Our theme for the month of October is “states.”
Nothing makes you more proud to be an North Carolinian than the State Fair. Or so I’m told.
I was on a call the other day—a meeting with my fellow Carrboro Film Fest folks. We are all on staff of this film fest that’s theme is ‘New Southern Film.’ The folks on this call are all deeply interested in what it means to be southern, both interrogating and celebrating southern culture. So it’s safe to say this is a group that cares deeply about North Carolina culture, and would be a great group to pull inspiration from for this post.
Someone brought up the State Fair.
There is nothing that unites folks across all walks of life like eating a bunch of insane fried food, seeing a cucumber the size of a small child, or watching what is surely to be an unsupervised and unregulated fireworks display. People in the triangle love the State Fair. It might be forty dollars for parking, but that does not deter the dedicated North Carolina natives. Traffic is sure to be a nightmare as well.
This was the topic of our discussion for roughly thirty minutes on our call.
In hopes of being more of a North Carolinian and participating in collective joy—here are all the things I ate at the state fair:
Turkey Leg: We started strong—with a big ole turkey leg™️. My friends and I went in with healthy expectations and ravenous hunger. It had a tough exterior but tender meat. Solid start. 8/10 average.
Fries: These were fine, but I wanted crunch. We added malt vinegar, which tasted great but turned them soggy. And honestly, is there anything worse than soggy fries? 6/10.
Steak Tips & Mashed Potatoes: The sleeper hit of the day. The peppers and onions melted in our mouths, but the mushrooms and au jus were the real stars. We seriously considered going back for seconds. 9/10.
Korean Corn Dogs: A little disappointing. They’ve been overhyped on TikTok. That said, the new CinniDog—a deep-fried mozzarella stick topped with crushed Cap’n Crunch—deserves a nod. The regular corn dog was fine, but I think I didn’t load up enough sauce. 6/10.
Cowgirl Bites: A polarizing pick. Deep-fried pimento cheese bites stuffed with pulled pork and drizzled in BBQ sauce. Some of us loved them; some of us wanted more sauce and crunch. 6/10.
Blue Goo Ice Cream: The BIGGEST letdown of the day. The soft serve tasted like frosting from a grocery store cake—the kind of sugar that hurts your teeth. 0/10 all around.
Elote Street Corn: We tried both the cup and the cob. Great spice level, generous cheese. I think the cup had my vote. 9/10.
Dole Whip: Hands down the best thing we ate. There was a smoothie-and-dole-whip stand serving whole pineapples filled with the stuff. A tropical masterpiece. 10/10.
Swordfish Pop: Melt-in-your-mouth, buttery, Cajun goodness. I always have a healthy fear of fish cooked in a truck, but this was a revelation. 10/10.
Soft Pretzel & Fresh Donut: From the same truck, both a little overhyped. Fine, but forgettable. 6/10.
Dole Whip x2: The encore performance. Still a 9/10, but I docked a point for the way my stomach felt afterward—like that scene from The Substance.
From the fireworks lighting our path as we walked out to desperately trying not to fall asleep in the car afterwards, the fair was a triumph. Our food journey is a testament to the human spirit of truly eating as much as humanly possible. We went in with a plan, executed, and prevailed. I highly recommend it.
Izzy Nunez graduated from Calvin in 2022 after studying graphic design and sociology. Today she lives in Durham, North Carolina where she is a graphic designer for Duke University. She is growing to love Durham and all its southern charm even if she complains that its breakfast choices aren’t as good as they are in the Grand Rapids.
