howdy folks...

Since toddlerdom, I've missed the State Fair of Texas only once--the year I lived in London, England (1999). And you better believe I thought about how I was missing it the entire month of October. Yesterday, The Husband and I made our yearly pilgrimmage to the land of corny dogs, livestsock shows, midway rides, and Big Tex. I had an interesting conversation in Austin last weekend with Liz about Big Tex and how Dallasites view him as a normal part of Texas life. If you're from the area, you think it's perfectly normal for a giant, Wrangler-wearing cowboy to be set up in the middle of Fair Park every year. He waves and talks, his motorized jaw awkwardly moving up and down. But take an out-of-towner to the fair to witness this site, and their jaws drop almost as awkwardly. Regardless, it's one of my favorite things about Texas, and D magazine recently took a poll that ended with Dallas voting the fair as the best thing about Dallas. It's true. We love our state fair.

Per usual, we ate several fried items yesterday. One of the best things about the fair is the fried food, and they add a new ridiculous one every year, like fried peanut butter, jelly, and banana sandwiches, fried oreos, and fried nutter butters. This year they had chicken fried bacon, and my carnivore husband just had to try it. They gave us a rather large basket of them, so I forced myself to take a bite. I was not pleased. It felt like a bomb of animal fat and grease had exploded in my mouth. Never again. Justin ended up with a stomach ache. Each year, I never miss the Fletcher's corny dog and a cinnamon roll from the Food Pavilion. But I also nibbled on fried green tomatoes and a fried s'more, which was in-cred-ib-le. Fried marshmellow, chocolate, and graham cracker? Yes, please.

In addition to eating, we also visited the livestock area and the automobile building and watched The Spirit of the Horse, a show we never miss. All the walking (hopefully) burned some calories.

Photo above: One of the many art deco structures on Fair Park grounds. This one houses the food pavilion during fair time.