Opinion : The Iowa State Fair: Why we go

When it's time to confess your most serious flaws, you need to find someone who's been in your shoes, someone who can relate to how you feel, and why you have done what you did.

I did that recently, choosing to share something I had never admitted to anyone before. I confided into a former colleague and close friend.

"I am 45 years old and I have lived in Iowa my whole entire life, but I have never been to the Iowa State Fair."

The response: "Me neither."

Thanks to the Iowa (and Benton County) Farm Bureau organizations, I can now say I have been to the Iowa State Fair. I can even tell you how to get there.

After we finished our work with the Cookoff contest, the girls and I spent the day wandering around the fairgrounds, seeing a few shoes, riding a few rides and eating ridiculously unhealthy things attached to sticks.

(Hint: Do not wear new shoes to the Iowa State Fair. I knew this before I went, and placed a pair of old shoes beside the door, where they remained all day. I forgot them. My feet are still protesting.)

Throughout the day, as I saw, felt and tasted the State Fair experience, I asked myself: "What's the big deal? Why does an audience nearly as big as one-third the entire population of Iowa get in a car, ride for two hours or so, and then spend a day walking on feet that feel like they should be in a novel about bizarre Chinese podiatry customs?"

For some, it's the Butter Cow. People lined up to get a front-row view of the 2011 butter cow, as well as the replica of the original 1911 cow made by the late Norma Duffy.

For others, its about their chance to compete with other Iowans in the same categories in which they competed at the county fair: Livestock. Flowers. Vegetables.

For others, the rides on the Midway are the reason to go to the State Fair.

I haven't been to any kind of amusement park for decades, although I have missed riding roller coasters. However, I do not belong on any ride that spins in circles; even those slow-moving teacups that spin have devastating consequences. So, I just watched as one kid rode a thing called the Mouse Trap, which was sort of hybrid between a roller coaster and Tilt-A-Whirl.

For others, I observed, the State Fair is a place for drinking. Most of the beer pavillions seemed to be nearly full by 6 p.m. While we saw many law enforcement officers throughout the day, they seemed to have no problems, as in previous years. I assumed their job would become more challenging as the night progressed and the contigent of State Fairgoers with more tattoos than teeth had a few too many. But by the time we had left, the only officers we had seen running were the team of Iowa State Patrol Troopers who were competing in the Outhouse Races.

But what about the others State Fair-goers? Of the nearly one million who walk through the gates each August, what brings them there?

I think the answer came to me in two separate incidents.

First, the novelty.

I stood on a city street, just off of where Grand Avenue (one of Des Moines' most significant stretch of concrete) begins. I was eating "cheese on a stick" and watching Bandaloni, the One Man Band, trying to play heavy metal music with a guitar in his hands and cymbals mounted over his head.

That is not something you see every day.

Sometimes, you can see at the State Fair something people have seen (or will soon see on TV) all over the U.S. on TV. In 2007, America's Got Talent chose the Dutton family as one of its top 10 finalists. That family had already been on TV in Iowa, where IPTV played clips from their shows from earlier State Fairs.

This year, entertainers include the Fearless Flores family, which was on that same TV show in a motorcycle act performed by two children. At the State Fair, however, the Flores shows feature the adults in acrobatic routines (but no motorcycles).

I saw the Flores show listed on the schedule of the guide that the gatekeepers handed me, and we began walking across the Fairgrounds to the far corner, where the family had set up their equipment. We paused for a few moments to watch the Outhouse Races (hint for future participants: those made from metal, not wood, are lighter, and thus faster and easier to steer). We walked past the alligator tank and found the Flores children entertaining the audience with a pre-show yo-yo act. Piers Morgan would have "Xed" them if that had happened on the tv show; they dropped them too many times. But the acrobatic routine performed by their parents and another couple were worth the walk.

We stopped after that show at the Ford booth, where you could sign up to win $30,000 as well as play some unique games and see the newest Ford cars and trucks. We had to pry Abby out of the Mustang before heading to the National Guard tent, where many children found the military vehicles to be more fascinating than their civilian counterparts. Then we stopped briefly at the alligator show, which had such a large crowd that I could only photograph it by holding my camera high over my head.

And speaking of novelty acts, you can also see politicians before they drop out of the presidential race. This year, it was former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty. He had already been to the Iowa State Fair, and dropped out of the race, before the fair was over.

The other reason for going to the state fair did not occur to me until I was leaving. A dad and a young girl, maybe three years old, were walking in, with the girl on her father's shoulders. The girl looked around at all of the big machines and the bright lights with a look of wonder on her face.

That, I realized, is why a million people visit the Iowa State Fair every year. The wonder, excitement, the chance to celebrate what is best (or at least, what is unique) about Iowa. You can watch, ride, do and even eat things that you would not be able to do anywhere else.

The State Fair is, surprisingly affordable, even for cheapskates. Admission is $10; the rides are about $5 (although the really huge, fast rides cost up to $25). You can get just about anything you imagine cooked on a stick for $6 or less. (It helps if Farm Bureau pays part of your way; they gave us two tickets and two food booth coupons as part of Lydia's reward for winning the county fair youth cookoff category.)

Already, the girls are planning to attend the 2012 State Fair. Leah wants to try the friend chocolate products again. Lydia is thinking about next year's menu for the Cookoff. They both hope to win the large stuffed pink flamingo they almost won in the ring toss. Abby wants to sit in more rides, and more Mustangs. Me, I am looking forward to how good it will to be at the State Fair in comfortable shoes.