Today at 3pm the doors open for the N.C. State Fair’s preday. It also stands as the last day to get drastically discounted advance tickets for admission and rides (Ride tickets are 56-cents each in advance, and go up to $1 once the fair opens.). The fair also features nightly concerts which require a modestly priced special ticket to get in. (Casting Crowns and Chris Tomlin are sold out, but tickets are still available for Danny Gokey, the Carolina Chocolate Drops, Darius Rucker, and six others.

Food

While the State Fair is not my favorite food event of the year, there are several items to which I am look forward, including Cary Methodist Church brunswick stew and ham biscuits, Al’s French Fries, and N.C. State ice cream. The big new items people are talking about are Krispy Kreme hamburgers, Deep-fried Chips Ahoy, Deep-fried Honey Buns, and Kool Aid pickles. All of these are available at Murphy House Concessions next to the grandstand and the 1815 Grille. A complete list of new foods is available. These freak-show foods aren’t what really excite me, though. I’d rather find some neat marinated meats cooked in a pit or over coals. I’ve always wanted to run either a kebab truck, a pizza in a cup truck, or a soup truck, (but it will never happen). Nevertheless, I am looking forward to Deep Fried Bacon & Cheese Mashed Potatoes Bites, Café Du Monde Beignets, AND Crawfish Etoufee. All three will apparently be between the Grandastand Entrance, and the Grandstand Restrooms.

In your search for food, the new Food Finder at the State Fair’s website looks like a good resource.

Navigation

I’ll be heading out there on Monday, sending Twitter updates as I go, using the hashtag #ncstatefair. Feel free to comment on your great finds here, and be as specific as you can about the location. For too many years people have said that some neat attraction was “near a sign that says pizza” or “near Dorton Arena”. Because these vague directions only leave me frustrated, I wrote the fair a month ago asking for a signage system.

To me the easiest solution would be to name the four or five zones of the fairgrounds and assign them colors. Take a look at these three maps:

• http://www.ncstatefair.org/2010/General/GetToFair.htm?tab=2#TabbedPanels1
• http://www.1clickhotels.com/kings_dominion/2006_park_map.htm
• http://www.moviedisney.com/images/maps/mk-map.jpg

Notice how the theme parks have assigned names and colors to their regions. The fairgrounds definitely has at least five regions:

1. the old midway, expo building, Graham building
2. the kiddieland midway and old expo buildings
3. the area next to the Scott Building extending back to the pig raceway
4. the new midway
5. The Village of Yesteryear, the flower show, lake, grist mill, etc.

Each of these areas could be named after a part of the state or a piece of our history. Zone names could be something like: Piedmont, Appalachian, Coastal, Banks, Croatan, Dare, etc. Then do what Disney did: assign colors to those zones on the maps, and put up signs at the
entrance/exits of these zones.

Now, to keenly address the original problem: put up signs on the existing light poles with numbers, perhaps, so that people can say "The best corn dog at the fair is BETWEEN lightpoles 12 and 7, in the Piedmont area", or "between lightpole 9 and Gate 6 in the Mountain area". That way people have pinpoint markers to plot where they are. Meet me at lightpole #12 at 3pm…. Of course, the numbers should be mounted high enough to be seen for a couple of Fair blocks and should match the color of that zone on the map.

Eventually formal gateways could be added to signify the entrances to certain zones, but for now, colors on the lightpoles would suffice. Poles with numbers could also be mounted on the corners of some buildings, light the restaurant row, for added distinction.

Rides

The new big ride Powers Great American Midways is bringing to the fair is The Fighter (Midway near Gate 10). Only two of these rides exist on the planet, and I will admire from afar. They will also be bringing new children’s rides Ships Ahoy (Kiddieland), the Monster Trucks (Scott Building Midway). Many impressive old favorites will return including Vertigo , the RC-48 roller coaster (the largest traveling coaster in the world). the Vortex , the S uper Shot, the Claw , the Mind Blaster , the Zipper , and many more.

A full, but tentative, list of rides is posted at the State Fair’s website. The list includes the number of tickets needed and the ride’s general location, too.

Transportation

The best times to go to the fair are Monday and Tuesday, and it isn’t even close. The crowds are very manageable, parking is better, and the ride times are decidedly longer. As far as parking goes, We have found success parking in the weekday afternoons on Beryl Road (access from the Waffle House on Hillsborough St.), but the Carter-Finley lot is a sure bet and has a dramatic entrance.

In order to get by with the least amount of walking, however, ride the CAT bus. Routes run from downtown, the Raleigh Trader Joe’s area, WakeMed Soccer Park, RTP, downtown Durham, Garner, and Chapel Hill. Fare is $4 round trip, and the bus stop at the fairgrounds is at Gate #1 (at the edge of the Education Building).

Maps

Several maps exist of the fairgrounds:

• Fair Website
• PDF
• JPG

Schedule

I am not able to provide a Google Calendar for all of the events going on at the fair this year, but the fair has printed an excellent booklet with the schedule included, and they are available at all of the entrances to the fairgrounds. That same schedule, however, is available online in html format , PDF format , and via the mobile platform apps.

Apps

While the NC State Fair has done a wonderful job with their website, they have also done an admirable job reaching out to new platforms with mobile apps which include event schedules, maps, news, and more:

• iOS – The app for iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad is available thru iTunes. It only requires iOS3.0 and up.
• Android – Available in the Android Market . The app is also available by scanning this QR code: