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Its Better than a Knotts maze... Well maybe not better than Uncle Bobo's awesome and twisted big top of the bizarre... But mystery tunnels, bizarre foods, crazy midway carnies, and other sideshows awaited me at the Arizona State Fair today and every year I just cant wait until the state fair happens because each year they try and outdo themselves on food!
Case in point, about a week before the fair even started there was a news article about the new eats at the fair and the bizarre foods some of the stands plan on selling... Now I will say that a lot of it is hype because I only found half of the new foods on that list and I tried to scour every menu looking for the most bizarre foods! Eventually I found the booth I needed and for the bizarre foods I was craving!
You may be asking, What are these bizarre foods? I will say quickly that a few of them are not for the faint of heart! But to give a brief synopsis here is the list of things I was hyped up for...
1) Smoked BBQ Lizard on a skewer [sounds exotic and tasty]
2) Fried Frog Legs [wanted to see how tasty Kermit is]
3) Chocolate covered Habaneros [the hottest pepper and sweet chocolate]
4) Fried Bacon on a stick w/Gravy [sounds very tasty]
5) Sauteed Mealworms [sounds interesting and exotic]
6) Chocolate covered Scorpion [Its a delicacy in China so it must be good]
7) Chocolate covered bacon [the bacon/chocolate candybars are good]
8) Elephant meat on a skewer [sounds very exotic and different]
9) Reindeer Hot Dogs [deer is edible and in the xmas spirit]
10) Chocolate covered grasshoppers [grasshoppers taste good anyways]
11) Deep Fried Tiramisu [I love Tiramisu and fried must make it better]
12) Cajun Alligator Tails skewers [Gator meat is yummy and cajun seasoning is yummier]
I will get to the bizarre foods I found and wound up eating but lets first visit the entrance to the fair!
On the way into the fair, we find there is a new booth set up advertising awareness for a type of artery disease which is kinda ironic as most of the food at the fair is fried and I am sure your arteries will be clogged from all the fried food... Its like an Oxymoron this year.
On a side note, I am very glad that this year they are actually advertising awareness for an artery disease and not Adult ADHD, Depression, or OCD like in previous years! Last year was eye opening as I took their little quiz for the Adult ADHD awareness thing and wound up with a 90% possibility of having Adult ADHD... As a result last year they gave me a bag that was basically their way of saying... "You must have Adult ADHD so you get this free bag and informational brochures as a prize for acing 90% of the questions the test"... My friends as evil as they are were very supportive last year by saying... "You come to the fair healthy and now you leave with a problem"... After last year and the whole Adult ADHD free survey test thingy it has been the mantra of every single visit to the state fair that I come into the fair healthy and leave with a problem... Being that it was always the case with those awareness booths that I left with a problem I was very pleased that this year it was for something I do not currently have or have a tendency towards [well I cant say I dont have a tendency towards it as I eat all the fried foods and stuff there]!
They even had a little simulator ride you could go on... We didnt participate but it looked like a Star Tours that didnt go through space, but instead inside an artery... LOL! Like if Disneyland had a ride about arteries it would be called Artery Tours... LOL!
Making our way into the fair from the front gate we get in and find this thing I enjoyed so much in 2007... The Mystery Tunnel!
This thing is amazing... I was so upset that it was missing in action last year and to see it back I was like OMG! Yes! Lets go in and get all twisted and flipped out!
For those who dont know, its basically a small spinning tunnel all blacklit and full of flourescent paint and mirrors tucked into this small trailer. Its one of typical flourescent tunnels like you would find at Knotts Haunt or any haunted house... The only thing is that instead of constantly moving forward you can stay in there as long as you would like and as long as you need to!
I get a little too stunned from all the spinning... In fact I was starting to get a little nauseous from all the spinning inside the tunnel... Despite my mind playing tricks on me!
My 2 Friends, John and Charlie had never done the mystery tunnel before and I just had to corrupt them and give them over to the awesome power of the mystery tunnel! It just has a way of sucking you in... and also sucking $2 out of your wallet... LOL!
After the mystery tunnel we decided on walking around and catching some views at the weird stuff that can be found at the state fair!
If its Cowboy Junk... then why should we even buy it? Although Cowboy junk can also mean a funky name for a stand selling cowboy stuff!
As the sun started setting we caught a glimpse of the model trains under the grandstand! Yes, the grandstand is old and dumpy but the model train displays are always entertaining to watch! And while they may not be as impressive as the ones at the LA County Fair, they still are nice for what we have here in Arizona!
