Our State Fair Is A Great State Fair...

Come on... sing along... you know the words!

OK, Janet over at DMWebLife tagged a bunch of us to share our favorite things about the Iowa State Fair.

Hmmm... that's tough.  I wrote about the State Fair last year while talking about project dependencies, and it's pretty obvious that I love the food there.  If it's deep fried and/or on a stick, then it's fair game to be eaten (pun intended).  So what if my annual physical (and subsequent cholesterol test) are scheduled for next week... it's all about living on the wild side, right?

But there are so many quirky little things about the fair that I couldn't even begin to describe them all.  You'd just have to experience them to believe they exist.  How about tractor square dancing?  (I had heard they originally wanted to try tractor ballet, but none of the John Deere's could fit into those tiny little tutus.)  There are all of the rides and attractions on the midway, of course (or as I call it, mankind's monuments to unsafe practices).  A trip through the Varied Industries Building yields some fascinating displays of Iowa's economy, and we do have many different types of businesses thriving in this state.  One can't really say he's been to the fair until he's seen the famous Butter Cow, as well as whatever featured statue is made out of butter each year (this year, it's a butter Harry Potter... nice likeness, too).  Of course, this is Iowa, so you must take in the livestock displays and some of the agricultural items... just to appreciate our heritage.

But let's face facts.  It is not rocket science to find my absolutely favorite thing:  people watching.  The variety is amazing and amusing.  The Iowa State Fair is like my own little anthropological study, set up for entertainment and fascination and study.  As long as I write about topics like office politics and project management and creativity, people watching will be at the top of my list no matter where I am.

Thanks, Janet, for the challenge.  It was a fun trip this year.

Comments

[Janet]

Hey sure appreciate the link back! You mentioned the VI building... when we were kids we used to go around collect as much product literature as we could - no real reason, I at least was just fascinated by brochures! (yeah, I'm a dork.) Thanks for playin' along here, enjoyed the read! ~ Janet

[Timothy Johnson]

Hi Janet - nah, you're not a dork... collecting brochures is fun... it taps us into our "inner marketing beast" (no offense, Drew)

[Beth]

You'll be please to know if my google search for "cow patty iowa state fair" you were the 6th hit. Now that's saying something! LOL

[Timothy Johnson]

Beth - one of my personal and professional goals has always been to make it to Google's top search page when people were looking for cow patty information. I can now mark that one off my list.