The Big E

"I just need to sit. And maybe have a cup of coffee. And definitely one of those big turkey legs." Richard had declared right around the time we were starting to feel our stomach capacity reaching its limit. So we sat at a picnic table in the middle of the chaos that is the Big E. Not unlike any other state fair, the Big E is known for it's excessively indulgent food (i.e. deep fried everything) and it had taken me almost three years to make it work in our schedules to attend. I had grown up going to the Big E nearly every fall, gorging myself on Maine Baked Potatoes, mini maple cream cones and washing it all down with cool, spicy cup of cider. It was just tradition and I was excited to introduce my husband to the rituals. Fortunately for us, we had a picture perfect fall day to go.

Now, I'm about to show you a disgusting amount of pictures of food. I just fell like I want to prepare you for it. Though, in our defense, because I feel I at least owe you that, we only took a few bites of each item (except when it came to the apple pie, that baby got devoured..). And now for the recap of our day in pictures...ready? Here we go!

The day started out like all days at a state fair should, with a good piece of apple pie and a thick slab of Cheddar draped over it. The salty - sweet - tart combo made this my favorite bite of the day.

We then added a cider donut to the mix, because why not, right?

We stopped in all of the State Houses.. 

Said hi to this guy in the Maine building..

Then we hung out with some bees for a bit

One of us couldn't resist the giant, overstuffed Quahog from the Rhode Island building and splashed some hot sauce on top before digging in

Right around now is when someone got bored with all the photos and hand modeling

But then we watched maple cream being made in the Massachusetts building and all was right in the world

..and felt we had to try a cone. Sticky and teeth achingly sweet, it was exactly what I remembered it to be

Once we finished up at the State Houses, we walked around the rest of the fair, taking it all in

So many ways to caption this photo...and no, we did not go in

But after all that walking around, we started to get a tickle of hunger again and ordered up an Arepa

Oh, and got a Chicherrone the size of my arm

Then, we saw that White Hut was serving up Waffle Burgers. We obviously couldn't pass that up, now could we?

So we split one...two griddled patties with American cheese and bacon, sandwiched between two waffles

Ladies and Gentleman, my first waffle burger

At this point we were stuffed but couldn't help but notice some of the other offerings

Right around here, we stopped to take a breather and just before we were ready to throw in the towel, we knew we needed one last thing....

A massive smoked Turkey Leg!

We arrived at the Big E like little kids, excited to indulge in some good 'ol Americana fair food. We left exhausted, full and with a desperate need for a salad and a long run..