Illinois State Fair 2025
Hello there to all my imaginary viewers out there. Today, I want to talk about me going to the Illinois State Fair.
Firstly, and most importantly: how I got there. You see, the fair is in Springfield, but I live in Chicago (well, the suburbs). If only there was a convenient way to travel between Chicago and Springfield...
"Hold my beer," says Amtrak. And the Lincoln Service was born. Well, technically the train I took was the Lincoln Service & Missouri River Runner since it went all the way to Kansas City, but trains are cool so I don't care!
But yea: I took the Amtrak to Springfield. And honestly, that was the best part of the day for me. I did arrive in Springfield about 2 hours late, but I'm not complaining.
Once I was actually at the fair, it was... ok, I guess? The day I went was had the theme of Republican Day, so there were a handful of people wearing MAGA hats and Jesus shirts and whatnot. It's not really surprising, given the fact we're in southern Illinois.
Other than that, the fair was... like I said, ok. Like sure, there was the butter cow statue. And sure, Brad Paisley was preforming but I didn't want to pay a hundred bucks for a ticket. The food there was... bleh. I know the whole idea of fair food is to be wacky and crazy, but what can I do?
There was this conservation area that was pretty cool. There were some vendors that sold a wooden bow which was neat. I really got to get back into archery...
For food, I had a strawberry lemonade that was good and a slice of pizza that was the most stale slice I ever had. I'm surprised I didn't get sick from it.
The Amtrak ride back to Chicago was a bit more stressful because it was a sold out train and I had to sit next to someone. I never liked having to sit next to someone on a train, but that's always unavoidable in coach. We arrived about an hour late, and when I was waiting for my ride home, a homeless guy came up to me and said that someday I'd be homeless. That wasn't fun...
So yea, the State Fair was okay, and the Amtrak ride was decent. See you again in a few years.