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| A fair photo from a couple years ago. On the right is my friend Mel. Fun story: Years ago, the first night we ever hung out (along with another friend, Maggie) we actually watched the movie State Fair. |
This weekend I’m heading to the Iowa State Fair with a couple friends. We go every year. Because, well, we’re from Iowa. It’s what we do.
To me, it’s a little like watching the Super Bowl. I don’t tend to feel all that invested in the Super Bowl. (Except for the year that, going into the big game, I was in the running for the trophy in our office football pool. And guess what…I WON! Thank you very much, Steelers.) But I still watch it because it feels like the patriotic thing to do.
So being a native Iowan, going to the State Fair is really the state-riotic thing to do. I mean, if ever there was a state in which the State Fair is the epitome of a state’s culture, that state is Iowa. (Also, I feel like I should get another trophy for most uses of the word “state” in one sentence.)
But I realized something last year. The fair…it actually makes me feel…old.
See, I used to be able to go on every ride ever. Roller coasters, tilt-a-whirls, those swing things. I loved ’em. Still do.
But now…rides make me nauseous.
And the food, oh the food. I still get ridiculously excited to see all the random foods on a stick at the fair. Chocolate-covered bacon? Check. Fried brownie? Check. Even lettuce.
But now…fair food makes me nauseous.
And the commercial building. Oh how I used to love that place–all the free rulers and pencils and tote bags and notebooks.
But now…the commercial building makes me…
Okay, fine, it doesn’t make me nauseous. But free junk just doesn’t have the same appeal as it did when I was a kid.
See? Even as I’m writing this, I’m getting the same feeling I do on nights when I suddenly get giddy at the thought of going to bed at 9:30 or mornings when I look in the mirror and wonder if the circles under my eyes could get any purpler. I’m getting old!
But here’s the thing: I’m still probably going to go on the rides and eat the crazy disgusting food and fight my way through the commercial building. I’ll deal with the nausea by ODing on cotton candy and slipping into a pleasant sugar coma. I’ll squeal my way through the petting zoo and get just as excited as I do every year over the ginormous pumpkins. I will ooh and ahh over the horses and will take the obligatory butter sculpture photo.*
And I will come home Saturday night dusty and dirty and halfway-sick and exhausted. But it’ll be worth it.
Because hey, I might be getting older. But I can still act like a kid now and then. 🙂
So, what makes you feel old? Or young? Or, well, nauseous? 🙂 Do you do the State Fair thing?
*So last year I wrote a silly post about the State Fair’s butter sculpture tradition and guessed at who this year’s sculpture would commemorate. I was gunning for Alfred Hitchcock (50th anniversary of The Birds) or Superman (100th anniversary of his comic book debut). But I have to give kudos to the actual decision. The sculptures are of the Lincoln Highway Bridge in Tama and Abraham Lincoln–celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation and the Gettysburg Address and the 100th anniversary of the first transcontinental highway. That’s pretty cool, yeah?
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As you can imagine, our Texas State Fair is a huge thing! And being that it takes place right down the highway from where we live, of course we go every year. For us, it’s never been about the rides. It’s always been about the food, the new car pavilion, and the craft/food competition. Only now I have to share a corny dog with someone or I’ll be sick, we get depressed looking at the cars we can’t afford. I still like seeing what quilt or photograph or even lego creation won a blue ribbon! In fact, my daughter entered a cooking competition at the State Fair when she was 16 and won 3rd place for her cheesecake against a whole slew of ladies–most of whom had apparently been entering that competition for years! (Interesting side note: my daughter also appeared in and helped direct her high school production of State Fair.) Does the fair make me feel old? Yes. Does it make me feel young? Yes again. It’s one of those things that every years makes new memories but it is also about reliving the old ones.
Oh I bet your fair is huge. Did you know they once remade the musical State Fair and instead of setting it in Iowa, they set it in Texas. It felt like a travesty to me, but now that I know cool people from Texas, I’m a little more okay with it. 🙂
And great job to your daughter for winning third place.
