A last bite at the 2010 Missouri State Fair

Yesterday was the final day of the 2010 Missouri State Fair in Sedalia, and most of the food vendors — ready to pack up and get the hell out of there — were offering half-price specials on a lot of the signature culinary treats one associates with a fair: corn dogs, elephant ears, orangeade, cotton candy and my new fair favorite — chocolate-dipped cheesecake on a stick.

The Fairgrounds had its own distinctive aroma: deep-fryer grease, burnt sugar, animal shit, cheap perfume, human sweat and, the closer you wandered toward the Swine Pavilion, eau de porc. It’s the kind of intoxicating fragrance that can lure one into some potentially unwise culinary decisions, such as the frighteningly phallic corn dog — the jumbo version pictured here.