Fair Fun 2019 – Day 5

Wow, what a couple of days it has been! The Wisconsin State Fair is no joke when it comes to size and food. Both are a bit overwhelming.  But my stalwart Fair Buddy and I were up to the challenge!  We were here to FAIR!

Rob and I took a few breathers today, mostly because we are in our early 50s and our bodies were getting sort of demanding. That and over 11 miles in two days and bed times past 2:00am sort of took their toll.  Nevertheless, by the end of our Fairing today, we had walked down every street (except in the Spin City rides area), popped into every building, and clapped our fins at the sea lion show (the same one that was at My Fair years ago).  We truly feel like we DID the Wisconsin State Fair.  WHOO!


Say Cheese!
There’s a building dedicated to Wisconsin products, aptly named the Wisconsin Products Pavilion (they like Pavilions here; there’s also one dedicated to The Cream Puff). We scouted it out yesterday, deciding it would be the venue for today’s lunch.

We grazed around and did all sorts of sampling (see Fair Food Feast Parade below). Overall I would say that there is something different and mostly better about Wisconsin cheese compared to other non-descript cheese. Creamier, stronger flavor, cheesier.  And it’s hard to beat a cheese curd. Especially a deep fried one.  Mmmm.  I shall miss those.

But despite my many samples and open mind, I am still very partial to Oregon’s Tillamook cheese. Maybe because I’m used to it, maybe because I like the vibe from West Coast cows who enjoy a view of the ocean.  Either way, as much as I've enjoyed the cheese here, I won't be longing for it once I get home.

These nice cheese people prepared our first course for lunch.

Man Buns & Frosting
Our main activities today were good ol’ fashioned Fairing.

We watched a draft horse judging. I’m not sure what they were being judged on, but they did a lot of trotting back and forth and their tails were all tied up in man buns. They looked pretty if not a bit 2016.

SO much more comfy than the Horse Arena at home.  This
arena had seats with back rests!  And ceiling fans!

We then spent a good chunk of the day looking at homemade things people from around the state of Wisconsin had entered in the Fair. Being all organized and such, the nice Fair people have a building (not a pavilion this time) called the Grand Champion Hall where all the top things entered by adults are gathered.

I was very impressed by the cakes and sewing projects. The people here (mostly women) know their home economics! Maybe it’s the long, harsh, ridiculously snowy winters that allow lots of time to perfect their hobbies? (That also might explain all the beer and accompanying koozies...)

Is it wrong...or surprising...that my first reaction was to
wonder what type of frosting that was?  I LOVE frosting.
Especially of the buttercream variety.  With all the milk
here, I betcha that's buttercream frosting.  Mmmm!

Hobbies & Ampersands…
I was also amused by how all the homey entries were organized. Instead of putting all the quilts in one place and garments in another and arty knickknacks in another, the Champions were instead grouped by theme. Themes that were two words each and just too precious. Groups like Yip & Yap for animal-related items; Holly & Ivy for Christmas decor; Gumdrops & Lollipops for sweet little girl things.

While it was sort of novel to peruse a bunch of like-minded things all in one collection, it was confusing to try to compare one knitted sweater with an elf on it in Holly & Ivy to one with an elephant on it over there in Yip & Yap. Since all the crafts were displayed in a Hall instead of a Pavilion like the clearly more revered Cream Puffs, space was somewhat limited. So all in all, although a totally different way to think of displaying Arts and Crafts, I think the Wisconsin folks came up with a great way to display their craftiness in a meager old hall.

I always forget that Lewis & Clark are VIPs in other parts
of the country. Apparently even in parts they didn't visit. Still, I'm not sure how all these items
ended up together as a group representing the two
explorers.  Other than they are nature colors??

Prickles & Prom Dresses…
It took some asking around, but we finally found the 4-H Arts and Crafts entries created by kids. The artwork was in the lobby of the Gigantic Air Conditioned Building. The rest was in a building called The Youth Expo Hall. The displays were separated by about a mile, which was unfortunate for the kids...and their parents.

