Have you ever tried a red velvet deep fried Oreo cookie? Neither have I. But I could have!
That’s because we traveled to the heart of the heartland. The apex of all-you-can-eat hearty-heart-attack fantastic funnel cakes, elephant ears, corn dogs and cotton candy: The Indiana State Fair!
At first I happily thought I had found the Wine barn. Then I realized an important letter was obscured by a tree.
Today was Pork Day.
And so naturally I had to have a Bar-B-Que Pulled Pork Sandwich.
Thank you Dwayne, the kind representative from the pork stand.
And thank you, Carla Comer Peacock, an honest-to-God girlfriend of mine from Monroe Central High School I ran into (we’re friends on Facebook so we recognized each other!!) who helped me get the pink pork-chop T-shirt Lulu is sporting (and the AWESOME pink Indiana Pork hat she isn’t wearing).
Yes, we went to the livestock barns. I pet a giant turkey.
Lulu and her cousin Sophia were a cute little chick and bunny.
We awed at World’s Largest Hog.
And hammed it up at the “Make Your Own Post-card Booth” at the Soybean Barn.
Since state fairs revolve around agriculture and celebrate the livelihood of farming, indeed, there was a soybean barn… and a corn barn… and a completely recreated pioneer-era working farm. It was a great fun and learning experience. For example, the tractor-driven trailers that transported the too-tired-to-walk are fueled by those ubiquitous Hoosier soy legumes. Cool-beans!
The Department of Natural Resources sponsored a Catch-and-Release pond and a Butterfly Pavilion.
We had no takers at our kissing booth.
But Lulu and Sophia were both very much “Wanted!”
In the afternoon, as we were ready to go, I saw my friend Carla again. She asked my husband whether we enjoyed Indiana – since we have lived in Europe for so long. Of course we enjoyed ourselves. We’re constant tourists.
We revel in all things terrific.
Who wouldn’t enjoy a lemonade made from inside a giant plastic lemon!
With love from the Indiana State Fair!
Baci, Gina!
Copyright 2014 Gina London. All Rights Reserved.
