We were all hungry. It was 5:30, Robby had finished a swim meet that afternoon - ending in the 500 yard freestyle. Just thinking about swimming 500 yards of freestyle makes me hungry. And tired. And cranky. Robby was only hungry and tired. I had timed all afternoon and Arnie and Katie had counted laps for Robby, so we were all ready to eat. We let our noses lead us to the food tents. These booths are just like the ones at any fair. You can really get anything you want. We took the time to walk the length of the row and see our choices. After walking to the last booth, reading the menu, and taking a deep breath, we let our impulses take over.
Arnie kept trying to be sane and rational. He said, "Let's just have everyone pick a little something to try, then we'll pick a real restaurant, and sit down to eat." Nice try, buddy.
Our impulses, egged on by Arnie's "pick a little something", started with dessert. Robby ordered a root beer shave ice from a booth decorated in, of course, a Hawaiian theme. Katie and Arnie bought a cinnamon sugar elephant ear from a standard looking white fair food trailer. Impressively, the elephant ear was made out of wheat dough. It was excellent. The cinnamon and sugar melted into the butter and made a delicious frosting. I purchased a deep fried snickers bar from the next white trailer with a small window and a young boy working it. He must have called me "m'am" three times. Jeez. Rub it in, child. But worth the humiliation, that snickers. Warm, doughy, melty, chocolate-y. Fortunately, Robby helped me eat it.
So, that was supposed to be it. Our "pick a little something" that we wanted to try. We started walking again. The wrong direction, which no one pointed out. We sauntered back down the row of food trailers, walking away from the parking lot in which our car waited. As we approached "Uncle Jim's Fry Shack", Arnie's strategy suddenly changed.
"Okay," he said. "Here's what we do. We'll order a couple more interesting things to try. Then, we'll drive home and you can make us a salad to help us digest all this greasy grub." Hmmm. No one objected.
Arnie ordered Uncle Jim's garlic fries. While we waited for those, I watched the next booth, "Road Kill Cafe", grill up vegetables on a flat grill. Mesmerizing and tantalizing. I heard someone, maybe Uncle Jim, call Arnie's name. He was back over by the V8s, so I walked over to get the fries. They were smothered in warm and fresh garlic. The fry oil was already seeping around the edges of the plastic plate they came on. The fries had the skins still on. Oh my. None of us could move. We stood in a ridiculous little circle in the pathway, snacking on the fries together. As we reached the bottom of the massive pile, Katie claimed fullness and went to find a seat. I pulled Arnie over to "Road Kill Cafe" where we ordered a "Rather Large Sausage on a Pita." It was rather large. It had two sausages, all those lovely vegetables, and some kind of outback barbecue sauce poured on it. Not the easiest thing to eat. Again we stood there; but this time just the three of us, dropping carrot and zucchini pieces as we ate this delicious pita.
"Enough," Arnie claimed and we began walking again, this time in the right direction. Katie started laughing and pointing at my feet, so we all stopped to look. I had a carrot piece stuck on my toe! Yuck. And funny. While I was wiping on my toe and my flip flop, I lost track of Arnie.
"Where's Dad?" I asked Katie. She pointed. He and Robby were at the Hawaiian Luau booth. Another very pretty lotus flower booth. They ordered a sweet and sour chicken skewer. It was giant. Yes, the man who kept telling us "just a little something". The skewer was delicious. Even stuffed Katie tried it and liked it enough to have a second bite. What a great evening! And, obviously, I didn't make salad when we got home. We can't wait for the county fair. This time, I'll take my camera.
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