Fried Stuff on a Stick

What a great time of year to go to Florida. It snows every other day here in Colorado, and it snows extra inches at our house, so by mid-February, I'm about over this winter thing.



It was great timing to hop on a plane and head to sunny Florida. My mom and I went to celebrate a bridal shower with Casey, my cousin, and the maid-of-honor in my wedding. Casey and T.C. are getting married in just over a month! So exciting!



Friday night we had a slumber party at Casey's house with all the cousins and four of Casey's sorority sisters. Saturday morning we were up early to get ready for the shower, which was held at the beautiful home of a friend of my Aunt Cathy's. The house had a beautiful view of the water and had lots of room for all the ladies.



Casey was gorgeous and gracious as always. I found myself watching Cathy a lot of the time to see how proud and excited she looked during the bridal shower.



After we got back to Casey's house, we locked Casey in her room with bubble bath and a fashion magazine and got to work turning her house into an explosion of pink in preparation for her bachelorette party. The night was great; we went to a super fancy club/bar in south Tampa. The beautiful people were out in full force.



But what I really want to tell you about occurred the next day. Because we couldn't help but get sucked in by my cousin Haley's amazing enthusiasm, we went to the Florida State Fair.





The only state fair I've ever been to was in Alaska, and it was nothing like this. Peter Rowan played though; that was fun.

Anyway, back to Florida. It was hot, I was not properly dressed, and I'll admit, I was feeling the effects of the bachelorette party. And a mean, nasty cold was on its way to kick my a**.

However, I did my best, and followed my family around the fair. First we went to CRACKER COUNTRY (it's seriously called that), and saw some bluegrass music, a really old one-room house, and watched Chet eat a lot of fried pig ears (or something like that).

Then we made our way to the main thoroughfare where all the food stands are located. This is when things got really interesting. I've never seen such food. Here's a sampling of my favorites.

DEEP FRIED TWINKIES....IS THIS REALLY NECESSARY? I love it....

And my personal favorite....

Don't worry, I didn't eat all of these things. In fact I didn't eat any of these things. I was too overwhelmed by the choices to actually make a decision. I tasted the corn dog though, that was good. (or "PRONTO PUP") as my mom called them in her childhood and proceeded to tell us was the best thing she'd ever tasted. And then she said "PRONTO PUP" a dozen more times in her excitement.
We wandered and ate and people-watched. Now, that's some good people-watching material there!
And then we worked our way to the main arena for..... wait for it.....the Elvis Impersonator convention! It was dark and cool, and there were seats, so I was happy. But, these performers were amazing! Each Elvis was from a different era of the real Elvis' career. And the spectators were wild! There were women trying to climb up on stage, and they were all screaming like it was a Beatles concert.

We ended on a great note when Haley arrived with some treats that we HAD to sample. Deep fried cookie dough and deep fried Oreos.

Now, I'm fan of cookie dough; Oreos, not so much. But these things deep fried equaled sheer PERFECTION! Oh my goodness! I've never tasted anything so good! Ooey gooey messy and delicious!
Thank goodness they don't have such delicacies in Colorado...I'd be doomed.

Mom was so excited about the fair that she's planning to vacation every year in Florida during this time. And I'm for it. Next time I'll be well-rested, hydrated, wearing proper footwear, and ready to fully experience that spectacle that is the Florida State Fair!