Big Tex

So we made it to The State Fair of Texas this past weekend and we saw Big Tex (the "mascot" of the fair). For those of you who don't know, well most of you reading this, you have no clue the extent to which Texans go to fry stuff. The State Fair is also known as the Fried Food Capitol of Texas. I will say that it did prove that anything can be fried and can be delicious. After indulging a bit, Allie decided she needs to open up her own restaurant named "You buy it, we fry it" where people can bring whatever food they want to be fried...haha.

Some things we chowed down on:
1. Sweet Jalepeno Corn Dog Shrimp (yes, it's fried)
2. Corny Dog (that's what they call 'em here)
3. Fried S'mores - yum yum!!
4. Fried PBJ&B Sandwich (B=banana) - super yum yum!
5. Fried Butter - yes, I typed it correctly. This was the new 'hit' item this year and we just had to do it. And yes, it was Deeeelicious; tasted pretty much like you think fried butter would
6. Turkey Leg - you know, the kind you usually only see at the Renaissance Festival that's as big as your head?
7. Beer - of course
The Beer & Turkey Leg were the only non fried items. If you wanna check out more of the ridiculous, artery-clogging menu items go to: http://www.bigtex.com/foodlocator/

So what else does the fair have besides fried stuff? Lots of stuff! Shows (we saw part of the pig races, but missed all the others), Animals (I'm not sure if Doug or Charlotte liked the petting zoo better), a 1,500 lb pig, rides, carny games, car show, and of course shopping. Let me tell you about the shopping. Allie and I were expecting the traditional "craft tent"...well, the craft tent in Texas is different than the ones in Kentucky. They're pretty much all full of "As Seen on TV" crap. Half of the vendors are wearing mics and pitching their products. It was an experience, but unfortunately, none of them got a sale from our party.

Did I forget to mention that it was raining most of the night? Thank goodness for Charlotte's stroller's rainguard. That thing's AMAZING! She was in her little dry, germ-free cocoon and even slept the whole ride home. Oh, the ride home...the one part I haven't even mentioned yet is our transportation...we took the Dart (the train). Charlotte's first commuter rail experience (and probably her last for a long time). It actually wasn't too bad, we're lucky we fit that stroller in though and really lucky Charlotte slept the whole ride. All the other riders were way jealous of her dry, quite, comfy seat on the train.

So altogether, our first trip to the State Fair of Texas was a great time. We're really happy that Allie & Bo were here to experience it and chow down on some fried stuff with us!

Ok...here's the photos: