State Fair 2012 Edition

The Iowa State Fair is a nationally known fair. It is on many "must see" lists, and the movie, "State Fair" with music by Rogers and Hammerstein was based on the Iowa State Fair. We go to the fair every year, and this is not the first time I have written about it on my blog. I am always amazed by the Iowans who have NEVER been to the fair. I did not grow up going to the fair, but Bud and I started going when we were dating and have gone almost every year since. Some years we go for a couple of days, some years just one, and every now and then I don't go. We have seen some great concerts at the fair on the main stage and on the free stages.

Anyway, yesterday was our day at the fair. It was a PERFECT day weather wise. I even wore a sweatshirt for part of the morning! Usually it,s hot and I'm sweaty, so the cool temps were fantastic! We each have things we want to see. I, of course, like to see the quilts that people have entered.

This was my favorite maybe because I love fall and the colors. It certainly wasn't the most difficult, but I liked it.



I am always in awe of the hand quilted quilts. I think they deserve extra points just for the time involved in hand quilting vs. machine quilting.
Not sure why this one deserved a red. I liked it, but I wasn't the judge.


Even though I hope I have made my last t-shirt quilt I thought this one was interesting. It is a memory quilt of 4-H ribbons, photos, and activities, so not a t-shirt quilt, but similar.


The quilting had words written to tell about some of the activities.


What a great use of the ribbons.
Bud is always interested in the animals...mostly the cattle. But this year we had to take two peeks at this guy.


You would not believe the size of the rack on this elk. This would be Bud's dream trophy!
I was more interested in the moose.


The chocolate one of course! This was the first time for the chocolate moose. FYI-the butter cow was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and the Evil Queen.
On the food front we really struck out! Our first taste was crab fritters.


Waaaaaay too much fritter and hardly any crab visible. Thumbs down!
Next was the German Chocolate Cake funnel cake. We had planned on a Carrot Cake funnel cake, but when we saw this we decided to try it since Bud loves German Chocolate Cake.


Thumbs down! it wasn't freshly made and had way too much frosting in the middle. Bud ate most of it but was sorry later!


Our last taste of fair food was the double bacon wrapped corn dog. It was not an epic fail, but just not all we expected. I've had better regular corn dogs at the fair. The was a slice of bacon wrapped around the hot dog and bacon bits in the batter. That's why it looks lumpy.

Bud has a rule about not spending much money at the fair, so that is all we shared to eat all day. We had a great meal at Jethro's BBQ in Altoona in the evening, and it was worth the wait.

So, today I am nursing my sore feet, and starting to think more about school. Bud will go back to the fair tomorrow for the tractor pull while I stay home.

Fair 2012 is in the history books for me. Have you ever been to the Iowa State Fair? If so, what is your favorite thing to do?
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