The best way I can describe the Wisconsin State Fair is, it’s like the Jefferson County Fair on steroids. In the best way possible.
Well, other than the traffic.
We left the house about 45 minutes before the fair opened Saturday morning in order to beat the crowds. The fairgrounds in West Allis are 54 minutes away, so in theory, our timing should have been almost perfect.
Emphasis on in theory. As soon as we exited the freeway – a mere mile from our destination – we came to a dead stop. We inched along so slowly, I said to Tara, “It may take us an hour to get there.”
It took us an hour to get there.
But we figured there would be crowds. The weather was perfect (if sunshine and 70 degrees is your jam), and it was the next to last day. Of course people were going to flock there!
The first thing we did upon entering the 200-acre Fair Park was consult a map. Seriously, the fairgrounds are enormous. But the map was confusing, so we figured we’d just start walking and see where our feet led us. The first place they led us was to food. We were starving by then, and that’s pretty much the point of the fair!
The Italian sausage sandwich and potato pancakes were good, but the big draw was the Original Cream Puff®. This is far and away the most popular food item at the Wisconsin State Fair. Everyone raves about them, and this year marked the 100th anniversary of the iconic treat. Our governor even proclaimed Saturday as “Cream Puff Day” in honor of the occasion. Naturally, we wanted to see what all the fuss was about.
We entered the Original Cream Puff Pavilion and walked what felt like half a mile to reach the end of the line. Fortunately, it moved very quickly, and before long we had our decadently pillowy cream puffs in hand – original for me, chocolate birthday cake for Tara.
I’m happy to say they totally lived up to the hype. They’re big and messy but light as air and not too sweet. Lots of people were ordering six-packs to go. I’m used to seeing that with beer, not cream puffs, but I get it.
The most unusual – and honestly, one of the tastiest – things we tried was a beverage. Specifically, a Purple Pickle Lemonade.
Rivergirl would probably roll over in her grave if she were dead, but I’m telling you, this drink was very good. Tart, briny, with just a hint of sweetness. And we didn’t even get it with the optional vodka!
Now that I think about it, why didn’t we get the optional vodka?!
Oh, well. That might have masked the wonderful pickle flavor. Oddly enough, we didn’t order anything alcoholic. Didn’t even get cheese curds. How very un-Wisconsinlike on both counts!
We did try root beer flavored milk, though. Which was quite delicious. It tasted like a root beer float. They were also selling salted caramel and strawberry cheesecake flavors. Wisconsin really takes this whole “America’s Dairyland” designation seriously, yo.
After about four hours, we were all fair’d out. We’d seen everything we wanted to (minus the pig races, because sadly the bleachers were full when we arrived), and while there were plenty more interesting foods we’d have loved to try – cheese curd tacos, anyone? mashed potatoes on a stick? pickle pizza? – we couldn’t eat another bite if we wanted to. We were back home by 5:00 after a very full and fun day.
Next time we go, we’ve decided it will be on a weekday morning, when it’s less crowded and traffic isn’t backed up a mile.
Mark My Words 
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