Rosie and The Operator are visiting The Texas State Fair today, it rolls into town every year for 21 days during the month of October. A group of Texans founded the Fair in 1886 with plans to showcase the very best Texas has to offer, especially its livestock.
Over the decades the fair has grown bigger and bigger, In 1930 the 46,000 seat Cotton Bowl Stadium was built in the park and Oklahoma has played Dallas in football there every year since. Elvis Presley played the Cotton Bowl to a sell out crowd in 1956 and the 1962 movie State Fair was filmed there. In 1986 on the 100th anniversary Fair Park was designated a National Historic Landmark and 3,959,058 went through the gates making it the biggest attendance for a state fair of all time.
The fair opened at 10.00 and Rosie and The Operator wanted to be there bright and early to beat the crowds and the heat of the day. Driving up to the site there were heaps of official carparks miles away from the gates…we crept closer looking for a park…VIP ticketed parking only were the closest spots to the gates….The Operator noticed guys across the road waving flags and beckoning cars over….they had badly handwritten signs proclaiming Fair Parking for $5. The official car parks were $20 for the day…Rosie thought it was too good to be true, right across from the gates and a bargain price. The cars that were already there were parked on a grass berm in front of a petrol station…dodgy…The Operator was keen, he was already turning in…Rosie was worried about a scam and expected the car to be towed by the time we got back. The parking man said they actually closed the gas station during the Fair as the traffic was to intense to make any money from petrol sales….instead they sold parking spaces on the berm and forecourt and made more money that way…That will be $10 please. The Operator said ‘the sign says $5’….yeah, said the guy, ‘that’s just to lure you in, $10 is still half price…’ ‘OK’ said The (already parked) Operator. The customer behind us really wanted to argue the false advertising…’well you are welcome to go away and park elsewhere’ the parking guy said…angry man stayed put and paid.
Walking up to the entrance the music was playing, the rides were making noise and kids were squealing in excitement. The air smelled of sweet sugar and it was 26c at 1030am.
Rosie wanted to ride the Wheel of Texas and to get a view of the park. Even though the park had only been open for 30mins the que to ride the wheel was already 40 mins long and that was shortest length Rosie saw it for the rest of the day. What a fab view of the State Fair Ground and the Dallas skyline. You can see a lake in the aerial picture, the white things on the lake are giant swans….family’s were riding in them like boats.
This aerial shot below shows the giant Cotton Bowl football stadium and the blue tarps covered the walkways of the midway giving blessed relief from the sun.
This shot below shows one third of the midway rides and stalls but also pans out to the back parking lots of the Fair. The Cotton Bowl stadium is in the right hand side of the picture.
You can see the giant shade covers over the food stalls and midway games, it was very pleasant and comfortable in the shade, there was plenty of space between the stalls and aisles, everything was clean and new looking and the ground staff so friendly and helpful.
Rosie had to have a Fletcher’s Corny Dog ‘The Official Hot Dog on a Stick’ of the State Fair – it was agreed by Rosie and The Operator as the most delish hotdog on a stick ever! The Operator reckoned they were trying to emulate the hotdog in a bun….but put it on a stick. It looked like what we would get at the A&P show but the sausage itself was a mild German one, so tasty…the batter was thick with a kind of moist breaded inner and a crispy outer – smothered in sauce and mustard….it was delicious.
State Fair Stats – 500,000 soft toys are won on the midway each year – 600,000 visitor guides are printed each year – 1,800,000 free tickets are given to students across the North Texas Area – 80,000 pounds of pure cane sugar used in 2015 to make cotton candy – 57,500 corny dogs were sold during three hours at the State Fair Football Game.
Out of the shady cover and into the full sun we ventured to take a photo of Big Tex, the official mascot since the fairs inception.
He is huge, 92 feet high and is a steel frame wearing giants clothes….his 10 gallon hat is actually a 90 gallon hat. His arm waves to the crowd and he has that retro creepy look same as the giant Santa on the farmers building in Auckland.
It was getting hot and crowded…Rosie was over it…time to head home and find a nice cool spot for lunch. The Operator asked the Parking Man for a $5 refund….Parking Man was taken aback…The Operator said ‘we have only been here for half a day…you can resell this spot now for another $10…Parking Man cracked up and said ‘you just get your white ass in your car and drive away now’ say it again…in your best Fresh Prince of Bel Air accent while waving your hands shooing us away.
We detoured to the Fort Worth Water gardens which were a lovely shady respite from the hot sun. A beautiful green park in an urban setting that lulls you with the the noise of rushing water from its different watery aspects and sculptural fountains.
We headed back to Fort Worth for a late lunch at Joe T Garcia’s…this Mexican restaurant is recommended by lonely planet and was established in 1936….lonely planet does say get there early cause it is popular and you may have to que, especially on the weekends….well, we did go there yesterday, on Sunday….we arrived just before 12 and this is a picture of the que…it doesn’t even show the end of the que, that was another 30 metres down the road.
We left but thought we would give it another go…at 2.00pm Monday we drove up and there was still a que….only about 12 people but still a que! We thought we would wait as we did see a few couples and families leave…we waited for about 10 mins only and were shown to a table in their outdoor garden.
OMG what a beautiful setting, lush gardens and bubbling fountains, tables shaded by umbrellas and portico’s…it was stunning. The service was quick and the menu home style Mexican but it was the best Mexican ever! Chatting to the waitress she said these gardens can hold 1300 in a sitting…how? Rosie asked looking around her intimate outdoor fountain room…when you leave have a wander around she said with a wry smile….and yes, she said we are full to capacity on the weekend…hence the que. Less than half the area was open today for Monday lunch. As we left, we walked around and the garden went on forever…small dining spaces in their own gardens with their own bars attached. It was just beautiful in every way.
Tomorrow we are heading to San Antonio, the closest we will get to the Mexican border, Rosie and The Operator are keen on checking out the famous Spanish Missions including the Alamo. The largest (and most authentic) Spanish market outside of Mexico and the famous San Antonio Riverwalk.
