I think we may just have a new bucket list item for our travels.
Visit as many state fairs as possible in a single year.
OK, maybe the year timeline is a little constraining, so maybe visit and explore as many state fairs as possible over the next few years!!
On Wednesday we drove up to Indianapolis for a fun-filled day at the Indiana State Fair! The fairgrounds are massive! SO much to do and see at this state fair! And I think it’s safe to say we made a bit of an impression. 😜 I wish I had a dollar for each time I heard someone holler “Lucy”!! We even got a lot of “hey, it’s Lucy & Ricky!” I think Carrie could have set up a little stand on a corner for photos and she would have had a line form in minutes. 🤣 I can’t begin to count the number of photos that she was asked to take with fairgoers. Carrie pretty much dresses like this daily, so it sometimes takes us by surprise when we’re out in public and people make a big deal about or ask us why we’re dressed the way we are. It’s just not something we think about until we’re out in public and people make us realize how different we might appear to many. The Indiana State Fair is a great time, for sure! We usually get to the Kentucky State Fair each year, which opened yesterday and runs through August 27. The Indiana fair seems much bigger and more spread out. It also feels more traditional with several areas that reflect the heritage of the state - the Pioneer Village, in particular, is a great area that makes you feel like you have been transported back in time.
We did ALL the things, or as much as we could on a single day. The day ended with a great free concert of The Happy Together Tour - featuring groups, or group members, from the iconic music artists of the 1960s (The Turtles, Gary Puckett, The Cowsills, The Vogues and others).
BUT, the most awesome thing that happened at the state fair was when we were invited to ride on the actual 1939 Chevy bus that was used in the movie “Hoosiers”! The bus is featured entry in the daily fair parade. Hoosiers is a movie we both love and watch a couple of times each year. Darryll Baker, who now owns the bus (he is the grandson of the bus’s original owner), approached us as we were admiring the iconic bus. I think he was honestly smitten with Carrie more than anything, but asked if we would want to ride in the bus for the evening parade. Ummm…YES. He had others that were riding, but he saved us the seat where coach Norman Dale (Gene Hackman) sat in the movie! It was pretty darn cool.
So, back to my opening statement. The US state fairs that are generally always mentioned in the top ten lists that I’ve seen are Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, New York, Texas, Arizona, and the Big “E”, which is a six-state combined exposition of the New England states. Those are certainly going to all be in consideration as well as several others as we start formulating a “US State Fair Expedition”!
