Today was the opening of the Texas State Fair.
I've never gone on opening day before, but I think it was a good choice. As a friend said, the workers AND the grease were fresh!
The special new food "treats" this year included:
Fried Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Fried Banana Splits
Chocolate Covered Straberry Waffle Balls
Deep Fried S'mores
Fire and Ice (deep fried pineapple ice cream)
Fried Chocolate Truffles
Chicken Fried Bacon
Texas Fried Jelly Belly Beans
There was also deep fried alligator.
I skipped ALL of those, but DID have a genuine 
I thought there would be sheep judging because the on-line schedule said "light, medium and heavy wool" judging under "livestock." We were fooled. No sheep, but LOTS of Llamas.
Black, white, brown, tan, appaloosa, saddlebacked, tri-colored. I couldn't quite tell what made a Blue Ribbon Llama, but watching how the handlers and Llamas worked with each other was enchanting.
We also walked through the Goat Barn. I haven't studied lots of goat species... but we saw Nubian goats (the ones with the long ears) and LaMancha goats which came with either Gopher ears (which looked to me like NO EARS AT ALL) or Elf ears (which are teensy little elfin ears). Very nice FFA girl who explained these distinctions to this city girl.
There was a sign by one group of pens that said: "Gay Bottoms." At first I thought that was the name of a breed, since other signs had said Nubian, or "Dairy" etc. Can't make that stuff up. Should have known that was the name of a successful goat breeder, Linda Gay Bottoms. I must have a dirty mind... or still have been thinking of sheep.
There were plenty of concerts, shows and events that we missed, but it was a beautiful day, everyone was happy and friendly, and I walked farther in one day than I have in years.
The Fair is Open until October 19.
See all the photos at Flickr by clicking on Big Tex.
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