Well, I made it to the Wisconsin State Fair this year after all.
After complaining recently about my extreme lack of funds, I was contacted by a man from State Fair Park who kindly offered me two free passes to the Fair as well as complimentary Sky Glider and Giant Slide passes.
Yes, my blogger status has its perks!
Not about to pass up such a sweet offer, Dave and I hit up the Fair last night. The weather was absolutely ideal – sunny and about seventy degrees – and the sun was just starting its descent as we drove around the perimeter of the grounds looking for parking. Not wanting to pay the $9 in the lots or the $10 that close-by residents were charging, we found street parking about 12 blocks away and hoofed it to the Fair entrance.
I was starving after eating next to nothing all day because I was at my first dress fitting. In celebration of it being over and doing so well all week, I was ready to splurge. As soon as we entered the gates, I hightailed it to the corn dog stand.
Once I'd finished my greasy, crispy, delicious dog, I stood up and realized how insanely crowded the Fair was. I've been to the Fair plenty in my day, and I swear I've never seen it so crowded. But why wouldn’t it be packed on a beautiful Saturday evening?
We strolled slowly through the masses of people and finally made it to where the animals were. Seeing the animals is one of my favorite parts of the fair, and we walked through and saw the cows and horses. We also saw a huge number of llamas and wondered what the heck do farmers do with llamas?
Next was the birthing barn, which Dave didn't want to go into. I told him we probably wouldn't actually see an animal giving birth; we'd probably just see newborn babies. We saw baby piglets and chicks and ducks – and they were all so darling! Definitely more enjoyable than actually watching an animal give birth – I used to show goats at the fair when I was young and I've seen a few being born – it isn't very pretty!
I usually like going through the 4-H exhibit halls, but we skipped those this year. We came upon the Giant Slide by accident and as I dug our free passes out of my pocket, Dave said "why don't you just go and I'll take your picture." Well fine – I went alone. I remember being young and going on these slides with my dad, and I always loved it. But as I walked up the stairs with my burlap sack this time around, I found it a little ridiculous how nervous I felt. But when I got to the top, I hopped on and slid down – and I obviously had nothing to worry about. It was totally fun!
We got Dave some food next – a chicken wrap thing at Brew City Barbecue. Leave it to Dave to get something totally odd instead of some traditional Fair food. Of course, it wasn't very good – yet he ate the whole thing. I got myself an ear of corn and as I polished off the buttery, salty ear, I marveled at how happy food makes me!
Finally, it was time to experience what I'd been anticipating all day: my very first State Fair cream puff. I posted about them last year and said how they'd never really appealed to me, but that maybe I'd have to try one next year. Now, I know I'm the last Milwaukee blogger to blog the cream puffs (Audra, Charlie) but I'm still hopping on the bandwagon.
We entered the dairy building and saw the cream puff line to our right – it was ridiculous! It was moving awfully fast, but we just couldn't believe the hoopla surrounding these things. As we moved through the switchbacks, we watched the crowd to our left who had already gotten theirs. They all looked so happy, and there was a lot of laughter when their faces and hands became covered in the sweet cream.
I still had my doubts. I just didn't think I'd be a fan, and I was almost tempted to order a blue ribbon brownie instead. I watched as "Team Cream Puff" worked tirelessly behind the glass cutting the pastries in half and filling them with globs of cream.
When we got up near the windows to order, another member of the team yelled "keep the line moving!" over and over again. "One please!" I said when it was my turn, and I handed over my $3. I was handed a cream puff and we scurried out of there before we got stampeded.
Armed with the cream puff and a load of napkins, we parked ourselves off to one side of the pathway and got ready to dig in. Dave told me that I was supposed to mush it together and then split it in half, but when I separated it, there was only cream on one side. So instead I put it back together so I could eat it like a sandwich.
I took my first bite and ….
Oh my gosh! It was divine!