I realized after I hit “publish” on this post that one of my favorite things about the fair is how much state history is woven into the displays. I bet it’s similar at your fair…it makes me feel more connected to my home state than I usually do. 🙂
OOOO, I’m so not a fair person. Maybe it was because my Dad was in politics and I was in countless blazing hot parades and throngs of people make me feel ill. Not because I’m shy, but because I hate small talk! Pointless waste of time. LOL Which is why I didn’t go into politics. Not good at schmoozing, hate fairs, and have literally no filter on spewing my thoughts out loud. EEEK!!! Enjoy the fair though … the horses are cool 😉
Haha, I never really thought of the state fair as a place where you have to do small talk. Ours is literally jam packed–anywhere from 90,000 to 120,000 people each day of it. So, I feel like I do more clinging to my friends and shouting to be heard than actual, pleasant small talk. LOL!
But I can totally see how being immersed in the political world would have you hesitant about fairs. There’s always a fair bit (haha!) of political stuff at the fair, actually…especially during election years, of course.
State fair, I’ve never been to a super big one like Iowa’s. I have read about the food. Sometimes when I’m driving, I’ll pass by someone and think, oh my goodness a twelve year is driving that car. When really it’s a high school student. That makes me feel old, that they look so young to me. Hope you have a great time at the fair! Definitely OD on cotton candy.
Oh yeah…the food is crazy. So since your husband is from Iowa, you should totally check out the fair sometime. Mostly, I enjoy it because of all the people. I could seriously just sit around and people-watch all day.
I hear ya on the driving thing. I remember when my little sister (who is ten years younger than me) first started driving. I was like, nooooo, she’s a child, this can’t be!
Oh, let’s not talk about what makes me feel old … let’s go the other way …
things that make me feel young … like laughter, and game nights … and going for a hike in the CO mountains, although that can make me feel, um, tired too … and hanging with other writers and talking stories …
Oh yeah, chatting with writers gets me giddy like a kid, so I know what you mean! 🙂
“Our state fair is a great state fair! Don’t miss it, don’t even be late!” As we’ve talked, I have a feeling the Minnesota State Fair is right up there with the Iowa State Fair. We’ve only been to ours once because my husband sounds a lot like Jaime. He hates crowds, because he hates small talk. I just saw our first state fair commercial on tv the other day and I ALWAYS love those. They’re very nostalgic and highly Minnesotan! What makes me feel old? Talking to teenagers and realizing how much things have changed since I was a teenager about 15 years ago.
Have fun this weekend!!!
Oh yes, we’ve talked about the Minnesota State Fair before. Don’t you do butter busts instead of sculptures?? I’ve always been a little freaked out by busts…I don’t know why. 🙂
Also, one time a teenager said “WTG” to me and it took me like 20 minutes to realize she meant “way to go.” Yeah, felt old then.
Yes! We have butter sculpture busts of our Princess Kay of the Milky Way winner (the top beauty pageant winner of the Dairy Princess order). 🙂
That sounds fun! I remember going to the county fair in like fourth grade. My mom was a chaperon. We saw big pigs. Yep, that’s about all I remember!
We have a fair but I’ve heard it’s so expensive and my husband doesn’t like rides, so we’ve never been. The small talk thing wouldn’t be an issue because Phoenix is so big we wouldn’t probably see anyone we know!
Oh my, yes, there are LOTS of pigs at a state fair. Although, I don’t usually make it to that building. Haha! However, when I was reporting I covered the county fair each year which meant I took TONS of photos of little kids and their pigs. I had to laugh every time I took a photo of a pig that was like three times the size of the kid showing it.
