State Fair (unfair when it comes to prices)

Ever lived in an area for a long time, but never actually gone to some well-known event/attraction? You know, say you've lived in New York and never been to the Statue of Liberty.

Well, I've been in the Dallas area for about 5 years now, and I've never been to the Texas State Fair. My brother and his wife, who have been here longer than me, have never been, either.

Thursday night we decided enough is enough, and we headed to the Fair. Admission varied, depending on where you got the tickets or if you had a Coke product with you. We didn't know about the Coke thing, so we got our "advance" tickets at a local grocery store, for about $1.50 less than what they charged at the gate. Now that's savings!

The Texas State Fair was mostly carnival-based, with some attractions mixed in (mini-museums, etc.), as well as some other things like arts-and-crafts sales and an auto show. The area near where we came in was littered with booths selling various items from cell phone service to hot tubs.

Sadly, the "coupons = money" system that bothered us on our 4th of July excursion followed us here. But instead of 1 coupon = 1 dollar, it was 1 coupon = 50 cents. Of course you could only get the coupons in increments. We quickly blew our coupons on various things, primarily the food. If it could be fried, and even if it couldn't conceivably, you could find it fried here. This year saw the introduction of a "Fried Coke," which as it turns out, was essentially fried balls of Coke-flavored batter, covered in a Coke-based syrup, with whipped cream and a cherry.

We ended up having to get more coupons to ride the giant Ferris wheel. It was the perfect night for it. While the cage we were led into was a tight fit for the eventual 5 people in there, the ride offered a great view, plus it was a cool night with a nice breeze. We ended up spending roughly 4 hours there, and didn't see most of the attractions that people probably go there to see, like the Livestock shows and some of the museums. Would I go back to see those things? Probably not. MAYBE if I was with some people who had never been before. It's just one of those things where I had to do it, but probably won't do it again. My wallet can't take it. :)