Ok, I see what the hype is about. I'd never eaten anything quite like it. The pastry was soft and the cream was so incredibly sweet. It was cool in my mouth and so smooth going down. I loved it. I offered Dave some of it, but he didn't want to eat it the way I had it, and was peeved that I hadn't split it in two. So I ate it all myself!
I had almost the entire thing gone in probably five minutes, and I threw away just a little bit of the cream. When I was done, I felt a little woozy, and I was in a cream puff coma for the next half hour or so.
Dave got a chocolate malt and drank it as we watched some jugglers, and once he was done, we made our way over to the Sky Glider. We waited in line ten minutes or so and then hopped on, ready to make our trip back to the other end of the park.
Not a fan of heights, Dave didn't like it one bit. I normally have no problem with heights and I enjoy the bird's eye view of the festivities below, but his nervousness then made me nervous for some reason. I just kept picturing us falling to the ground below, even though I know the thing is very safe. Needless to say, the 8-minute journey to the other side of the park – complete with two stops due to people not boarding or getting off the way they're supposed to – was not overly pleasant. I did enjoy the view, though, and got some good pics from up there!
Relieved to be back on solid ground, we made our way through the still-heavy crowd to the exit. We'd spent maybe two and a half hours there, and not being huge crowd people, we were content with that.
As always, I loved the Fair. As I said last year, it's a great Wisconsin tradition. And I do believe I've discovered another item to add to my gotta-have-it-once-a-year food list. Just like the Saz's combo platter at Summerfest, I think the cream puff will have to be my new indulgence at the State Fair!
What a lovely set of pictures! Anyway, here from Michele!
Posted by: charles ravndal | August 13, 2006 at 01:02 PM
saw you at Michele's and thought I'd say hello...what a wonderful experience you seem to have had! Having young kids takes away some of the bliss of a fair (you're always chasing them around). Man, I would KILL for one of those cream puffs...they look AWESOME!
Posted by: Linda | August 13, 2006 at 01:39 PM
Glad you made it to the Fair.
I'm looking forward to your wedding posts - I love your bridesmaid dresses.
Posted by: Kathy | August 14, 2006 at 10:03 AM
I thought you're supposed to stack the deck and make the bridesmaid dresses ugly. I think Christi might be giving you the wrong advice so she doesn't look goofy at your wedding. My *good* advice? Poofy everything. And maybe hoop skirts. Lacy ones.
Posted by: Andre | August 14, 2006 at 04:01 PM
Andre, nobody actually does that. And if they do, they have serious self-esteem issues. The choice of bridesmaid dresses and how the girls look reflects on the bride! I want my *fabulous* taste to shine through! :)
And Kathy - thanks! I can't WAIT to be able to post a wedding and honeymoon recap and lots and lots of pictures!!
Posted by: Erin | August 14, 2006 at 09:20 PM
I'm jealous. We did not get there this year, but did make it to the Morning Glory Art Fair, which I really enjoyed.
Good luck with the wedding plans and the wedding! Best wishes!
Stopping by some blogfriends to say hi. Hello from Tosa!
Posted by: Karen | August 15, 2006 at 07:21 PM
Lacy. Hoop. Skirts.
:^P
Posted by: Andre | August 16, 2006 at 10:12 AM
I STILL have never had a cream puff. I'm don't have much of a sweet tooth. I suppose I should try one sometime though since it is the right thing to do being that I live in Milwaukee.
Posted by: Derek | August 17, 2006 at 08:02 AM
I didn't know that you've never had a cream puff! That's crazy! They are one of my MOST favorite things in the world...and one of the things that I miss most about being a Wisconsinite. hmmmmmm.....I'm salivating right now at the thought of one.
And, I disagree with Dave completely on the style of eating a cream puff. You have to keep the ends together and eat it in a big ol' messy pile. Who politely takes it apart and eats it as two separate things? That's nuts.
Posted by: Amanda | August 18, 2006 at 04:25 PM