Part 2: My Quest for Deep Fried...Well, Anything

This was a big year for me and my fair enlightenment, and I had the full experience. After attending my first official county fair, I set out to hit the biggest fairs I could. I went to the much-talked-about Minnesota State Fair and the LA County Fair. Apart from the standard fair experiences, they were as different as butter sculptures and deep-fried avocado.

The LA County Fair is a slice of Americana. It is the most attended fair in the US. Who can resist the pull of such an event if you are within 100 mile radius? Try 2,000 miles! I'll admit that I didn't travel all of that way just for the fair, but it was something that was on my to-do list as part of my travels. I was lucky; I'd be in town for the last day of the fair.

I arrived at the fair sporting my MN State Fair shirt just after 3 p.m. (I had to show them that this wasn't my first rodeo.) I went to Southern California for the heat this October, and I sure got it. It was so very hot for my Northern blood. We ducked into the big red barn to connect with my fun-loving cousin (of sorts). She is an LA County Fair pro, racking up 5 or so visits this year. She was there to show us the ropes.

This fair was all about checking out how they do it on the West Coast, and it was all kinds of different. The fairgrounds were in a nice area with tree covered places. The animals were in large pens instead of little cages. They had bear shows and lumberjack demonstrations. They had.....fish tacos and deep-fried avocado. 

After much thought, I grabbed a basket of deep-fried avocado. My fears were dismissed at the first bite. It was not mushy and slimy. It wasn't bad at all. To me it was the symbol of my LA County Fair experience. My cousin, after some deliberation, picked up an order of deep-fried kool-aid. It was one thing that she hadn't tried. It was fried dough that had kool-aid instead of water. It was a super sweet donut. I was not impressed, but I was not disgusted.  We ate our fried snacks in an Asian market under the trees. 

We followed the pro. Lining one of the walkways was a row of meal trucks. These vendors offered cupcakes, crepes, empanadas and Thai cuisine. I grabbed an empanada and followed my guide to a big marketplace. It had a decent tap selections (local options) and a good stock of wine. I shared pints of Red Trolley Ale and a Firestone Walker Bitter with Mr. K. 

No time (or table) to sit down, we were off to the bear show. We waited under the shade of the gold rush city model. I fought the urge to pan for gold and waited for the show to start. The bear show was interesting. It reminded me of big cat shows in Florida. They were there to entertain and inform. These were show bears from generations of captivity though. Mixed feelings about that one.

The show wrapped up, and we walked to a path in the Mojo Jungle. This was not a spice jungle, but they did have a random collection of animals. Porcupines and monkeys, birds and kangaroo. An albino wallaby was getting all the attention. Cat shows and parrots taking money on cue. This was a weird mixture of zoo and Hollywood. 

We walked around more and saw the booths with As Seen on TV goodness. I saw standard fair demos and products. A dinosaur set up definitely caught my attention. I think it's safe to say that no other fair has animatronic dinos. I got pepperoni pizza. I also indulged in cheese on a stick. My tip, don't order cheese on a stick outside of the Midwest. The options were cream cheese and "cheese". I'm pretty sure it was a block of American processed cheese. Contrary to the description, it was not like any grilled cheese sandwich I'd make.

The sun went down and I moved toward the Grand Stand for the main event. I saw Earth, Wind, and Fire boogie like no group has ever boogied. It was the best way to end my fair season!