is making me want to go this year.  I can't really stomach the rides since I have gotten older but like others said I love seeing the animals, walking around eating junk food, people watching, etc.  

[Deleted]

I just kind of wish I had another adult to go with.  That will be the only bummer.

(well, I hope that's the only bummer...)

[Deleted]

our county fair is September 10-14, which is good because DS2 won't be 16 yet so he gets if for $4 instead of $6 (so $22 for the 4 of us, or 5 if DS2's girlfriend is around too).  haven't been in years.  should be fun but I have visions of spending tons of money.

[Deleted]

Our county fair is free (admission anyhow), but state is spendy.  $13 to park, $13 for adults, $11 for kids over 5.  Add in about $40 for gas for the 240 mile trip and we're at nearly $80 just to get in the gate.  It's discount day if you have you're library card, so that will save $5, but that's a kind of a drop in the bucket.

[Deleted]

Aug 26, 2014 15:52:29 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Our county fair is free (admission anyhow), but state is spendy.  $13 to park, $13 for adults, $11 for kids over 5.  Add in about $40 for gas for the 240 mile trip and we're at nearly $80 just to get in the gate.  It's discount day if you have you're library card, so that will save $5, but that's a kind of a drop in the bucket.

you drive 120 miles to the state fair eek!  ours is 35 minutes away and I'm not sure I want to drive that far....maybe next year.

[Wisconsin Beth]

Aug 26, 2014 15:52:29 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Our county fair is free (admission anyhow), but state is spendy.  $13 to park, $13 for adults, $11 for kids over 5.  Add in about $40 for gas for the 240 mile trip and we're at nearly $80 just to get in the gate.  It's discount day if you have you're library card, so that will save $5, but that's a kind of a drop in the bucket.

Holy hell that's a lot just to get in the doors.

It was $26 to get the 4 of us into Wis. State Fair earlier this month.  $10 each for adults, $6 for Keira and Cabe got in free.  We paid an additional $10 to park a couple of blocks away.  I think parking on the grounds is up to $20.  State Fair ground at in West Allis so maybe 2 gallons all told to get there and back. 

[Deleted]

Aug 26, 2014 15:56:29 GMT -5 @singlemominmd said:

Aug 26, 2014 15:52:29 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Our county fair is free (admission anyhow), but state is spendy.  $13 to park, $13 for adults, $11 for kids over 5.  Add in about $40 for gas for the 240 mile trip and we're at nearly $80 just to get in the gate.  It's discount day if you have you're library card, so that will save $5, but that's a kind of a drop in the bucket.

you drive 120 miles to the state fair eek!  ours is 35 minutes away and I'm not sure I want to drive that far....maybe next year.

MN is pretty big!  If you look on the map we don't seem too far in comparison to the rest of the state.  Just a little hop down the river from St. Paul.

[Deleted]

Aug 26, 2014 15:58:09 GMT -5 Wisconsin Beth said:

Aug 26, 2014 15:52:29 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Our county fair is free (admission anyhow), but state is spendy.  $13 to park, $13 for adults, $11 for kids over 5.  Add in about $40 for gas for the 240 mile trip and we're at nearly $80 just to get in the gate.  It's discount day if you have you're library card, so that will save $5, but that's a kind of a drop in the bucket.

Holy hell that's a lot just to get in the doors.

It was $26 to get the 4 of us into Wis. State Fair earlier this month.  $10 each for adults, $6 for Keira and Cabe got in free.  We paid an additional $10 to park a couple of blocks away.  I think parking on the grounds is up to $20.  State Fair ground at in West Allis so maybe 2 gallons all told to get there and back. 

Yeah, I know.  Had I got the van news a few days earlier I might have reconsidered but I already have the kids bouncing off the walls wanting to go.  Another adult would cover half the gas, but hard to find someone on a weekday to go. 

[Deleted]

Went to the fair yesterday.

Had a good time until I saw a pig with whip marks on it.

In all my years at the fair that is a first .

[whoisjohngalt]

Aug 24, 2014 13:25:05 GMT -5 Malarky said:

Aug 24, 2014 11:01:47 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

I grew up in Springfield, Massachusetts and since 1916, the Eastern States Exposition has taken place  in West Springfield .  The ESE is the 'state fair' for all the New England States.  I used to go as a kid and teenager.

