Miles from home: 376

Aug. 14th-18th

After a glorious Wisconsin State Fair we set out to see what our neighbor to the Southwest has to offer. The Iowa State Fair has a reputation of being one of the highest attended fairs in the United States, and we found out why real fast. The fairgrounds are immaculate! Many of the buildings are brand new. The streets are kept clean by many hard-working people. As we arrive the pride of Iowans shows through in everything. And this time around Palermo's Pizza has something to offer.

Fairgoers arrive to the sight of one of the greatest phrases ever...FREE PIZZA! For twelve straight hours we give away Palermo's Primo Thin Crust pizzas. Many people try the Grilled Chicken Caesar for the first time and are blown away by the amazing flavor. I think we just made a few more customers. Not only is the Caesar a hit, many fair-goers are claiming that the Breakfast Pizza is one of the greatest foods ever created!

'People watching' at the fair is always the most enjoyable pastime, and it's cheap too! When a child is on a leash dragging their mom to the free pizza stand, it makes you wonder, who's in charge? Friday night rolls around and we are blown away by what we heard from a fair-going-sampler, "Do y'all like Head East? Cuz they're playing right behind you." We respond with a collective "YES!" Head East went on to play the same play list they have been playing for the past 40 years. One of the greatest songs of classic rock "Never Been Any Reason" echoes through the night as we pack up the trailer. But wait, do you hear that? Is that...yes it is a KEYTAR!!! It is not every day that you can listen to a jam session like that!

As we stroll around we get our fill of other free samples: ice cream bars, ice cream cones, salsa, BBQ, and the best of all tender, delicious pork! The Iowa State Fair is the largest platform for Palermo's Pizza exposure. After all is said and done, we sampled 20,352 slices of pizza. That is almost more than we have sampled the entire summer!!!

We have had the next weekend circled on our calendar since our first trip to Kansas City. While we return to the great Midwest metropolis we look forward to visiting many grocery store friends and of course eating everything we possibly can covered with delicious barbeque sauce.