Howdy Folks! Welcome to the State Fair of Texas!

Every year from the last week in September to the third week in October, the Texas State Fair comes to town. Every year, people come up with crazy new foods. The theme is always "deep fried".

The State of Fair of Texas was founded in 1886 by Captain WH Gaston (for whom Gaston Avenue was named). It was originally 80 acres but has been enlarged to 250 acres. The grounds are owned by the city and used as a public park except for the duration of the Fair. Over 100,000,000 people have attended the fair since its inception.

This year, as part of our exploration of "things to do in Dallas/Ft. Worth", we attended. Tickets to get in are $15 a person plus tax. We paid $33 for two people. But check the website. They have specials and discounts everyday. We went on a Tuesday around 11 am. You'd think it would be deserted. It was not but it wasn't nearly as crazy busy as it would have been on a weekend. The fair is open from 10am - 9pm. 

We took the DART rail (Green line) from North Dallas to Fair park. The tickets for that were $6 each for day passes. There are several parking lots but the traffic down there is crazy. We drove down there one year and waited in line for parking only to wait in line again for tickets. Plus, parking is $30. The DART rail is a much more economical way to get down there.

Big Tex made his State Fair debut in 1952. The next year, he started talking, verbally welcoming everyone to the fair. In 2012, a fire started in his right boot. It wasn't visible until it hit his neck. He stands 55 feet high.

The best part of the fair is the food. And the top food item? A Fletcher's Corny Dog.

Most of the vendors only take tickets/coupons. Each coupon is worth $1. A Fletcher's Original Corny Dog was 8 coupons. We'd been looking forward to this and it did not disappoint!

I think the food is the most expensive thing. They have bottled water vendors around that have 16oz bottles of cold water for 2 coupons, which is a great deal. If we'd purchased a bottle of water at the corn dog stand it would have been more. Stay hydrated out there! Also, they have discounted foods on Thursdays. If you go to the website www.bigtex.com you can see the list of discounted food items.

This year we did a ride called the Texas Skyway which are cable cars that take you from one end of the Midway to the other. For only 4 coupons each, you get some great views of the fair. 

I'm not even sure what this ride is called but it is not for me. It lifts you up spins you around and swings you back and forth. That's for the younger kids with cast iron stomachs!

The Ferris Wheel know as the Texas Star as seen from the Texas Skyway car. It's 20 coupons each to ride the Texas Star. The Top O' Texas is a much better value, in my opinion but the Ferris Wheel is pretty iconic. 

The Dentzel Carousel, which is over 100 years old. It has 66 hand carved horses. That's more my speed.

We saw this needle-thing and wondered what it was. It's called Top O' Texas. We went on that next. For 4 coupons each you get some really amazing views of Dallas.

A great view of the Cotton Bowl. They are getting ready for Texas/OU weekend. It's the Red River Shoot Out!

The Dos Equis Pavilion. I've seen many concerts here back when it was the Coca-Cola Starplex.

Downtown Dallas.

The car show is another really cool thing to see at the fair. We're checking out the Toyota trucks.

The livestock show. These are Zebu Cows or Camel cows. They have a hump on their back like a camel. I'd never seen one of these before.

Some of the food options that we saw were pretty crazy. They have the deep fried twinkie, a sandwich that uses donuts for the bread and then a piece of fried chicken in the middle and variations on the corny dog to name a few. Some of the new foods this year include a pork belly ceviche tamale, fat bacon pickle fries and candied pork belly bacon bites.

So save your calories, cholesterol grams and weight watchers points and spend them all at the state fair trying all the crazy foods.

It's an amazing time of year to be out at the State Fair of Texas!