#45 A Fair Day to be at The Fair with pigs galore

Y'all must think I am obsessed with animals.

So far, I've had a goat climb over me, got spit at by an alpaca, rescued an octopus, and swam with a horse.

Even though I do love animals, I wouldn't say I am obsesssed with them.

Except for certain ones.

Like pigs.

When I was a kid, I adored pigs -- so much that my mom made me a school bag with pigs on the outside and I had pictures of pigs decorating my room. Marblehead friends, remember the pig store called Hog Wild! at Faneuil Hall? Best store ever in the world (except for the Left Handers store which was also pretty freaking great).

Yes, I was a nerdy kid. But when I was passionate about something, I was all in!

So when I hit the Florida State Fair with the Badass Babes (and Jason -- sorry dude, I can't call you a "Badass Babe") yesterday and I learned that there were piglets to hold, I was euphoric.

But first stop was food.

I have never seen so many food booths in my life! Gwen was on an tear to find onion rings so we went with her to find them. We walked. And walked. And saw everything from custard covered donuts to gator kabobs and everything in between.

But no onion rings.

Fine by us, because as Ellen said, "I want to check everything out before deciding because I do not want to suffer from Food Regret".

So we kept walking and saw Angela's Pizza, turkey legs, and pork legs (yup...you read that right).

But no onion rings.

Until finally, we found a spot where they sold them. She plopped down $15 for a bucket of rings and the rest of us bet whether she would judge them "worth it" or not.

She deemed them Unworthy... and I lost the bet.

But, all was not lost. We couldn't help but notice the nearby gigantic neon flashing sign that simply read "BACON" and it lured us in.

So many choices! Chocolate covered bacon, bacon covered fries, hot dogs wrapped in bacon. What to choose? What to choose?

Then I saw it.

Bacon wrapped bacon.

How could I go wrong? Is there not a more classic "Fair Food" that that?

The woman asked if I wanted it with maple glaze or without. Um.....with! Duh!

Ang and I agreed that it would probably be good for a couple of bites and that would be it.

Nope. It was absolutely delicious! Right down to the very last bite on the stick.

That was my first PIG encounter of the day.

Stuffed full of our goodies, we all headed to the animal sections.

First animal stop was the petting zoo. Not only did we get to be up close and personal with sheep, goats, a chicken, and an alpaca, but there was a great big giant black hog!

Second PIG encounter of the day!

(Plus...check out the guy wearing pajamas with orange campers on them. I need a pair!)

The next stop was the Chicken and Rabbin barn.

So many rabbits! So many chickens! Many chickens looked smug and conceited with first place awards on their cages while

there were also many pissed-off looking chickens embarassingly sporting second place awards. Close but no cigar, boys.

Guess what was next? The PIG Show!!!!

Third PIG encounter of the day.

These pigs were being led around the ring by extremely unenthuisastic high school kids. How could they not understand how incredible these pigs were? Look at them!

We wandered to a stable area next door and met Trevor, a high school senior taking care of a pig for his senior project.

Fourth PIG encounter of the day!

Of course, I had to ask him what the pig's name was. He said that he hasn't named him because he doesn't want to get attached. I asked him if he wanted to go into agriculture after high school. He said "Yes" and then went on to explain that what he really wants to do is go into Ag Politics and ultimately his plan is to be in the House of Representatives. But he has to get into University of Florida first. He finds out if he got in in two weeks. Wish him luck! So we took a picture of us with him in case he becomes famous some day.

Gwen kept telling us that there were giraffes at the fair.

We didn't believe her until we found the Giraffe barn.

Holy heck -- she was right...there was a giraffe!

He was a beareded super drooly boy with a super long tongue.

He loved hanging out over Ellen's head. Unfortunately it looks like he drooled a bit on her but no matter...I'm sure she thought it was worth it.

Other animals there were zebras, Scottish Cattle, and a Zebu.

What's a Zebu? Remember "Veggietales Silly Songs with Larry" where he sings about the Cebu? Same dude, I believe. Never really knew what one looked like. You can watch the song here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uv8Ej4CEoQ

After that, we caught a acrobats and horse show where there was one horse who had flowing Fabio-esque hair and got some ice cream from a booth with the nicest fellows around (and yes, I am gullible when I believed him that the soft serve was an "old family recipe". Ha!).

And then we headed to Cracker Town, the part of the fair that shows what like was like in pioneerish times.

We saw candle making, sorghum boiling, hand woven baskets, an old lady crocheting in a pioneer home (I swear to you, she looked so stiff that I thought she was an animatronic, until she waved at us), and the country store where we tried on sunbonnets. I think it was a good look!

But guess what....I didn't find a piglet to hold.

Maybe next year.

And maybe next year, Gwen will finally get the onion rings of her dreams.