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Ohio State Fair just got cheaper
If you're looking for travel deals, try a state fair. If any state fair is like Ohio's, it's looking for ways to entice people to come by offering discounts and deals, particularly on food.
According to this Toledo Blade article, the "staycation" folks are the ones the Ohio State Fair is courting. As a result, this particular fair is a coupon clipper's dream. Many coupons found on the fair's Website offer free drinks with some sort of sandwich purchase; some are money-off deals.
At first glance, the best deal is at the Donahey Agriculture and Hort Building. The coupon touts that kids under 12 get a free Bob Evans kid's meal for climbing the Corn Wall.
There's a catch, though: after calling the state fair to verify what I suspected, I found out that you have to go to a Bob Evans restaurant to get your child that meal. Regardless, climbing the Corn Wall would be fun even without the extra reward.
Don't miss out on the coupons for the Taste of Ohio Café. I can personally vouch for the food. That's where we ate last year. The point of this building is to highlight Ohio's food abundance. Each stand is run by a different Ohio food producing association. The Ohio Poultry Association, for example, sells the Thanksgiving dinner that has a has a coupon for $1 off. There's no catch here.
The coupon sheet serves another purpose, as well: Use it as a fair guide. As you eat and drink your way through the day, you'll learn a bit more about Ohio. As a note, some coupons are for food items you can eat later. Jose Madrid salsa is one such item. This salsa brand is made in Ohio, and it's terrific. I'm partial to the hotter versions.
For the coupon sheet, click here.
Deep fried pickles, unfortunately, aren't included. I love deep fried dill pickles, a food I never heard of or ate before moving to Ohio. I don't know about the deep friend pickles at the fair, but the ones at Old Bag of Nails Pub in Worthington are yummy.
The fair started in Columbus on Wednesday and will go through Tuesday, August 9.
Filed under: Festivals and Events, Food and Drink, United States, Budget Travel
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Stephanie Reed Aug 1st 2009 11:21AM
"I don't know about the deep friend pickles at the fair..."
Is this a friend who sticks with you even when you get into a pickle? :-)
Thanks for the fair food coupon tips. Printing out the sheet for next week!
www.bookbait.blogspot.com
Marilyn Terrell Aug 1st 2009 11:28PM
Thanks for the tip! And if any of your readers are planning to attend a state fair in the next few weeks, please consider sending your best photos to National Geographic:
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/myshot/statefair
Here's Garrison Keillor's story about state fairs, from the July issue of National Geographic:
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/07/state-fairs/keillor-text
...with some great state fair photos by Joel Sartore: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/07/state-fairs/sartore-photography
Jamie Rhein Aug 1st 2009 11:30PM
Thanks, Marilyn!
Now I feel motivated to take photos when I go to the fair on Monday. I took a travel photography class where we went to the New Mexico State Fair at night. Quite fun.