This brings us to the point where I start my quest in looking for the Bizarre and wild foods that I read about and was so wanting to try! This was basically a long walk around the entire fair from top to bottom and through the midway looking for that one stand selling the most bizarre things I could think of! Not to mention we arrived right as the sun was setting so we could watch the fair come to life at night and watch the lights start bringing everything into a colorful wonder of the night!
One of my favorite rides... The G Force... I just couldnt bother riding rides tonight and seriously I just dont see the reason... the rides are the same ones every year and are usually too tame for my tastes... Yes I said tame... I love the tango and all but after it being there every year I just am not too thrilled with shelling $5 to ride it and as expensive as it is to ride Speed the ride along with a long wait I decided to skip on rides... Now if they ever get something like a Top Scan then maybe I might shell out since I have always wanted to ride one and Top Scans look hella intense and fun!
But here is a pretty pic of the G Force... Gotta love its awesome pendulum action!
Since we all are Disneyland enthusiasts here, I figured I would snap a shot as an homage to us micechatters! Behold... It may not be outside the Tiki Room but there is a stand selling Dole Whip!
As the sun had set, We were still on our quest for that one Bizarre food I was dying to try... In discussion I decided that we should search out and scour the fair for the Scorpions... I wanted to try eating a Scorpion... Not only for the bragging rights, but for the awesome OMG! and Gross out Factor that eating a Scorpion could do! This turned our night at the fair into a "Quest and hunt for the Scorpion"
The "hunt for the scorpion" is on!
No signs of a scorpion anywhere on the food avenue but I did see a large grill and a lot of Hawaiian chicken BBQ'ing on it!
Well... No sign of the scorpions on food avenue... Lets go inside a building and look at some exhibits and revisit our hunt after a bit of viewing! Not to mention we came to the fair to see some other things!
Inside the crafts and collections building we find Hamsteropolis! This is kinda amazing and like the ultimate hamster hotel and resort! Its like a Disneyland for hamsters!
This persons collection of alien masks kinda freaks me out just looking at them! So much that I had to take some pics!
For those who do not know or were not at the Micechat night at Haunt earlier last month! I have a huge fear of aliens! So much that Fishbulb made it a point to make sure he was right behind me in the Alien maze enjoying my reactions to it! Yeah I know the Alien maze sucks to a lot of people and I know that for people who are not afraid of aliens it kinda doesnt phase them but for someone like me... OMG! Its like the same thing with the Clowns and the people who have Coulrophobia! Now that we have gotten this bit of information out of the way... Lets take a looksie at the pictures of the alien masks!
This black one with tubes was the worst as there was something like this inside the maze at Knotts this year... It like so totally brought back those memories of horrible aliens... LOL!
This one is just beyond freaky and I really wish they had like evil clown masks or something because Clowns are awesome... LOL!
This one is really horrible... Like a Skeleton Alien... thats kinda OMG!
And this one right here is the stuff that is made out of my nightmares... if ti wasnt the icing on the cake it was like OMG... I still cant believe this guy has a hobby of collecting masks like this... but to each their own! The detail on the masks are impressive!
After those freaky looking alien masks that were on display as a collection, figured it was nice to look at some awesome pottery... I really love how this little dish was done!
Exiting the crafts building we decide that its time to continue out hunt for that scorpion and the stand selling that weird and bizarre treat! So we Walk the midway at night and love the lights and pretty sights from the fair!
The rickety rollercoaster that sits on 2x4's... yes it really does... and I wont ever ride it again... that thing doesnt even look safe! Although it is run by Carnies and as Homer Simpson says, "Kings Among Men"... LOL!
Footsie Wootsies... These things are so amazing! For a quarter its like a private massage for your feet!
Creep Show... aka the cheesy poor mans haunted house! I have never been one for the cheesiness of Creep Show but then again the outer facade always looks nice... In fact I somehow got a picture of John's head in the bottomg left hand corner!
The Large Ferris Wheel... It is always nice but then again I just opted not to ride it this time!
Midway Mania has gotten to my head... I need some sprite to cool off... LOL!
We may not be at Disneyland but at least we have a cheesy poor mans version of the Haunted Mansion... Ok it may not exit the berm and it may not have Madame Leota but again the facade is fun to look at...
