North Carolina State Fair

We headed out to the State Fair this weekend to eat bad for us foods, check out some fun exhibits and, most importantly, people watch! We got there around 11:30 and parking wasn't that bad. It was also free, which was a huge bonus. We wanted to watch what we spent this time, so we kept tabs throughout the day. We went in with $70 between the two of us. It was $8 per person to get into the fair. That's $16 even before we ate anything. Honestly, that's really all we spend money on at fairs. We don't do rides (scary) and we really don't do games.

The crowds weren't too bad when we first got there. We could walk around without coming to a complete stop due to human traffic. We walked through the gate and up to the very important food section. There is food all over the place at the fair, but this one area seemed like it was your best bet for any type of food you could wish for.

The $1 refill any cup any size was helpful. We picked up a 32oz fresh squeezed lemonade for $5 and filled the cup up twice with soda for $1 each time.

Would you like something battered up and fried? Stop by this tent. Holy moly. I did try the fried mac n cheese, it was $4 for 6 pieces of fried mac n cheese. I forgot to take a picture. It was pretty good. It helped that I was starving by the time I got it. I have had better, though. The Cheesecake Factory definitely has awesome fried mac n cheese....better than fair mac n cheese.

We walked around the food tents and then through the games and rides section. I just have to say, some of those rides are seriously scary. I probably didn't feel that way when I was a kid but now that I actually think about how they're built and the fact that these rides get torn down and built again in another city is a bit unnerving. After we checked out the games and rides, we grabbed some real food.

Fries, liquid cheese and sausage with peppers and onions. I haven't had cheese fries in a long time and now I'm wondering why. Ok, I know why but I think this is definitely an ok meal to indulge in once a year!

Once we were done eating, we walked back up towards the games because we were going to meet up with Morgan and her husband for the pig races! I heard all about these pot bellied pig races, so I was really excited about them. Hops and I got there around 2:15 or so and the stands were packed already. We somehow found two seats up at the top of the bleachers, so we snagged them.  The pig races weren't just pig races, there were ducks and goats, too!

The first race was between some younger pigs, not pot-bellied pigs.

The black pig with the yellow tag won this race.

Next up were the goats. These guys made me laugh so hard. They raced for Cheese Doodles, too.

 See that little black guy there with the blue bandanna? He got a bit side-tracked by the kids in the stands. Hilarious! He wouldn't move. Finally, the MC came over and he started running around the track.

I forget who won this race but I do know that the guy with the blue bandanna was too late for cheese doodles. :(

Then, there were ducks. Duck/Geese hybrids? Not really sure but they have some seriously long necks! These guys didn't race for cheese doodles. They just ran around the track like...you know...chickens with their heads cut off? Haha. I crack myself up.

Finally, we got to the main event - the pot-bellied pigs! Oh my gosh, how cute are these little dudes?

This little dude was busy looking for food along the way.

Oooo! Ooooo it's a photo finish!!

That's Piggy Gordon and Rutter Martin, enjoying being the winners.

Hilarious. That was a fun event. I'm so glad Morgan mentioned it and we ended up going to it!!

I'll post part two of our State Fair adventures tomorrow Friday! (I know my limits)!