I grew up in Southern California, went to high school in Tennessee, and now live in the suburbs of Chicago. I’ve been all over. However, somehow I’ve managed to miss going to a true Midwestern fair… until this year.

This August, friends from Iowa and my husband and I went to Des Moines for what is supposed to be the end-all-be-all of Midwest fairs – The Iowa State Fair.

We traversed the various buildings: we were amazed at what the 4Hers created, we checked out the massive butter sculptures, we oh-and-ahhed over the art, we looked at the commerce buildings (where they were selling ShamWows!), but my favorite buildings were the ones with the animals, of course. Of the animal buildings, we spent the longest in the cow building, because I adore cows. A baby cow even licked me! We also saw pigs, an ostrich, goats, horses (both big and small), rabbits, ducks, chickens, and the largest boar in the world.

Oh, and the food! My hubby was on a mission to eat lots of things on sticks, and he accomplished his goal with a corndog, emu on a stick, a large wedge of cheese on a stick, and a hardboiled egg on a stick. I don’t remember everything I ate, but it was all delicious. I do, however, remember what I ended the night with: a fried Oreo. Probably one of the most unhealthly desserts in the world, but holy moly, was it good.

At the end of the night (right before the deep fried Oreo), we walked around the Midway.  We were too tired to ride the rides, but it was a lot of fun taking photos of them!

(nice view, right?)