On our Midway Walk we found a huge group of Bananas... I love Bananas and OMG! They are amazing!
In searching for that Scorpion, we are finding that the Midway could be a very bright and colorful place! But then again... The State Fair has so much lighting that everything is amazing at night!
On our Search for that Scorpion we find ourselves in the Art Building looking at amazing things.... No food stands selling Scorpion but there is some amazing art!
I Hate the DC Superheroes but I will say that this piece of art was very nice.... I will give it a pass!
This painting was just pretty... Not to mention its of our native animal to Arizona... The Gila Monster! Maybe not the Scorpion we were looking for but still kinda awesome as a painting!
The Male peacock is so pretty and it just walks around like a diva because it knows that it is! I may not like birds but I admire the peacock for being either a metro or gay bird that can sway itself down the runway like a drag queen diva and show everyone its pretty feathers because it knows it can! And for that, we salute the peacock!
Coming out of the art exhibit in the collisseum basement we continue looking for that scorpion!
But then again the 3 of us amigos need a rest and we find a bench to rest on! Divas like us need to rest our weary feet and then again we just didnt want to walk all the way to a footsie wootsie so we found a bench!
I have an idea... Lets continue looking for those bizarre foods!
But first Charlie must pretend to be the Pink haired Cotton Candy lady... Yes our fair apparently has a mascot and its this lady with pink hair made out of cotton candy that dresses in awesome 50's clothing... how awesome is that? Although I didnt know she would have Charlies face!
In the attempt of a sidequest in trying to find that BBQ Lizard on a skewer... it seemed this item was Missing in Action because I looked on all these BBQ's and all I found were turkey legs!
Maybe I should give up the hunt for that scorpion and find myself a bail out offer as a last resort... but at $9 for a bailout... I have to bring it upon myself to look a little harder!
Maybe those Ghost Pirates can tell me... I mean, we found the poor mans Haunted Mansion and now apparently we found the poor mans Pirates of the Carribbean, again minus the berm and Jack Sparrow!
I know... I will just ride on some SPEED! In place of those bizarre foods... Although I will second think that at how expensive and how crowded the line was to ride it!
The Hunt is on... Will TAMAsurvivor find the prized scorpion appetizer he was searching for or will he be puzzled and confused with the constant walking and scouring along the booths at the fair?
Part 2 will be posted after but I have to find a way to break up the photos and posts on this topic...
Case in point, about a week before the fair even started there was a news article about the new eats at the fair and the bizarre foods some of the stands plan on selling... Now I will say that a lot of it is hype because I only found half of the new foods on that list and I tried to scour every menu looking for the most bizarre foods! Eventually I found the booth I needed and for the bizarre foods I was craving!
You may be asking, What are these bizarre foods? I will say quickly that a few of them are not for the faint of heart! But to give a brief synopsis here is the list of things I was hyped up for...
1) Smoked BBQ Lizard on a skewer [sounds exotic and tasty]
2) Fried Frog Legs [wanted to see how tasty Kermit is]
3) Chocolate covered Habaneros [the hottest pepper and sweet chocolate]
4) Fried Bacon on a stick w/Gravy [sounds very tasty]
5) Sauteed Mealworms [sounds interesting and exotic]
6) Chocolate covered Scorpion [Its a delicacy in China so it must be good]
7) Chocolate covered bacon [the bacon/chocolate candybars are good]
8) Elephant meat on a skewer [sounds very exotic and different]
9) Reindeer Hot Dogs [deer is edible and in the xmas spirit]
10) Chocolate covered grasshoppers [grasshoppers taste good anyways]
11) Deep Fried Tiramisu [I love Tiramisu and fried must make it better]
12) Cajun Alligator Tails skewers [Gator meat is yummy and cajun seasoning is yummier]
I will get to the bizarre foods I found and wound up eating but lets first visit the entrance to the fair!
On the way into the fair, we find there is a new booth set up advertising awareness for a type of artery disease which is kinda ironic as most of the food at the fair is fried and I am sure your arteries will be clogged from all the fried food... Its like an Oxymoron this year.
