The Iowa State Fair - believe the hype?

Don't believe the hype: the Butter Cow



















Believe the hype: fried Oreos





Believe the hype: people watching








My take on the Iowa State Fair is that it's like pretty much any other state fair, except that people care about it. I mean, there's the same thing you'll find at any other fair - scary carnies ("lovely ladies get a free try!" said one particularly smarmy fellow about the dart-in-balloon game. This lovely lady got one on her first try, but apparently it didn't count enough to win a flourescent stuffed animal.), a disturbing freak show tent, huge barns full of animals, random things like cabbage and dahlias with blue ribbons on them, and LOTS of junk food. But at this fair, nearly every presidential hopeful was in attendance, and you couldn't have small talk for two weeks without one person asking, "Have you been to the fair?" We sat in the beef tent, being served hamburger by tanned, serious farm kids, listening to my 2nd cousin's band play, enjoying the temporary respite from the heat, and I thought, maybe it's kind of cool that ordinary things get so much hype around here.