Drunk, Sober, High: N.C. State Fair edition

We cover people, places and things that are important to UNC students, and the North Carolina State Fair is a key field trip to make at least once in your UNC career. From food to fun to dates to things you didn't know about the N.C. State Fair, check out the fair from all angles. 

This past weekend, I went to the North Carolina State Fair. Some people from the group I was going with were planning on pregaming before we headed over, but since I’d gone out the night before, I volunteered to sit this one out. Plus, I was already planning on getting sick from overindulging on all of the fried deliciousness the fair had to offer, so why throw alcohol into the mix?

But sometimes, duty calls. Just like Batman has the Bat Signal, Swerve reporters have emails from editors saying they need volunteers to go to the State Fair drunk, sober or high.

Unfortunately, sober was already taken. Naturally, I chose to get ~turnt~ in the name of journalism. 

Warning: Results may vary.

Upon stumbling onto the fairgrounds, I was flooded with the sweet, sweet aroma of all of the deep-fried delicacies. I don’t know if this was a drunk thing or just a fair thing, but somehow they had found a way to fry every food known to man. Either way, I wasn’t complaining.

Six fried Oreos, a funnel cake and a billion dollars later, I wasn’t feeling too hot. Again, not sure if that was a drunk thing or a fair thing. Most likely a combination of the two.

Anyways, after a 30-minute wait in line and a few loops around the giant swings, it wasn’t looking too hot for ya boy. Luckily, that feeling in my stomach of shame and fried food kept me from spending any more of my money on the ridiculously priced food, games and rides.

Long story short, the fair is definitely a spectacle better attended sober. Or maybe high, who knows?

Sober

I haven’t been to the State Fair in a decade because my family is morally opposed to deep-fried Oreos. You’d think they’d get off their high horse made of kale and raisins one of these days, but so far I've had no luck.

So, I haven’t been to the fair in a while. Many #ragrets. But when my friends asked me to go Friday night, I was super excited.

We started off by meandering through some of the less popular tents, and by that, I mean we went directly to the poultry tent. If there’s one thing the fair is good for, it’s figuring out what the heck an award-winning duck looks like. (For the record, it looks like a slightly cleaner version of a regular duck.)

We then went searching for fried food. I use the term “searching” loosely, because it was really more like the fried food was thrust upon us. I had a lot of lost time to make up for, so we tried everything from deep-fried Oreos to fried mac and cheese. My personal favorite was the funnel cake, but I’ll eat just about anything covered in powdered sugar.

The highlight of the fair was definitely the Ferris wheel — or, more specifically, the hour we spent waiting in line to ride the Ferris wheel. We were directly behind a group of middle schoolers and they were dramatic. The kind of drama that accompanies a 7th grade group date. You get the picture.

Overall, a magical evening full of ducks and Trump/Pence buttons.

High

Editor's note: We couldn't find anyone to go to the State Fair high. That's probably because it sounds absolutely horrible. If there's anywhere you don't want to be high, it's the State Fair. 

swerve@dailytarheel.com