The youth artwork was a bit striking to me compared to what I see at home. The Wisconsin kid art was surprisingly darker and more serious and a bit less sophisticated. In fact, in many cases the art looked very untrained whereas the youth paintings and drawings at My Fair seemingly reflect some art education and instruction. But technique aside, I was more troubled by the seriousness and darkness in the art I saw. There wasn’t a lively hopefulness and joy of life behind the creations. No adorable little cacti with pink bows in their prickles; no octopuses trying hard to look fierce but blowing it by having a baby octopus on their head. There was a heaviness to the kid art here in Wisconsin. Again, I blame the winters.

I'm really not an art critic.  I just play one on my blog.

We also totally lucked out and caught the Wisconsin State Fair 4-H Fashion Revue! SCORE! I was SO excited to see it on the schedule, as it is one of my FAVORITE 4-H presentations at My Fair. I lurked around the stage looking at other exhibits, prepared to dash over to grab a seat as soon as parents, fans, and other fairgoers started to gather. Finding a good seat at the 4-H Fashion Revue at home always takes some planning and an early arrival.

So imagine my disappointment when maybe only 15 people watched the Revue today, with only six participants. BOO!  As the teen girls came out and modeled their homemade dresses, I suddenly realized what a treasure the 4-H Sewing Leader at home is. Her name is Nancy and by all reports she is a legend. And wow, I now understand how deservedly so.

Although the Wisconsin girls today absolutely sewed things I would never even attempt (I curse just trying to thread my hardly-used sewing machine), I could see seam and hem and fit issues from the audience. The back of one poor girl’s prom dress was dropping below her bra band by the time she exited the stage. At least she had long hair. From the looks of things, any teen seamstress from My Fair could move to Wisconsin and dominate the state. Not that I'm recommending they relocate; I would miss them and their rockin' fashions immensely.

The gal in the blue jeans was inspired by a '80s jeans outfit
she found in her grandma's closet.  GRANDMA!  Oy.

Us & Them...
It is SO hard not to make comparisons of my beloved Fair at home to the Fair I have walked and eaten my way through the past two days. But comparison is part of the point of a expedition like this. I adore My Fair with all my heart, but I also am incredibly curious how other people fair; people 2000 miles away with different perspectives and hobbies and taste buds and priorities.

I would say the Wisconsin State Fair has a huge advantage over My Fair in three highly notable areas: The Sporkies; the horse barn, and seating benches.

• The Sporkies are a big DUH! OMG, a food competition among vendors to come up with creative and weird stuff to keep people Fairing every year to spend ridiculous amounts of money on novel ways to prepare cheap ingredients. The Wisconsin Fair People are geniuses

• The Horse Arena at My Fair is a stuffy, hot, oppressive barn filled with dirt and stagnant air. I know I’m not the only one who would watch a lot more horsey shows if it weren’t so dang sauna-like in there. Meanwhile, here in Wisconsin, they have discovered there are these things called Huge Ceiling Fans. They run off of this awesome invention called Electricity and they move the air around, keeping horses and their groupies comfortable and ever-so-slightly windblown. I couldn’t believe it today when I said to Rob, “Hey, let’s go check out what’s happening in the Horse Arena so we can cool down a bit.”

• At My Fair, there is a slowly-dwindling collection of old rickety yellow wooden park benches. They are dragged out every year, placed around where the Fair People In Charge think people will gather, and are then moved by Fairgoers because they know better. These benches are ancient and at least once per Fair Season, I see someone almost topple backwards in one because the benches aren’t made for today’s more hearty Fairgoer. Here in Wisconsin, they have sturdy plastic park benches scattered around the Fairgrounds, each engraved with a donor’s name and message. How inspired!! I would totally try to talk Rob into us buying a bench at our Fair, engraved with something fun and foody.  My Fair should have a Bench Drive and let Fair Fans buy benches like people buy bricks for new buildings.  Who's with me??

It took quite a bit of patience to get a picture of this
bench without anyone of it.  Even not in the shade,
this was a pretty popular...and sturdy...bench.

On the other hand, My Fair has it figured out when it comes to napkins, bathrooms, and eating seating. Yes, seemingly small advantages but actually critical to Clean and Comfy Fair Going.

• It seems so odd, but very few people were carrying around napkins with their food here in Wisconsin. And our food was never handed to us with napkins. There were dispensers here and there, but mostly we had to remember to ask for something to mop up the grease and chocolate sauce. Maybe it’s to keep the trash down, or maybe some sort of turtle indigenous to Lake Michigan is being killed by paper products. Whatever the reason, it was a small but annoying difference here in Wisconsin.  My Fair for the cleanliness win!