On a side note, I am very glad that this year they are actually advertising awareness for an artery disease and not Adult ADHD, Depression, or OCD like in previous years! Last year was eye opening as I took their little quiz for the Adult ADHD awareness thing and wound up with a 90% possibility of having Adult ADHD... As a result last year they gave me a bag that was basically their way of saying... "You must have Adult ADHD so you get this free bag and informational brochures as a prize for acing 90% of the questions the test"... My friends as evil as they are were very supportive last year by saying... "You come to the fair healthy and now you leave with a problem"... After last year and the whole Adult ADHD free survey test thingy it has been the mantra of every single visit to the state fair that I come into the fair healthy and leave with a problem... Being that it was always the case with those awareness booths that I left with a problem I was very pleased that this year it was for something I do not currently have or have a tendency towards [well I cant say I dont have a tendency towards it as I eat all the fried foods and stuff there]!
They even had a little simulator ride you could go on... We didnt participate but it looked like a Star Tours that didnt go through space, but instead inside an artery... LOL! Like if Disneyland had a ride about arteries it would be called Artery Tours... LOL!
Making our way into the fair from the front gate we get in and find this thing I enjoyed so much in 2007... The Mystery Tunnel!
This thing is amazing... I was so upset that it was missing in action last year and to see it back I was like OMG! Yes! Lets go in and get all twisted and flipped out!
For those who dont know, its basically a small spinning tunnel all blacklit and full of flourescent paint and mirrors tucked into this small trailer. Its one of typical flourescent tunnels like you would find at Knotts Haunt or any haunted house... The only thing is that instead of constantly moving forward you can stay in there as long as you would like and as long as you need to!
I get a little too stunned from all the spinning... In fact I was starting to get a little nauseous from all the spinning inside the tunnel... Despite my mind playing tricks on me!
My 2 Friends, John and Charlie had never done the mystery tunnel before and I just had to corrupt them and give them over to the awesome power of the mystery tunnel! It just has a way of sucking you in... and also sucking $2 out of your wallet... LOL!
After the mystery tunnel we decided on walking around and catching some views at the weird stuff that can be found at the state fair!
If its Cowboy Junk... then why should we even buy it? Although Cowboy junk can also mean a funky name for a stand selling cowboy stuff!
As the sun started setting we caught a glimpse of the model trains under the grandstand! Yes, the grandstand is old and dumpy but the model train displays are always entertaining to watch! And while they may not be as impressive as the ones at the LA County Fair, they still are nice for what we have here in Arizona!
This brings us to the point where I start my quest in looking for the Bizarre and wild foods that I read about and was so wanting to try! This was basically a long walk around the entire fair from top to bottom and through the midway looking for that one stand selling the most bizarre things I could think of! Not to mention we arrived right as the sun was setting so we could watch the fair come to life at night and watch the lights start bringing everything into a colorful wonder of the night!
One of my favorite rides... The G Force... I just couldnt bother riding rides tonight and seriously I just dont see the reason... the rides are the same ones every year and are usually too tame for my tastes... Yes I said tame... I love the tango and all but after it being there every year I just am not too thrilled with shelling $5 to ride it and as expensive as it is to ride Speed the ride along with a long wait I decided to skip on rides... Now if they ever get something like a Top Scan then maybe I might shell out since I have always wanted to ride one and Top Scans look hella intense and fun!
But here is a pretty pic of the G Force... Gotta love its awesome pendulum action!
Since we all are Disneyland enthusiasts here, I figured I would snap a shot as an homage to us micechatters! Behold... It may not be outside the Tiki Room but there is a stand selling Dole Whip!
As the sun had set, We were still on our quest for that one Bizarre food I was dying to try... In discussion I decided that we should search out and scour the fair for the Scorpions... I wanted to try eating a Scorpion... Not only for the bragging rights, but for the awesome OMG! and Gross out Factor that eating a Scorpion could do! This turned our night at the fair into a "Quest and hunt for the Scorpion"
The "hunt for the scorpion" is on!
No signs of a scorpion anywhere on the food avenue but I did see a large grill and a lot of Hawaiian chicken BBQ'ing on it!
Well... No sign of the scorpions on food avenue... Lets go inside a building and look at some exhibits and revisit our hunt after a bit of viewing! Not to mention we came to the fair to see some other things!
Inside the crafts and collections building we find Hamsteropolis! This is kinda amazing and like the ultimate hamster hotel and resort! Its like a Disneyland for hamsters!
This persons collection of alien masks kinda freaks me out just looking at them! So much that I had to take some pics!
