Since I decided to move home, something I have been really looking forward to going to is the Puyallup Fair aka the Washington State Fair! I honestly can't tell you the last time I went, but I know it's been at least 10 years! Going to the fair was always one of my favorite memories growing up, so I was really looking forward to a day filled with a little nostalgia.
While I was excited for a lot of different things, I definitely went into the day with two top missions... To see alllll of the animals and also eat allll of the food. Clearly, my priorities are in check! Ha! We kicked off the day getting a jumpstart on one of those missions by starting with a fresh scone! A fair must-have. So simple, and yet so delicious.
After we were fueled up on scones it was time to get a little bit of the lay of the land. A lot of the buildings definitely have had a little facelift since the last time I was there. Since when has there been a beer garden and multiple bars too?! Things have definitely grown up a bit since the last time I was there. We started the day off by making the rounds through the 4-H, hobby and vendor halls. Checking out all of the goods in each of those! After that, we also stumbled upon a pretty hilarious variety show by the Stooge Dudes, which was fun.
Once we went through most of the halls it was back to my missions. On the food end, realistically, I needed like 4 or 5 visits to be able to try everything I wanted to. Occasionally, I watch the show Carnival Eats so being at an actual fair again with all of the ridiculous food options was AWESOME! Since I was only there for one day though, I decided to stay true to my classic favorites I haven't had in awhile.
I'm all about getting as many options in as possible so having someone who is down to share is key when doing fair food! Something I had to have once I saw was a blooming onion. I first fell in love with them at the 9th Avenue Food Festival in NYC. It was the only street fair of the year that had them and was something I'd look forward to. Until a few years ago when the booth was nowhere to be found! And yes, I know you can get them other places... but there's just something about getting them at a fair that makes them so much better so I was PUMPED to see them at the Puyallup!
Beyond our scones and blooming onion, we also had another fair classic -- a crusty pup. There are just some fair classics that are hard to beat! Then we closed things out at their DIY slushie stand -- which I also love.
I have to be honest, it was really hard saying no to some of the other options! A girl can only eat so much though.. So here's a look at some of the options! Some of which I'll definitely be trying next year and others that I'll save for some other brave people.
The delicious...
- Elephant ears: Another one of my absolute favorites at the fair are elephant ears! Cinnamon and sugar for me!
- Curly fries: These were another one of my picks as a kid. They come in a huge block which is kind of insane, but dang are they good.
- Turkey legs: The turkey legs were looking on point! If I didn't just have one at the Renaissance Fair, I may have had to pick one of these up!
- Chicken and waffles and Nashville hot chicken: Two things I'm pretty sure you can't go wrong with.
- Apple fries with caramel: Is there anything more perfect for Fall? These sounded delicious!
The ridiculous...
- Everything at Totally Fried: Which was you guessed it... totally fried. The stand had fried classics like deep fried pickles, oreos and mac and cheese. Then they also had deep fried pop tarts, cinnamon rolls, hand pies and cosmic brownies
- Funnel cake with bacon, maple syrup, and whipped cream: While totallyyyy ridiculous and over the top, I would 100% try this.
- Fire Cheeto fries: Also ridiculous, but also probably delicious!
The downright cray cray...
- Deep Fried Butter: I've seen this on carnival shows so I shouldn't have been surprised, but something about seeing it in person just seemed crazy to me. 😱 Like guys... they were eating deep-fried butter. Like who decided that was going to be a thing?! Despite what I think though, people were lined up like crazy so it's certainly a hit.
- Everything in the exotic food stand: Python, alligator, bugs, and Kangaroo were all on the menu here. None of which sound like things I'd personally want to try.
Needless to say, the fair food options were popping! And I may be eating all vegetables for the next 3 days to make up for all of the food we ate.. totally worth it though! Besides, calories don't count at the fair right?!
Now onto the second mission for the day... seeing all of the animals! [Insert little kid squeal here] Okay, I may be 28... but I was definitely more like 28 going on 8 during my visit. I don't know why but I was so excited to hang out with some of the farm animals. I have also been obsessed with goats as of lately. So you can imagine my excitement that it was goat weekend in the barns!
If you follow me on Instagram, I half apologize for all of my goat Instagram Stories for the day. Only half though because I still thought they were pretty adorable!
Needless to say, I was in goat heaven and even made a few new furry friends. The goat above and I were totally having a bonding moment. Ha!
After going through barn after barn of goats (and not getting sick of it) we also saw some other cuties.
This furry little (ok kind of big) guy's name was Finnegan, which I thought was super adorable.
Unsurprising, I also could not get enough of Piglet Palace with all of the baby piggies! There were reallyyyyy tiny piglets and then these little striped ones that are just too cute. That one up on the right was my absolute favorite too 😍. He woke up from a nap and decided he was hungry and then one by one the other piggies woke up too. They were really funny to watch!
And just like that both of my missions were complete! It was such a fun day and I have to say it even surpassed my expectations for what I was hoping for. I already can't wait for next year!