The Tennessee State Fair ìs held ìn Nashville.  I have never attended. 

I have never been, even though I've lived in MA and NH my whole life.  

It's on my bucket list for this fall.

huh, never heard of it and I've been here since 2008 - need to look it up!!

We are going to Topsfield fair this year.  One of the homeschooling groups is organizing a trip so admission should be free and they will have some "classes' for the kids.

[Cookies Galore]

Aug 26, 2014 5:08:06 GMT -5 nutty said:

www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2733824/How-calories-did-YOU-eat-state-fair-This-years-decadent-deep-fried-dishes-revealed.html

Some of these are just plain strange.

Yeah... I definitely have no interest in going to a state fair!

[souldoubt]

Every summer for 4 weeks the county fair screws up my drive home from work. If it were up to me I wouldn't go because I don't see the attraction to overpriced beer and food when I can get that year round at bars without paying the price of admission. My GF however always gets excited to go so I don't mind paying the high prices and her family gets free tickets since they live close so we sometimes save on admission. It's not like its a bad time it's just the same thing every year with mostly the same shows, most of the same foods and a few new what did they deep fry that will ultimately contribute to my early death items. It just kind of amuses me how people get so excited to overpay because it's a fair but to each their own. 

[Deleted]

Sept 1, 2014 19:40:30 GMT -5 souldoubt said:

It's not like its a bad time it's just the same thing every year with mostly the same shows, most of the same foods and a few new what did they deep fry that will ultimately contribute to my early death items. It just kind of amuses me how people get so excited to overpay because it's a fair but to each their own. 

I was raised in Stark County, Ohio and they just changed their pricing. It used to be all- inclusive. They lowered the admission price but charge a bundle for ride tickets. People are pretty upset.

I remember when I was a kid my mother used to have an entry or two in the flower -arranging competition. I think DH and I would enjoy the agricultural exhibits but that's not what it's about anymore and we'd be paying too much for stuff we don't care about.

[resolution]

DH usually runs some sound equipment for a nearby county fair as a part of his side job. I end up going most years to watch the events. They do things like demolition derby, tractor pulls and cow pie bingo, which is quite different from the city where I grew up.

[Deleted]

Sept 1, 2014 19:40:30 GMT -5 souldoubt said:

Every summer for 4 weeks the county fair screws up my drive home from work. If it were up to me I wouldn't go because I don't see the attraction to overpriced beer and food when I can get that year round at bars without paying the price of admission. My GF however always gets excited to go so I don't mind paying the high prices and her family gets free tickets since they live close so we sometimes save on admission. It's not like its a bad time it's just the same thing every year with mostly the same shows, most of the same foods and a few new what did they deep fry that will ultimately contribute to my early death items. It just kind of amuses me how people get so excited to overpay because it's a fair but to each their own. 

Your county fair is 4 weeks long?

[souldoubt]

I live in a county with a population of 3M and we area part of what is considered the greater Los Angeles area. It's not your traditional weekend or week long fair you'd find in a less densely populated area. 

[Tennesseer]

Sept 1, 2014 13:27:54 GMT -5 whoisjohngalt said:

Aug 24, 2014 13:25:05 GMT -5 Malarky said:

I have never been, even though I've lived in MA and NH my whole life.  

It's on my bucket list for this fall.

huh, never heard of it and I've been here since 2008 - need to look it up!!

We are going to Topsfield fair this year.  One of the homeschooling groups is organizing a trip so admission should be free and they will have some "classes' for the kids.

If you are ìnto old things, the Brimfield (MA) outdoor antique fair (I believe) ìs this week into the weekend. The fair is huge.  Six to eight football fields (or more) ìn size of antique dealers selling their goods.  Quite an impressive show.

if I remember correctly, Brimfield is just east of Sturbridge.

[michelyn8]

Our County Fair is this week.  We've only had them the past 3-4 years so not a huge affair.  This year, they decided to do 3 days instead of the 4 or 5 they did last year.  I think it was a mostly economic decision despite last year having a great turnout. 

I normally don't care for these things since I don't do carnival rides or food and there is very little other stuff to justify the time.  I will be taking DGD this year though since there are things for her and I enjoy watching her enjoy those things.  Plus the Sheriff's Department is doing a dunk a deputy dunking booth this year.  The father of one of my childhood neighborhood buddies is now a deputy here and I'm hoping to get a chance at dunking him.