State Fair Adventures

Johnny and I spent nearly all of yesterday at the Tulsa State Fair; it was a fun and festive atmosphere with lots of things to see, do, and eat!

We arrived around 11:30 AM and spent the better part of half an hour looking for free parking. The map we'd downloaded from the fair's website had a whole swath of parking marked as free, but this mysterious Bermuda Triangle of asphalt was nowhere to be found. We managed to snag a space close to the entrance and headed straight into the fairgrounds. I was excited to find out we'd arrived in time to score one of the free fair t-shirts given to the first 4,000 people arriving at the fair Friday, but it was all for naught because we didn't know where to claim said t-shirts. Boo! I was hoping to add another shirt into my jogging rotation. Johnny and I made a preliminary circle of the grounds, giving the various rides, games, eateries, and exhibition halls a cursory glance. For lunch, we decided to dine on burritos from Tad's Tacos (a vendor from nearby Oklahoma City!). I tried the garlic chicken burrito- it looked, smelled, and tasted delicious!

We then headed to various exhibition halls to see all the Tulsa State Fair had to offer. Some of the buildings in the fairgrounds complex are beautiful! 

This was definitely my favorite- see the horses in the mosaic at the top of the building? Gorgeous! 

The vendors' market set up in the enormous QuikTrip Center was definitely one of the most interesting parts of the fair. All sorts of things were for sale- kitchen gadgets, handmade goods, health remedies, and so, so many tacky lamps. 

A lamp with dragons? No thanks!

There were also numerous contests at the fair, and numerous award-winning jams, jellies, cookies, and cakes could be found.

Pretty soon, Johnny decided he needed to try one of the yummy-smelling apple fritters inside the QT Center. What he got didn't look or taste quite as good as it smelled. Boo! 

We ventured into the livestock buildings after the apple fritter disaster. I grew up on a small farm and went to a college that was very into agriculture, so I was largely unmoved by the hogs, cattle, horses, sheep, and goats being shown by 4-H and FFA students. Johnny, a city boy, was delighted with these animals. We visited the large petting zoo and spent a long time watching and petting all sorts of things, from camels to ostriches to emus to llamas! 

A very dirty alpaca in the petting zoo.

We watched a few draft horses classes in the horse show and then explored the barns a bit more. We found some very soft rabbits and a lot of pigeons tucked away in one building! There was also a very neat live surgery booth where the crowd could watch a veterinarian spay a dog. The vet gave a brief talk on what he does and what the role of the veterinary technician is and the kids watching looked fascinated. I am a big supporter of Ag in the Classroom and it was great to see so many young minds stimulated!

I ended my food extravaganza with a cold Boulevard (from Kansas City, MO!) and a polish sausage.

Extra peppers and onions, please!

The fair was such a fun experience; I wish we had felt like riding rides or had more room for all the tasty food, but there's always next year!