Fairs are crazy expensive, that’s for sure. Like, $10 a ride and $8 for a deep fat fried oreo…haha! But the memories of fun times with my friends are worth it. 🙂
I don’t do the state fair but we do the county fair, I was in 4-H, now my kids are. And I too I am getting old (but I am pretty sure you a lot younger than me). However,I did discover I can still do rollor coasters and love them, but I can not do anything that spins…not good.
Oh man, I love roller coasters and spinning rides…so fun. And so far, they’re still worth the post-ride nausea. 🙂 Now, the day I start throwing up afterwards may be the day I have to give them up.
LOL! Yep. I feel so young until I try and tackle a roller coaster. But I still go on b/c I love the thrill. So what if now part of the thrill is holding my cookies in? 🙂
LOL that’s me exactly! I’m the person wandering around pale-faced at the fair wondering if I can go on just one more ride before hurling…just one more… 🙂
We have a regional fair around here, and I haven’t gone in YEARS. It used to be in Memphis, but the amusement park at the fairgrounds closed, and the area became less and less safe, so it moved TO THE EXIT WHERE I GET OFF THE INTERSTATE FOR WORK/CHURCH. Which means 1. Terrible traffic during those weeks, and 2. I can’t pass by it without my daughter asking to go. And, since it would cost around $100 for us to attend, I keep trying to put her off!
And that, my friend, makes me feel old – that I no longer have any desire, at all, to attend the fair. The end.
Giggling at your comment. 🙂 But even with all that–the terrible traffic, the begging from your daughter, the knowledge at how much it costs–even with all that, isn’t there a tiny piece of you that misses the cotton candy? The animals? The crazy crowds? Hehehe…
I miss the corn dogs! I know I can get those just about anywhere, but there is something special about the ones I used to get at the fair!
This is true. Actually, there are a lot of foods at the fair I wouldn’t get at all excited about anywhere else BUT at the fair. OH this year Iowa State Fair is introducing a shrimp corn dog. Sounds gross to me…but not nearly as gross as the deep fat fried sticks of butter they introduced last year (or was that the year before?)…gross!!!
What two good-lookin’ gals in that photo! 🙂 So I have the total opposite reaction to the fair than you. Mind you, I feel old by other ways…like the streaks of gray hair that make me look like a gray tiger, the previous youth students of ours that get married and have babies, getting aches and pains in my knee and back, seeing RV’s and thinking about getting one when I retire (which is about 40 yrs from now) But, I completely agree about the spinning rides that now make me nauseous also. I do have to veer from you and say that I feel so young because I get to hangout with my best friends this weekend for a sleepover, go to a fair and eat deep-fried oreos, feed the animals at the petting zoo out of those paper cups, and forget to be an adult for a couple days. I can’t wait to see my kindred spirit. 🙂
Mel, just reading your comment made me SO excited to see you. I sometimes complain about how all my best friends are long-distance. WAH! But…I think it makes me cherish the times we get to see each other even more. Looking forward to forgetting being adult with you!
Also, when you retire and get that RV, and assuming I’m still living a somewhat nomadic lifestyle at that point, how about you just follow me around in the RV?? Think of all the good times we could have! Tyler could come too.
How about we all get RV’s. We’ll talk Maggie into it to. We can travel around the country seeing grandkids, family, doing mission trips, and going with you on your book tours. 🙂
I love that idea. BUT they have to be good RVs with comfy beds. Oh, also, I should mention: By that time in life I fully intend to have my pilot’s license and my own plane. Soooo…we for longer trips, that’s also an option. 🙂
We will get the RV’s that are basically like a house on wheels, flat-screen TV, comfy beds, appliances, hot-tubs. Ummmm, you flying an airplane… I’ll have to warm up to that idea, but I do have 30-40 years to get comfortable with that thought.
Um, why is the concept of me flying so hard for you? It’s not like I’m clumsy or accident prone or anything… 🙂
AND I get to see you tonight!!!!!!!
Melissa, must be some good fodder for your next novel at the State Fair? Good on you for going. Great to keep supporting your community and one never knows who you might meet.