Autumn achievment unlocked - The Big E 2023!

One of my favorite seasonal rituals has been achieved - my annual visit to The Big E!

It was a gorgeous weekday, and we got there on the early side before things got too crowded. The sun was out, the temperature just right, a perfect autumn day from morning til evening.

The free wine tasting, featuring 6 New England area wineries, was one of the highlights of my late morning. It gets crowded during peak times and I hadn't been able to go in years. We didn't have to wait too long. I'm not even a big wine or alcoholic beverage person, but I do like new experiences and flavors, so this is always a fun time.

Of course, one of the main attractions to the fair is the food. This year I broke with tradition and mostly tried foods that were new: either new to me, or new to the fair this year, starting with plantain fries topped with pork, grilled onion/peppers, and a yummy sauce. Loved this and would get it again.

Next up: the apple fries, new to the fair this year and highly recommended. These were fantastic, crispy fries made of apples and dusted with cinnamon sugar - we opted for the caramel sauce addition.

New to me this year was the deep-fried taco, the outer skin reminded me a bit of an egg roll. We chose the chicken option, which also had lettuce, tomato, cheese, & sour cream. I would've loved some hot sauce on this, but it was otherwise pretty great.

 

 
We also shared a Mass Sea Breeze, a refreshing and very sweet drink.

And last up: the smoked salmon on a stick from the Maine building - which usually sells out as it is extremely popular. It's definitely some of the BEST salmon I've ever eaten, and I am a huge fan of salmon. I've had it before, but most years they run out before I can get it. 

 

Pickle lemonade was one of the new offerings at the fair this year, but we didn't try it. There were a lot of pickle-flavored items, including pickle-topped pizza and a pickle cupcake. I didn't try any of those either. I like pickles, but not sure I need a pickle cupcake. Maybe if I'd had more wine it would've sounded like a good idea.

 

 

Last food item of the day, which is my usual custom, is buying a cream puff or 2 to bring home. This year's special flavor was MAPLE which I am extremely excited about. Maple is one of my favorite New England flavors, 10/10 would recommend this cream puff.

I was happy to see some Halloweeny vibes here and there as well, mostly in the Storrowtown/craft area of the fair.

The Rhode Island building always showcases the Great Jack O'Lantern Spectacular, which returns every year to the Roger Williams Park Zoo (and is absolutely worth visiting; I blogged about it a couple years ago)

Our night concluded with a spooky moonrise. And that's it for my 2023 Big E adventure!

To read more of my more in-depth posts about The Big E, check out these links:

Part 1: Intro / Part 2: Crafts & shopping / Part 3: Animals & agriculture /

Part 4: State buildings / Part 5: Food / Part 6: Other stuff

And just like that - Autumn is here.

 The autumn season is here!

It's cozy candle season;

wandering through mysterious woods season;

harvest abundance season;

cozy blanket and sweater weather season;

pumpkin madness season;

 haunted house season;

 

fall festival season;

 Halloween party season;

 

leaf-peeping season;

 -- and generally, the absolute best time of the year.

HAPPY FALL, EVERYONE!

A busy October - Part 1

Last year, I was able to post just about every day, since, y'know, Covid. I didn't have anywhere to be (I work from home), and only went out occasionally. I didn't really have many autumn/Halloween plans.

This year's obviously different, and while it's not exactly back to normal (and what does "normal" even mean, anyway?), I've been pretty damned busy. This trip to Connecticut has been a whirlwind. Which is both good and not-so-good.

The not-so-good things were mainly tech issues, schedule conflicts, work miscommunications, and generally not enough time to do everything I wanted to do. I feel like I barely got to do anything despite being here for over 3 weeks. 

But the stuff I did get to do has been great. 

I got to spend the day in New Bedford & Fall River, MA where I toured the Whaling Museum and experienced a haunted house called the Factory of Terror. 

I had brunch with my Mom a couple of times.

I went for a few walks at some of my favorite spots.

 

Got to spend some quality time with one of my favorite beings.

