One deep fried Twinkie, hold the virus.

[kickaha]

gingko and I went to the NC State Fair this evening for the first time in a few years. We spent most of our time in the animal barns - really the only reason I like going to deal with the parking and crowds. I grew up in a rural area, and the FFA in my high school was by *far* the largest club - about 30% of the school was part of it. My cousin raised show horses, and most of my friends raised cows, chickens, pigs, sheep or goats, or their family were Nth generation farmers of one sort or another. I really kind of miss it. There's something really clean about the muck, if that makes any sense. (The two prissy teenaged girls holding their noses in the *rabbit* barn alternately amused and disgusted me on some level. I'll bet you whatever you care to wager they're not vegan, yet have no idea where meat comes from, nor do they care.)

It's interesting to people watch too - there are two distinct demographics at the state fair: inside the barns, and outside. Inside, the folks tend to be quiet, dedicated, and focussed. Both the participants and attendees are there because they like the animals, and appreciate the work and details of it all. The final judging of the Junior class for dairy that we got to see, for example, was *silent*, except for a few people at the far edges. It was all business.

Outside? NASCAR fans meet inner city youth. ie, chaos. Cram your gullet with fried everything, pose and preen, and assert your place in the crowd however you can. Can you tell which I prefer? Don't get me wrong, I like the midway, I love rides that make most people green, and I've been known to chow down on more than a reasonable amount of fair food in my life, but if I had to choose one, it'd be the barns, by a landslide.

That being said, we had a ball walking around and just watching the carnies hawk, and how the games were rigged. A funnel cake was consumed, some fresh pressed hot cider was downed, and then we decided that darnit, we were going to go for the gold: a deep fried Twinkie.

I'd heard about this, um, delicacy, a few years ago, but have never tried one. Could we find one? Heck no. Deep fried Snickers, yup. Even deep fried pickles. (*shudder*) But the elusive mythical Twinkie? Not so much.

Finally we found the one stand in the entire fair selling the silly things, so we got in line.

Behind someone apparently ordering for half the state.

About 10 minutes later, we're finally next in line, and, being curious little monkeys, we're watching the folks in the booth, seeing if we can get a glimpse of what they're doing.

The lady working the window we were at was nice enough, and chatted with the folks in line in front of us, as she had the folks before, but I noticed that she had a massive cold sore on her lip. Hmm. Okay, no problem. It's not like she licking the food, after all.

While we're standing there, she hands a funnel cake over to a customer, and then proceeds to lick. her. fingers. And then suck on them. And then hold them in her mouth.

I glanced at gingko, she looked at me, and we silently bailed. The deep fried Twinkie will remain a mystery for a while longer.

(Apologies to all who may have already gone to the fair and enjoyed the, um, service of this matron of the carn. I'm sure your tests will come back negative.)