Oh, I- Owe- IOway

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Would you believe I saw the musical State Fair before actually attending the Iowa State Fair? I'm pretty sure this affected my appreciation for the spirit of this show dramatically.










Anyways, last night Mike and I ventured east for one of the most sought after events in all of Iowa... the Iowa State Fair. I feel I should start by saying the Iowa State Fair is a bit of a sour subject for me because I grew up going to the Minnesota State Fair. Now, I completely understand Iowa has more pride in their farms than Minnesota but I really, really do think the pride for the state fairs is quite comparable. Regardless, you really can't have a Minnesotan and an Iowan in a room while mentioning state fairs and not expect some sort of disagreement to ensue.

This year marks the 4th year Mike and I have lived in Iowa as actually residents of the state (4 more if you include our college years which is darn near a decade, yikes) so we figured it was time to enjoy this tradition as a married couple.






We visited the prize winning gourds...










... and a cow (there was a tractor going by behind me so the cow was distracted... a true Iowan, clearly)...













... and a horse. (I look totally awkward because the horse is licking me... and the lady taking the picture is telling us the horse has good taste... it was a weird yet classic state fair moment)






We also saw a sheep showing show, but Mike took the camera away from me because he was sick of taking pictures. =(

Going to state fairs with Mike is a blast because he comes from Illinois, a state that does not embrace this tradition the way Iowans or Minnesotans do. He was quite impressed with my knowledge of state fair happenings. The big thing to see here is the butter cow, which we missed somehow, but we still managed to have a great time. It's amazing how quickly one single couple can "loop" the fair. We were in and out in 2 hours and still managed to have an adequate amount of state fair food, covered a good amount of grounds, and were completely entertained by the crowd.

To my fellow Iowans, your state fair has and will continue to provide wonderful memories for me... but my heart will always lie with the great Minnesota get together, my apologies.

Comments

  1. MALLORYAugust 31, 2010 at 11:00 PM

    HAHA i've totally seen the State Fair musical, too! Glad you got to experience the Iowa State Fair, finally, with your hubby!

    ReplyDelete

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