For those who do not know or were not at the Micechat night at Haunt earlier last month! I have a huge fear of aliens! So much that Fishbulb made it a point to make sure he was right behind me in the Alien maze enjoying my reactions to it! Yeah I know the Alien maze sucks to a lot of people and I know that for people who are not afraid of aliens it kinda doesnt phase them but for someone like me... OMG! Its like the same thing with the Clowns and the people who have Coulrophobia! Now that we have gotten this bit of information out of the way... Lets take a looksie at the pictures of the alien masks!
This black one with tubes was the worst as there was something like this inside the maze at Knotts this year... It like so totally brought back those memories of horrible aliens... LOL!
This one is just beyond freaky and I really wish they had like evil clown masks or something because Clowns are awesome... LOL!
This one is really horrible... Like a Skeleton Alien... thats kinda OMG!
And this one right here is the stuff that is made out of my nightmares... if ti wasnt the icing on the cake it was like OMG... I still cant believe this guy has a hobby of collecting masks like this... but to each their own! The detail on the masks are impressive!
After those freaky looking alien masks that were on display as a collection, figured it was nice to look at some awesome pottery... I really love how this little dish was done!
Exiting the crafts building we decide that its time to continue out hunt for that scorpion and the stand selling that weird and bizarre treat! So we Walk the midway at night and love the lights and pretty sights from the fair!
The rickety rollercoaster that sits on 2x4's... yes it really does... and I wont ever ride it again... that thing doesnt even look safe! Although it is run by Carnies and as Homer Simpson says, "Kings Among Men"... LOL!
Footsie Wootsies... These things are so amazing! For a quarter its like a private massage for your feet!
Creep Show... aka the cheesy poor mans haunted house! I have never been one for the cheesiness of Creep Show but then again the outer facade always looks nice... In fact I somehow got a picture of John's head in the bottomg left hand corner!
The Large Ferris Wheel... It is always nice but then again I just opted not to ride it this time!
Midway Mania has gotten to my head... I need some sprite to cool off... LOL!
We may not be at Disneyland but at least we have a cheesy poor mans version of the Haunted Mansion... Ok it may not exit the berm and it may not have Madame Leota but again the facade is fun to look at...
On our Midway Walk we found a huge group of Bananas... I love Bananas and OMG! They are amazing!
In searching for that Scorpion, we are finding that the Midway could be a very bright and colorful place! But then again... The State Fair has so much lighting that everything is amazing at night!
On our Search for that Scorpion we find ourselves in the Art Building looking at amazing things.... No food stands selling Scorpion but there is some amazing art!
I Hate the DC Superheroes but I will say that this piece of art was very nice.... I will give it a pass!
This painting was just pretty... Not to mention its of our native animal to Arizona... The Gila Monster! Maybe not the Scorpion we were looking for but still kinda awesome as a painting!
The Male peacock is so pretty and it just walks around like a diva because it knows that it is! I may not like birds but I admire the peacock for being either a metro or gay bird that can sway itself down the runway like a drag queen diva and show everyone its pretty feathers because it knows it can! And for that, we salute the peacock!
Coming out of the art exhibit in the collisseum basement we continue looking for that scorpion!
But then again the 3 of us amigos need a rest and we find a bench to rest on! Divas like us need to rest our weary feet and then again we just didnt want to walk all the way to a footsie wootsie so we found a bench!
I have an idea... Lets continue looking for those bizarre foods!
But first Charlie must pretend to be the Pink haired Cotton Candy lady... Yes our fair apparently has a mascot and its this lady with pink hair made out of cotton candy that dresses in awesome 50's clothing... how awesome is that? Although I didnt know she would have Charlies face!
In the attempt of a sidequest in trying to find that BBQ Lizard on a skewer... it seemed this item was Missing in Action because I looked on all these BBQ's and all I found were turkey legs!
Maybe I should give up the hunt for that scorpion and find myself a bail out offer as a last resort... but at $9 for a bailout... I have to bring it upon myself to look a little harder!
Maybe those Ghost Pirates can tell me... I mean, we found the poor mans Haunted Mansion and now apparently we found the poor mans Pirates of the Carribbean, again minus the berm and Jack Sparrow!
I know... I will just ride on some SPEED! In place of those bizarre foods... Although I will second think that at how expensive and how crowded the line was to ride it!
The Hunt is on... Will TAMAsurvivor find the prized scorpion appetizer he was searching for or will he be puzzled and confused with the constant walking and scouring along the booths at the fair?
Part 2 will be posted after but I have to find a way to break up the photos and posts on this topic...
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