Deep Fried Kool Aid? OH YEAAAAH!

So my family came into town for the State Fair this week, and we had a blast. I always enjoy hanging with my cousin Ryan, since we never really sit around doing nothing. No, ever since we both began driving, we have left the confines of home for larger adventures. But today is not a day for one of those stories. Today we went to the fair, and ate some pretty awesome food- not much, but still all awesome.

Now I had never been to a state fair before- even when I was down in Mississippi, I really had no desire to ever go. However, with the state fair being 15 minutes from my school, and my family coming into town, how could I NOT go? So let's go!

I'm tired even as I write this. I drove back and forth from my place to the fair to Sherman, where my mom and two of her sisters were staying. It was a really nice bed and breakfast, but man did it cut into our travel time.

Actually, 15 minutes was an optimistic time of arrival from my place to the fair, to say the least. With very little parking, and many home and business owners out along the front of the fairground entrance, I didn't have much choice. But with so many lots to choose from, there was a lot of price cutting. We only paid $5, which was a steal.

Young Abe Lincoln greets you at the fairground entrance.
He's got an axe, so I wouldn't piss him off.

So the fair looked exactly as I thought it would...lots of carnival rides, people trying to sell you homemade trinkets, and a lot of food. Oh, the food was plentiful...and expensive. But I guess that if I were to compare its prices to the Taste of Chicago, I'd consider them about the same. So the first booth we came across was called Fried What!, and it sold just about anything you could imagine in fried form.

 Ryan and I chose to try the Fried Kool Aid. For $5, we got these three balls about the size of hush puppies. From what I saw behind the cashier, it looked like packaged Kool Aid mix was added to a special batter and scooped into little balls to be deep fried.

Powdered sugar- one of the four food groups of a state fair.

The fried Kool Aid was surprisingly good- think of a warm cherry Pop Tart in hush puppy form- that's the taste and texture I got from it. Anyway, the three balls were enough for me- I needed to make room for more food anyway!

 After walking for a while, Ryan and I found this stand selling these incredibly long mozzarella sticks. We split an order, and let me tell you- those were the best mozzarella sticks I have ever had in my life. EVER. The breading was light and airy- kinda like the breading Chili's uses for their chicken tenders. The cheese was fresh, too- I have been looking to see if I could find the seller online, with no luck. If you know where to find him, drop me a line!

 And, of course, we had to finish with the mandatory Elephant Ear/Funnel Cake purchase. this one was pretty darn big. If you know how big my hand is, you can tell how big this elephant ear was. It wasn't the best one I have ever had, but it was far from disappointing.

 I drank a lot of lemonade that night, too. Lots of money went to those lemonade stands from my wallet, but it didn't bother me any- I was helping independent vendors, and the lemonade was fresh, so everybody wins!

All in all, it was a great time. We hit the Lincoln Museum the next day, and it was time for my family to go. If you're not from the Springfield area, believe me when I say you should hit up the fair. Everybody will have a great time.