Gastronomical Delights & High Brow Entertaintment!

We went to the San Diego State Fair today.  Its like the Big "E" in Massachusetts, but a little bigger, especially in the food department.  "June Gloom" has settled in at the coast all month long, Except for last Sunday when we went to the beach.  The weather was overcast 65-75 degrees, perfect day for the fair, the alternative could have been baking on asphalt in 90 degree heat.  Tickets were $4, courtesy of Albertson's Supermarket, would have been $13 at the gate.  Parking at the fair would have been $10 for the day, but we parked off-site (1 mile down the road) and took the fair provided shuttle right up to the main gate. (saved our walking energy for the fair).  We arrived a little early and waited for the fair to open and for Debbie & Tony to arrive.

Waiting for the Fair to Open. Line is on the right

The fair opened and we had to go through security and metal detectors, just like the airport; but not the  body-scanners. Right inside the gate was a Beach Boys cover-band playing all their hits. See the movie below:

 The rest of the fair was your typical State Fair with large buildings with vendors selling everything from Jacuzzi spas to Sneakers or Teeth whitening.  You could sit in a chair for15 minutes with this ultraviolet mouthpiece in your mouth and get your teeth whitened.  You could get your spine adjusted by a chiropractor, get a massage from oriental massage experts, or buy some kitchen appliances such as the Vitamix, Veg-o-matic, etc.

There were flower shows,

Farm animals,

and of course, a bevy of gastronomical delights such as chocolate covered bacon, deep fried twinkies, deep fried butter, deep fried Klondike bars, and deep fried Kool-Aid.  It seemed you could get any food you wanted, as long as it was deep-fried!

It

Chocolate Covered Bacon

Deep Fried Everything

Twisted Fried and Twisted Fires around a Hot Dog

 It seemed like the only exception to deep-fried food was barbecue.  They had hot dogs, sausages, half-chickens and of course the staple of all state fairs, the ginormous, enough for a family of 4, turkey leg.

Huge Turkey Legs on the grill.

I opted for the grilled corn-on the cob, at least those were normal size!

Steve eating grilled corn

Elly tried the fried zucchini, I think you got a plate with a whole zucchini, cut lengthwise into quarters and batter fried.   I though it was just OK.

After sampling the local cuisine, we wanted a little culture, so we walked over to the arena to watch part of the horse show.  We watched a few contests, "under-11 Walk & Trot", "Walk-Trot-Canter", but the most interesting was the "Driving Sport & Pleasure".  It was darker inside and the horses were moving quickly, so the pictures didn't come out well.

The winner of the Driving Sport & Pleasure Category

We had to leave the arena a little early to get a good seat at the next "high-brow" event: The Swifty Swine Pig Races!.  We got there just in time to secure a good seat in the packed grandstand,

The Pig Race Venue

There were three races followed by the swimming pig.

Next we decided to go see the "Our Body: The Universe Within" Exhibit.  It is a traveling exhibition that features deconstructed human bodies and human organs.  Another piece of this exhibit is currently showing in Burlington Vermont at the Echo Lake Aquarium. Cameras were not allowed in the exhibition hall so here is a video about about this exhibition (I think this is the Vermont one).

This is the one we saw.

It was very educational, and I even got to see first hand what ribs and other bones I fractured when I fell off the ladder 1 1/2 years ago.  I would recommend that you go see this exhibit if it come to your area.

After the exhibit, we decided that we needed to find Debbie's daughter and her friend who planned on waiting 4 hours in line to see the Demi Lovato Concert. Go figure!  After locating them in one of the three massive lines filled with teenagers (thanks to the cell phones), setting up plans for picking them up after the concert, we headed over to the beach house for a few hours of relaxation away from the crowds and the cold.  It was starting to get chilly and windy.  Remember, "June Gloom".  After visiting for a while, we left for home.  Plan to see them again this Saturday at the Father's Day picnic. Another fun packed day in retirement!