Last Friday, I went back to the State Fair of Texas with my family. We had tickets to the musical playing in the Music Hall and went early to see some more of the fair. I tried some more fried food, did something I’ve never done before, and watched Christmas shopping go on right before my eyes.
Fried Food
On this second trip to the fair, my sister and I tried two more fried concoctions, fried cheesecake and fried Coke. The cheesecake was pretty good but the Coke was very disappointing. Basically, the Coke was little balls of fried dough put in a cup with some Coke syrup poured over the top. I didn’t actually taste any soda flavor in the dough, but it could have been over powered by the syrup.
At the fair I tried many fried fair foods. Here is my list of what I tried ranked from my favorite to my least favorite and given a score 1 out of 10, 10 being amazing and 1 being a letdown.
1. Fried peanut butter and jelly with bananas, the Elvis – 10
2. Fried chocolate – 10
3. Fried Frito pie – 8
4. Fried cheesecake – 7
5. Fried Coke – 1
Shopping
My parents have made shopping at the fair a tradition. Many Christmas presents are purchased there every year. After all, the fair has lots of sales people selling cool, interesting and innovative products. There are a few booths my parents and sister make a habit of visiting each year like the CUTCO booth.
Something New
On Wednesday, we didn’t get a chance to ride the Texas Star because the line was too long, so my sister and I made a point of doing it soon after we got there on Friday. There was a shorter line and we could see pretty far in the daylight. I had never been on this ferris wheel before, or any ferris wheel that I can remember for that matter.
It is the largest in North America and a fun ride. While in the gondola, you go around a total of two times, once while the other gondolas are being loaded and one full rotation after that. From the top, we could see Cowboys Stadium and Six Flags in Arlington. We had a great view of nearby Downtown Dallas and a wonderful aerial view of the fair.
The Musical
Another fair-time tradition is to see the musical on slate for the Music Hall at Fair Park as part of the Dallas Summer Musicals. Traditionally, this was always the last of the summer series and was the biggest show on the schedule to get the biggest draw. They have changed some things up, but it is always still a big, well-known show. This year Shrek the Musical was playing during the fair.
Last year while I was in New York for my internship with LDS Public Affairs, I asked for recommendations from my Young Ambassador friends, mostly Music Dance Theater majors, what shows I should see. Many recommended Shrek, not for the story or music but for the costumes and sets. I didn’t get to see it then and was excited to see it at the fair.
For those unfamiliar with the movie, Shrek follows the story of an ogre, Shrek, who, in order to clear his swamp of displaced fairy-tale creatures, goes on a rescue mission with a donkey to save a princess for the ruling lord. Of course Shrek and the princess fall in love. She has a secret that in the end she reveals and they live happily ever after.
I will admit that I enjoyed most of the show and was impressed with many of the technical aspects like Lord Farquaad’s costume and the dragon puppet. The song I enjoyed the most was the finale of act one, Who I’d Be sung by Shrek with Donkey and Fiona joining in at the end. I also really liked the dance party at the end like during the credits of the movie. The movie is a bit crude and has never been a favorite of mine, but the musical didn’t carry the crudeness throughout but only focused on it a couple of times.
Overall it was a fun and entertaining show. It is not on my list of must-see-again shows, but if the opportunity presented itself, I would probably go.
Recap
The fair was just as fun as I remembered it being. I tried new things, saw new things and expanded my horizons. It was a great adventure.
Read about my other fair adventures here.
Now go have your own adventure!
