Due to Covid-19, state and county fairs have been canceled this year. The Oregon State Fair is trying to keep some excitement going with contests and memory submissions on-line, but there is still a reason to drive out to the fairgrounds in Salem:
You can still get your fill of fair food, every weekend through Labor Day, on the corner of Silverton and 17th.
To keep things running smoothly and safely, the traffic is drive-through and one-way. Look for the arrows.
At the first stop there are photo menus on either side. Masked attendants will take your order and payment, and give you two receipts: one for your records, and one for the next stop where your order was filled.
The Willamette Week article only promised corn dogs, lemonade, cotton candy, and elephant ears. I was hoping for turkey legs and funnel cake. Yes to those, along with - that day - fried cheesecake, curly fries, candy apples, and chicken strips (so your picky eaters will be okay).
The foot-long corn dogs were impressive, but I did not think they were great.
Cotton candy bags were huge, and a good value. The food is sold at fair prices, but you do not have to pay for parking and admission, nor walk across a dusty lot to get there. There was hardly any waiting. It works out.
One tricky thing about deep fried foods is they come out really hot, making a small wait helpful, but wait too long and they lose some of their unhealthy goodness. Some people do find a parking spot nearby. A 10 or 15 minute drive might be ideal, though I cannot recommend any good stopping places in that range. It's just something to think about.
The elephant ear probably fared the worst, getting bent in the bag. It didn't turn gross, but it probably would have been better if we did not wait until we got home. The real star was the fried cheesecake.
That surprised me, as I do not see the point in deep-fried Oreos, Twinkies, or candy bars. I guess if you throw enough sweet things into the deep fryer, some of them are bound to work out.
Mainly, it's just nice that there are still some ways to grab summer fun, even in the age of Coronavirus. It's really not that long until Labor Day, so shake a leg!
https://oregonstatefair.org/taste-of-a-fair/
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