State Fair

As I said before, we do want to embrace our new home and area. We are explorers by nature, so we enjoy checking out the obscure and the things considered family favorites. Yesterday, we headed to the Ohio State Fair.

It had been 26 years since I went to my first and only state fair in Minnesota. I don't remember much except the food and Viking ships. It was Minnesota after all. My husband had never been to a state fair. We had only been to the county fair back home together.

When we lived in KC, county fairs weren't popular like they are here. Here, they close schools down for the county fair week. Crazy, I know! The Missouri State Fair was a family tradition for some friends, but not anything we ever made the 45 minute drive for.

With a few things we had going on, the last day of the fair was the only one that worked with our schedule. And it was packed!!!!

We got there as it opened. It's about 90 minutes away, which is really nothing since almost everything is an hour away. It was about 75 degrees and pleasant. However, I forgot sunscreen.

Once you step in the gate, three things were clear. One, we had a multitude of choices for lunch. Two, this state loves John Deere. Three, the one thing they love more the JD is the OSU Buckeyes. The state has 2 professional football and baseball teams, a professional hockey and basketball teams and many semi pro teams. They even have some excellent universities who do well in sports. But nobody is as universally loved as the Buckeyes.

Just to be clear, except the Bengals, we haven't given up our favored teams and embraced the local ones.

We walked through a couple buildings with fair entries in crafts and food. We also walked through the Marketplace filled with blood sucking salesmen. Seriously though, Direct TV is the worst! We only went in one animal barn and that was enough. It smelled so bad! Maybe had it been cooler and earlier in the fair, we'd have spent more time looking at the animals.

Looking at all the cakes, breads, candies and cookies got us good and ready for lunch. We chose a BBQ vendor. Big surprise! He had ribs, I had chicken. I was strategic. It was easier to justify dessert with a healthier lunch. Believe me, I'd rather have eaten the tenderloin the size of my head. So, grilled chicken it was.

After lunch, we hit the dairy barn. There was the giant butter display. I'd seen a cow carved out of butter, but this was far more. It was a cow, calf, two football helmets and Brutus the Buckeye mascot. Quite impressive! It was rednecky and made us feel at home.

We made the giant loop through the fair and decided to go home after about four hours. On the way to the gate, a dessert stop was necessary. The supplements we take have eliminated sugar cravings, but we still enjoy an occasional dessert.

So, a funnel cake was a must. We didn't pick just a plain cake. Oh no! We had a cake topped with hot chocolate, marshmallow cream and graham cracker crumbles. Smores on a funnel cake. It was ooey gooey sticky goodness. Truthfully, it made me sick and was totally worth it.

We walked off some of those calories with the 1/2 mile walk to the car.

Let me tell you what happened.

It was 88 degrees when we left. We spent 4 hours in the sun. I had drank only 1 small bottle of water. Bad news for me!

I was extremely dehydrated and sunburnt. I'm fair skinned, pale and the sun is not my friend. I also dehydrate easily. My face was hot, my body was cold. I was dizzy and a little delirious. I had waves of nausea rolling over me and I was certain I was going to spew funnel cake everywhere. I downed another bottle of water, but it took a while to get hydrated.

We stopped at SAMs for some shopping and I was a mess. I barely remember most of the store, but was coherent enough to pull my mental list out. I do remember my husband asking why I was so goofy and telling him I didn't feel good. The sun doesn't effect him the same way.

We were back in the car before I started feeling a little bit better and more like myself.

Once we were home, I stayed on the couch all night except to eat dinner. I also slept 9 hours last night and feel a little puny today. Thankfully, only my face is still red and no terrible burns. It sucks to have that reaction to heat and sun. It's happened since I was a kid and only doesn't happen when I stay well hydrated and use sunscreen. Evidently it's a form of sun poisoning.

Since we are planning to stay, I think the fair is a fun, family tradition for us. It was worth it. Next time, sunscreen and lots of water.