First State Fair

As I mentioned in my Throwback post yesterday, I made a trip to the Indiana State Fair on Wednesday with Jennifer and Noah. Noah's first trip to the state fair! The fair chooses a theme each year, and this year is the 'Year of the Coliseum' in honor of the renovations that have been done to the building over the last year.

We were anxious to see the changes, so that's where we started our day.

It looks sooooo different in the concourse area that you can scarcely believe it's the same place. There are elevators replacing the stairs to the seating level, and brand new fancy restrooms. It doesn't appear that you can walk all the way around the building anymore, but it may have just been closed to the public. There are new plastic seats inside the arena, but we did manage to find these old ones placed in the concourse for old times' sake. I like those old wooden seats.

There was still dirt in the arena, and the side walls look the same, but along with the new seats, there are new video screens, and they were getting the stage set up for the concert that evening. I'm not sure if there will be seating on the floor of the arena or not. I also wondered if it was the same dirt that's always been there. When I helped with the Hoosier Horse Fair, there was always a 'dirt' discussion. Seems that different equine events require different footing, which requires different dirt. I remember discussing 'old dirt' vs. 'new dirt.' Not to be confused with 'old as dirt.' :)

Noah found a place where he could hold on and do a little walking.

We stopped to have a little lunch at the ribeye tent, of course.

After lunch, we walked past the midway entrance on our way to the other side of the fairgrounds. Riding rides at the state fair was never on our list. There are so many other things to do and see!

We stopped in the FFA building where the boys used to love to play putt putt.

Noah checked out a baby calf while we were there.

I always love going to the Pioneer Village, where you can see demonstrations of crafts, skills, and farming methods from Indiana's past. They have threshing demos, woodworking, broom-making, quilting, leatherwork, as well as tools and equipment displays.

We saw an old corn planter on display inside.

I'm not familiar with this piece of equipment, but I do recognize the brand.

This sign near the woodworking display reminded me of Jim's Uncle Gilman, as it was one of his favorite sayings. I actually always thought he made it up. I guess it's a universal truth. Yes it is.

Our walk took us all the way around past the harness racing barns, to the swine barn. Most of the pigs were gone, but we did see the champion sow and her litter,

as well as the largest boar. He's a big one!

The horse barn was also empty of horses, but we did find some equines in the Blue Ribbon Pavilion. Mules. And donkeys. This little guy has a particularly interesting forelock.

This one turned and smiled for the camera as he took a little rest in his stall.

Noah stopped to meet some mini donks. It was just coincidence that one of the Wednesday Hodgepodge questions asked about the last time I had seen a donkey, and we actually saw these on Wednesday.

Of course, we had to stop at the dairy bar for a milkshake. I had chocolate, and Jennifer tried the salted caramel. Yum!

We did not try the deep fried red velvet oreos, snickers, or cookie dough. They also have deep fried butter. Deep fried butter?

We made a few purchases, ate some fair food, walked a mile or two, and had a great day at the Indiana State Fair!