We picked the hottest day of the season to venture to 38th and Fall Creek to check out this year’s Indiana State Fair. THE hottest day! But my daughter and I were dead set on elephant ears, corn and watching little pigs run around. My wife was determined not to eat anything this year!

First stop, the corn booth where fresh roasted ears of corn dripped with the sweetest of butter. A bottle of water and the shade of a tree made it a feast to be enjoyed. The wife eyed us as we slurped and devoured the ear. But wait, we didn’t get it all and that is when the “I am not eating anything this year” promise ended. Two ears, three people, we were happy. Not full, but happy.

As we walked along the fairgrounds we passed the Indiana Beef tent with its large grills sizzling with rib-eye steaks for sandwiches. Though the aroma was to die for, the heat from the exhaust fan was too much and we moved on. Across the sidewalk was the Indiana Pork tent. If you are only going to eat pork chops once a year, eat them at the State Fair or the Tipton Pork Festival. Both groups know how to grill a chop with just the right amount of seasoning. I wish mine could be as tender.

The problem with the pork tent at the State Fair is it is too popular, with long lines, and, did I mention it was hot out, so another delectable experience passed by.

Alas nearby another pork delicacy, “Pigs in the Mud”! Let’s just say I love bacon. Until this day, I didn’t think I could ever turn down bacon. “Pigs in the Mud” is bacon dipped in chocolate and though the saying is “everything goes with chocolate,” I was not brave enough to find out. The wife and daughter declined the offer too.

After visiting with every farm animal known to man and sitting through some cow judging, we could hear the elephant ears calling. They did not disappoint. Light and fluffy and topped with powdered sugar. Right out of the vat, we risked burns to the fingers as we pulled apart the most famous of fair food. The one who wasn’t going to eat at the fair ate half the ear! We washed the pastry down with the infamous lemon shake up which after consuming that much sugar, gave me the shakes!

We looked down the row of fair food delights, tenderloins, turkey legs, Italian Sausage, funnel cakes, corn dogs and snow cones. So many choices, so little time. In the end, though, we let the heat, combined with the idea that I truly am trying to lose weight, decide for us as we begrudgingly left behind the cornucopia of carnival cuisine.

Ah to be twenty pounds lighter, that salt water taffy would be mine.