Sunday, August 12, 2012

Why I go To The Iowa State Fair

 
I grew up here in Iowa and the only consistently big deal here, besides apparently the Iowa Hawkeyes,  is the Iowa State Fair. You can find just about anything you want to see at the Iowa State Fair if you look hard enough and the food is all deep fried and on a stick for the most part. People Watching is one of those things that's universally entertaining and while I like it, that's not why I go to the fair. Tradition dictates that you do certain things at the fair depending on how your family trained you and it really is about tradition. The photos below are the things that I find fascinating at the ISF.  For instance, this is a chicken.
You can't even see it's face and it is somewhat chicken shaped, but really, is this what comes to mind when you think of chickens? Most likely not. This is the thing about the fair...variety. Now for some normal chickens.

The one above looks more like a black road runner or a Cornish game hen with ostrich legs.
Need to throw in a couple of odd ducks.
Then there's the horticultural building. First, a cow sculpted from butter.
The rose competition.
The Arboretum outside the Horticultural Building
Then there is the biggest of everything. Here's a couple of shots of a ton of bull.

The bull is an Angus from Indianola, IA. He did not mind in the least all the people staring at him and taking pictures. I guess if you're a star, you are used to that. You would think that the next one below would be a real ham, but he seems to be sleeping through his fair visit like it's a real boar.
I really wonder if he can even stand up and if his belly drags when he walks.  the final pic is of the largest squash, euphemistically referred to as a pumpkin. It seems grossly deformed and overfed like many fair goers.
I also generally like the exhibits in the cultural center, particularly the photography and paintings. Among the paintings, there were a couple of disturbing works.
Please note the automatic weapon in the man's hand. I believe his hotel room is about to erupt into violence. Then there is this:
Please forgive the quality of the photo. This is an artist's rendering of an  apparent murder or suicide. It's hard to see here, but there is blood steaming from her temple, down her jaw line and onto her neck. I've never seen art like this at the fair. It made me uncomfortable. Perhaps it was suppose to.

There was also the prize quilts at the Varied Industries Building  and
some swans at the DNR Building.
In all, I enjoyed my trip to the fair. I ate a double bacon corn dog. It was good, but is it wise to eat things that have been fried twice? I was sitting on a bench eating it at 9 AM and an old lady walked by and said, "is that what you're having for breakfast?" I said, "it's ok. It has bacon." She shook her head.

I also had some nitorgen frozen ice cream at a place in the grandstand. It is the best ice cream I have ever eaten. It is very dense and flavorful. Not full of air like other ice creams. Blue Sky Creamery was running the display and selling the ice cream. It is wonderful.

If you haven't yet done so, go to the Iowa State Fair.