• One of the secrets to my ability to gorge on so much grease and fat during Fair Season is that I drink almost literally gallons of water while Fairing. Therefore, water fountains and bathrooms are critical to my Fairing comfort.  I have not appreciated enough the posse of teens that keep the bathrooms at My Fair well-stocked and very tidy. There’s not an icky, ignored, out-of-order stall on the Fairgrounds at home. Not so much in Wisconsin. Without going into any details, I will just say that those teen girls tending all the toities at My Fair are my new Fair heroes. They will hear my thanks daily next year.

• One weird effect of all the bar tents at the Wisconsin Fair is that they all have dedicated seating. Meaning, if you want to sit at a table near a bar, you must purchase something there first. This is fine if you want to hang out in a bar tent; not so awesome if you’ve just purchased something on a stick from a tableless vendor and you’d like to sit down so your husband can take your picture digging into it. Rob and I spent waaaaay too much time over the past two days trying to find a place to sit in the shade to eat. At My Fair, there is always plenty of seating. In the shade, in buildings, near fans.  The only thing vendors at My Fair won’t let you use if you haven’t purchased food from them is sriracha sauce. And that’s only one mean lady at a Yakisoba stand.  (Yes, I can hold food grudges long past being constructive or valid.  Pray for me.)

It’s always hard to say goodbye
I always get emotional and teary-eyed at the end of my beloved Fair at home. After 9-10 days of my most favorite escape from reality, it’s very hard to let go and move on.

I wasn’t sure if all the emotion was My Fair, or Fairs in general. So far, I’m thinking it’s mostly My Fair. But tonight, as we were leaving the Wisconsin State Fair, I actually said goodbye to it with some wistfulness and hugged Rob as we exited. I don’t know if I will ever come back here, so I am very grateful for the experience and memories…and even the indigestion.


SCHEDULE:
So yes, today was our last day at the Wisconsin State Fair. Tomorrow (Friday), Rob and I will be resting and relocating. We will be Fairing again on Saturday at another surprise location! Stay tuned!


STATS:
Distance walked: 11,442 steps or 4.7 miles. I’m very glad I thought to bring two pairs of walking shoes to rotate.

Earrings: Pretzels! I even had a pretzel bite in honor of them.

Re-entry stamp: a really boring and impressively temporary green imprint of the snowflake that is the Wisconsin State Fair logo, along with a “3" for no discernible reason.  As for the logo, we asked Mr. Google and he said it is a snowflake to brag how the fairgrounds are used all year round, not just during the State Fair. I was honestly surprised to find out it is a snowflake. I thought it was a peace symbols with wheat or grain or something to symbolize the ag peacefulness that is Wisconsin.

Best souvenir I didn’t buy: Somehow we missed the taxidermy booth yesterday, but today we made a trotting detour as soon as I spotted an array of animals heads beckoning my credit card. Now, I’m not usually – or ever really – one for having stuffed once-alive-but-now-they’re-dead animals in my house. But there was this one stuffed critter that just made me laugh and start figuring out which shelf in our living room’s bookcase it should go on. I was all set to start negotiating suitcase space with Rob until I turned over the price tag. Sadly $175 for a taxidermy opossum rowing a canoe is just a little out of the Fair budget. Dagnabit!

I'm pretty sure I was going to name him Walter.  Or Oliver.

FAIR FOOD FEAST PARADE:
I feel like I’ve done a pretty good job sampling a small portion of the offerings at this Massive Food Fest given that I only had two days and one very accommodating tummy. Here’s how today shaped up. And so far, no Tums!!

Bought a new-to-me flavor of bubbly water at a local
grocery store.  Pomegranate blueberry hit the spot as
my pre-Fairing warm-up.

First sample in the Wisconsin Products Pavilion:
Tupelo Honey.  Also tried a clover honey and one
from a tree called Basswood.  All were fine
and not all that different from stuff I've tried at home.
Honey is honey to me.  But it was FREE!

Grilled cheese with Wisconsin Cheddar. The cheese was
really good, but honestly Rob grills a better sandwich.
The line was pretty long for this booth; must be a
tradition even though there is better grilled cheese
to be found on the premises (see below).

