Pam and I just returned from the Van Wert County Fair, just across the Ohio line. We’ve gone every year of our married life, plus 1-2 years before that. So at least 21 years now. I guess you could call that a tradition.

Usually, we meet up with family there. My brother and his kids go, and so do my parents. But tonight, it was just Pam and me.

What we do at the fair is eat. That’s the whole purpose.

Started at Rager’s, as we always do Pam got their ham sandwich, I got the bologna. They also have a great sausage sandwich, which is what I got last year. Three winning sandwiches. They didn’t have the bologna sandwich last year, but brought it back by popular demand. It’s really excellent.

Next we had a funnel cake. Then, after walking around for a while–to the animal barns, past the old restored tractors, down through the game booths, through the commercial building–we each got a cone of cherry ice cream.

Every fair is known for something, food-wise. In Huntington, where I work, people go for the milkshakes made by the local milk producer. I’ve never had one, but people rave about them. At the Van Wert fair, it’s Rager’s sandwiches, and the cherry ice cream. Mom says the cherry ice cream stand was there when she was a kid, in exactly the same place you find it today.

We considered getting some Fiske Fries, which are delicious. But we’ve become diet conscious, and decided those fries were no doubt infested with calories. So instead, we opted for a second funnel cake. I’m sure that makes sense according to some twisted Vulcan logic. We added a lemon shake-up to make the evening complete.

Then it was time to leave. As per tradition, I bought a bag of cinnamon toasted almonds on the way out, and Pam bought a big bag of cotton candy.

How many calories will this cost us? That is yet to be determined.