Letters from L’ville: A Deep-Fried Fair

The Kentucky State Fair, now through Sunday, Aug. 28.

As we mentioned here last week, I’m exploring some new opportunities in beautiful Louisville, Paducah’s pretty little neighbor to the east. It’s an amazing events town. Concerts, festivals, fundraisers – all the arts are here – and folks are as friendly as I’ve grown accustomed to in The South.

So every now and then, I’ll offer up a great Louisville find for our iList Paducah readers. My hope: that you’ll want to come check it out. And take me to dinner. Or drinks. Or both. It’s a great food and libations town, too.

So let’s begin with Find No. 1: The Kentucky State Fair.

This incredibly huge gathering of all things fair-like is going on now through Sunday, Aug. 28, at the incredibly huge, 400-acre Expo Center. Rarely will you ever see so much of so much.

I can’t begin to describe all the vendors – they go on for, well, 400 acres. But I can tell you about the wacky fried food for which the fair is best known. Last year, it was the Krispy Kreme burger – so popular it was that it’s making a repeat performance this year:

Krispy Kreme Chicken Burger. Or, in French, Poulet du Krispy Kreme. But then they’d hate us even more.

The new signature dishes for this year are the deep-fried Kool Aide and the deep-fried Derby Pie:

Deep-Fried Kool Aide. With Cherry Dust. And probably a sprinkle of meth.

Funnel cake batter is the not-so-secret ingredient in both confections, along with, I suspect, meth. I didn’t try ‘em, but I totally admire the creativity. I’m thinking deep-fried cicadas should be next.

The fair music is great, kicking off last Thursday with Ted Nugent (I celebrity sighted his darling singer/guitarist Derek St. Holmes at Proof earlier that day). Def Leppard and Heart have played, as has Lady Antebellum.

Up Sunday, Aug. 28: Maroon 5 and Train. Hey, Soul Sister!

The highlight of my day at the fair, though, was meeting yet another celebrity, Patrick Henry Hughes. That’s him below, with my BFF Leigh Anne Preston and her kiddos Kylie and Molly.

Leigh Anne meets international inspirational celebrity Patrick Henry Hughes.

You know Patrick as the U of Louisville trumpet player whose dad, the fella in brown – pushed his wheelchair as part of the Cardinals marching band. I remember my own dad sending me this amazing YouTube video several years ago. It still makes me teary to watch.

Patrick was born without eyes and without the ability to fully straighten his arms and legs, making him unable to walk. He graduated from U of L magna cum laude with a Spanish degree and is now an author and much internationally sought-after public speaker. Patrick is cute, cute, cute, no doubt about it, and it was a great thrill and honor to meet him.

So there you have it. The Kentucky State Fair.

Good things are never totally easy, however. So be prepared for long parking lot lines, excessive heat and an extreme overplay of the shorts and calf-high cowboy boot fashion trend among women of all ages. I so dislike this look – It doesn’t make sense! It’s summer! Boots are WINTER! – that I couldn’t even bear to document it. But go to the fair and you’ll get an eyeful. Evidently, it’s the official dress code.

Visit kystatefair.org for more details!