Trying a pretzel bite.  It was really boring.  Even the
"spicy" mustard sauce didn't help.  The look of glee
on my face is because the lady sharing the table with
us offered me one of her pretzel bites (she didn't
like it either).  I'm ecstatic I didn't pay for this!

I love olives. And garlic stuffed ones are especially
appreciated.  But there was nothing special or
particularly Wisconsiny about this garlic
stuffed olive.  It was fine but not Pavilion Worthy
in my opinion.  And I do have a few.  Opinions.

A smokey tomato sauce "with a kick."  I'm on a roll -- I
didn't like this much either.  It was like a tomato bisque
soup got mixed up with some chipotle BBQ sauce.
Good in theory, prompted a coughing fit in execution.

Finally a winner in the Pavilion!  This was Maple Root Beer.
It was much mellower than typical root beer, although
there wasn't much of a maple flavor.  Pretty tasty though!

The red glow of eating a chicken pasty!  And be sure to call
it "pass-tee" cuz a "paste-ee" is something VERY different.
This was delicious.  Seasoned, moist chicken, 3 types
of cheese, onions, all in a fresh baked dough.  It would have
been even better with some snow on the ground and
a dark beer in a mug on the table.  WOW!

I bought this in the Pavilion but ate it while
watching horses.  The Curse of the Pavilion
continues. This was a caramel made with goat
milk.  It made my stomach turn.  I couldn't
finish it and it was just an innocent little
caramel!  It tasted gamey with a hint of
feta. So not what I want in my caramel.

More free samples, this time in the Champion Hall!  I had
never eaten hickory before.  You know, the wood.  It was
surprisingly good.  This selection here is the Hickory Fudge
which tasted a lot like pistachio. When I noted that to the
fudge maker there in the background, he seemed a bit
offended.  Oopsie.

Andes Mint flavored kettle corn.  Why is this not a thing?!?
This should totally be a thing.  It ROCKED!
Chocolate mint with a hint of salt.  Somebody
please make this for me!

Ok, so I need to apologize.  I am SO SORRY for this
totally misguided detour from my Fairing responsibilities.
My tummy was still a little tender from that goat
caramel and so a salad sounded like a good idea.
And there was this Salad on a Stick offering that
seemed like a great compromise. The description promised
so much more.  Instead, it was half a head of iceberg
lettuce, one mushroom, two grape tomatoes, and two
slices of cucumber.  It was on a stick so there was no
fork.  I basically pretended to be a rabbit and
nibbled off the skewer.  It was so unsatisfying!
In some measure of redemption, it WAS iceberg
lettuce, which has no nutritional value.  And the
dressing was Italian whose 3rd ingredient after
water and soybean oil was high fructose corn syrup.
So at least that.  But still.  I'm so sorry!  Please forgive me!

Rob was kind enough to let me nibble on his grilled cheese
sandwich from the same vendor.  It was soooo good!  Same
cheese as the Pavilion one but the bread and the toasting
were SO much better.  Totally don't understand why so
many people were lined up for that other one. 

Mmmm, chocolate chip cookie dough on a stick.  Not all
that exotic but we saw someone eating one and it looked
good.  And it was!  Rob and I shared this.  

Still feeling a little snackish after the Salad fiasco, here's
some Deep Fried Fuji Apples, rolled in sugar and caramel.
It tasted like a crunchy apple pie...which was a VERY
good thing.  Very tasty!

OMG!  This was the winner yesterday of the 2019 Sporkie
Award.  It is called a Hot Chick.  It is a deep fried taco with
grilled chicken, white cheddar cheese curds doused in
buffalo sauce, topped with blue cheese coleslaw.
When I was able to get all the ingredients in one bite,
It. Was. Fantastic.  Fried cheese curds with buffalo
sauce should also be a thing!  Is it?  Because even
just that was a taste sensation.  YUM!  Totally worth
the 19 minute wait in line. I'm from Portland;
waiting in line for food is what we do.  At least it wasn't
raining.

On the plus side, tonight's dessert was NOT Tums!
Sadly, it wasn't that great a sample of ice cream.
The ice cream itself was good and creamy. The flavor
promised more but was actually pretty sour, hence my
undelighted expression.  It was supposed to be Amaretto
Cherry ice cream with fudge from Mackinac Island.
Sounds amazing, right?  Yeah, it was in the Pavilion.  Sigh.