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Mrs. Chiburb thought it would be great idea to visit the Iowa State Fair. I left all arrangements to her, and we left the Chicago burbs around 11:00 Thursday morning. In (somewhat) chronological order, here is a trip report:
1. Iowa has fantastic rest areas. Clean, free maps. I'm glad I could hold it 'till we got there.
2. Mrs. Chiburb's plan was to stay 30 miles East of Des Moines, since all rooms were booked there. While she is usually a very good "Navigatrix", somehow she missed the fact that Pella is a
l o n g country drive SOUTH of I-80. In fact, the county makes it almost impossible to get there because of road construction. Oh well, we just followed some tractors or combines or something through the back roads and eventually made it.
3. Pella is a BEAUTIFUL small town. A great town square, surrounded by cute shops and architecture. The only thing missing from downtown is a tavern, but we found a nice one down the road a piece. The pizza wasn't bad either at "Dr. Pastrami's".
4. Friday morning and off to the fair! My Navigatrix was vindicated because the entrance to the fairgrounds is ON 163... no hunting for it, no wrong turns, no traffic! Of course it was 8:30 in the morning, but still. The only negative about arriving early was that it was VERY chilly and cloudy (and it was too early for a beer).
What a nice fairgrounds you have in Iowa. Huge grounds, wide streets and sidewalks, well-kept permanent buildings, clean. We explored much of it while waiting for food booths and exhibit halls to open, marking places we'd return to later.
5. Our favorite food booth was "VeggieTables". See, we haven't eaten meat for several years now, and the only time we really crave it is at a fair. The brats and burgers always look and smell great, but what we really miss in corn dogs. Well, the signature dish at VeggieTables is VEGETARIAN CORN DOGS!!! They've been selling them at the ISF for 14 years, and they're extremely popular. This year they sold out after 2 hours on opening day. Anyway, not only were the corn dogs great, but the guy who inherited the stand from his mother lives in Chicago but returns to the fair every year. Nice folks, nice food.
6. We did the usual fair "stuff": livestock, food, agriculture, and cultural exhibits. Our favorites were in the cultural building, where we saw some of the most impressive photography and artwork we'd ever seen (and yes, we DO get out often). Especially impressive were the drawings and paintings by 14-18 year old Iowa kids. Much of it was gallery-worthy, and I wish they'd sold a directory of the artists. You Iowans should be very proud of your kids, and of yourselves for funding education that includes art!
We also enjoyed a wonderful concert of show tunes by a singer and pianist. This was in the court yard of the cultural building. Didn't catch their names, but she had a very pretty voice.
7. Mrs. Chiburb, who usually wears flip-flops all summer, has now developed blisters on her heels from her tennis shoes (no socks). Being gallant, I parked her and went to the car to fetch some band-aids. I remembered seeing a parking lot "Q", and I knew we were in Row 30, but I didn't realize that I was leaving via the wrong gate. Perhaps after 2 miles of wandering through RVs and campers, I realized I better ask for directions. A man in a golf cart laughed at me and said "son, you're in the campgrounds. The parking lot is over yon". Or something like that. He gave me a ride to the top of a hill and told me to climb the fence to get to the parking lot. OK, now I'm not as spry as I used to be, but I should be able to handle a 6 foot fence, right? I climbed up, got to the top, lost my footing, and basically fell down the other side. But my Trixie is waiting, ever so patiently I'm sure, so I dust myself off, check for fractures, and LIMP up a tall hill to the cars because my sciatica has been aggravated. Got the band-aids, hustle back as quickly as the leg/back will allow, am greeted with a hero's welcome and the promise of huge reward later...
8. Now is the time for beer! We parked ourselves at a beer garden across from VeggieTables and the main exhibition hall. Karaoke, margaritas, MGDs, food. What's missing? Ah, politics! As we're enjoying our cold ones, we're seeing BushBots all over the place. In fairness, we'd seen many Kerry buttons too, but in OUR beer garden they were all wearing Bush buttons. Morans. So, back to the exhibition hall where we'd been told the Democrats have a booth. (We'd seen the Pug booth in our earlier visit, but somehow missed our party. Appropriately, the Pugs were on the right of the main entrance and the Dems on the left.)
So I approached the booth, 5 attendants no waiting. NOT! The crowds were 5 or 6 deep in front of each of the 5 volunteers. Normally I'm not a patient person, but I was so enjoying the atmosphere of seeing Dads helping their daughters register for the 1st time, elderly couples wanting to chat about the importance of this election, young women getting "Iowa Democrats" tattoos on their faces and arms, that I didn't mind the 20 minute wait to ask for 2 buttons. I was asked "are you going to wear them"? and I must have given the right answer because she gave them to me. We chatted for a couple of minutes, and I'd have stayed longer, but there were now 5 or 6 people behind me. Besides, my beer was getting warm...
Anyway, we stayed at the fair (beer garden) for another 2 or 3 hours before driving back to Pella for the night. All in all, a wonderful way to spend 8 hours on a Friday.
9. Woke up early Saturday morning, and hit the road about 5:30. This time we drove South for 15 miles or so because we didn't want to get lost on the country roads again. Made it home around 11:00.
Conclusion:
Iowans, you've got yourselves one GREAT state fair! We look forward to returning next year, and thank you for your hospitality.
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