 

 

Went to Spirit Halloween and Party City with my BFF

 Went to The Big E, for like, 5 minutes.

 

 

Went to a fantastic immersive theater experience, where Beetlejuice was our tour guide.

Celebrated my birthday with a hot buttered lobster roll and a visit to a local autumn craft fair. 

 

Saw about a zillion jack o'lanterns.

 

 

Put up some Halloween decorations.

 

 

Went to a local winery with some friends & fam.

 

Met a friend's new kitty.

Danced at my baby brother's wedding.

 

 

Drove around with the BFF to look at Halloween lights.

 

I leave Connecticut today to return to Washington state, where I will resume my October adventures. See you on the other side!

The Big E 2021 report

The good news: I got to go to the Big E this year!

The bad news: I only went for a few hours on a weeknight and it was disappointing.

When I arrived in Connecticut about 10 days ago, I was seriously pumped for the fair this year. For obvious (Covid) reasons, I couldn't come out for my usual autumn visit, and the Big E was cancelled anyway. This year, everything seemed as if things were more or less back to normal! A friend of mine got me some free tickets and I was already planning my visit. 

But, as so often happens, fate had other plans. 

My only real opportunity was on a weeknight, last week. I went with my friend & her boyfriend, and we didn't get there til nearly 7 PM. As is custom for me, I wanted my first stop to the Maine baked potato, but alas - they were already closed!

No big deal, I thought -- I'll just come back this weekend and try again. 

But that didn't happen. It's tough coming in from out of town, trying to make plans with a bunch of different people who want to see you, wanting to accommodate as many people as you can -- and in the end most of the plans fall through or didn't go as expected. Did I mention how exhausting it is, too? I'm so not used to all this social activity and going out every day, it's been a bit of a shock to my system. I work from home and most days I don't even leave the house. 99% of my social interaction is with my partner, who I might only cross paths with on certain days, due to our different schedules. Sigh. So, yeah, exhausting.

So instead of going back to the fair on Saturday (my birthday) like I had planned, I opted for staying in town and taking it easy doing local stuff, rather than put myself through the stress of an entire day at a very busy event. As it turns out, the Big E broke an all-time attendance record that day, so I'm glad I skipped it.

Anyway. I didn't get the chance to do all that much while I was there, and thus it goes without saying that I also didn't get to try out much, re: food -- BUT I was able to try two new things I had been excited about: the pumpkin cream puff and a particular bread pudding that had been getting a lot of hype.

 

The top half of my pumpkin cream puff.

Sadly, the pumpkin cream puff was a huge disappointment. I was kinda shocked. It didn't have enough pumpkin or pumpkin spice, and wasn't sweet enough. The regular cream puff isn't overly sweet, but the pumpkin version is more or less bland. Wicked bummer. I did get an original flavor cream puff, and there's no comparison: Original reigns supreme. 

Next up: This fantastic, unassuming-looking bread pudding from Noujaim's Bistro, whose Lebanese food stand was located in the CT building.

When I was reading up on must-try foods at this year's fair, this came up on practically every list, each time with rave reviews. I didn't even go out of my way for it, but fortunately we stumbled across it while going through the state buildings. It was fantastic - the flavor and texture were both outstanding, not too sweet, rich custardy creamy goodness with a decadent, caramel-esque sauce with hints of cardamom. I have to say it's one of the best tasting fair foods I've ever had. Makes me want to pay a visit to their main restaurant!

Other than that? We didn't do a whole hell of a lot -- browsed through the craft commons area, and checked out the state buildings. Lots of stuff seemed to be missing this year (notably, Cold Hollow, an apple pie and cider merchant in the Vermont building). But, after a tough year & a half due to the pandemic, I suppose that's to be expected.

I barely took any pics, partly because I thought we'd be back. But that's okay.

I was able get my soaps from Amy's All Natural this year (Massachusetts building), so I don't feel too unfulfilled. I still have a few bars of the ones I buy annually, so I bought new scents this time.

Annnnnnnd that is pretty much it for this year's Big E adventure!