Well, the San Diego County Fair has come and gone for another year. Even though it is already over, I wanted to write up a quick post about my visit this year because I really felt like this was one of the best years of the San Diego County Fair to date! Having grown up in San Diego County, I spent most of my childhood visiting the fair - back when it was called the Del Mar Fair! Some of my best childhood memories include long days spent at the fair eating junk food, riding rides, and seeing concerts. Now that I'm an adult, I don't get to the fair every year like I used to. I typically go every other year, especially now that I'm much less inclined to ride those terrifying fair rides. 

My 10 year old niece is spending some of her summer with me so I decided to take her to the fair for a day for something extra fun to do. We got to the fair around 12:30 so one of our first stops was for some lunch. The only downfall of going to the fair with a child is how picky they can be with their food. She wanted a cheeseburger and wouldn't consider anything else. I definitely think that cheeseburgers from the fair tend to not be that great, so if you're visiting the fair next year, there are so many better options! After our burgers, my niece really wanted to try one of these giant Texas donuts so we split a chocolate one. It was actually really good! I would have loved to try one of the more adventurous flavors! 

At this point, it was really hot so we headed in to check out the student art exhibit, which features artwork from students in San Diego County from elementary through college. There was some really amazing art as usual and we spent a long time wandering and pointing out our favorites. After the art exhibit, it was time for some rides. Like I said before, I'm not too big on fair rides anymore. My niece is also a little small for her age so I opted to have her only go on the rides in the kid's area. She really enjoyed the swinging carousel! 

After I let her enjoy some rides in the kid's area, we grabbed a couple cherry lemonades from Hot Dog on a Stick (a fair classic) and headed into the themed exhibit for this year. The theme for 2018 was How Sweet It Is and focused all on candy, which was amazing. The themed exhibit had a wonderful set up that taught you about the history of candy, as well as some amazing photo opportunities, like a Sweethearts box and a Jelly Belly motorcycle! We also walked through the Flower and Garden exhibit and were pleasantly surprised to find some other amazing themed areas for photos, including some decorated rooms and fun walls.

Before leaving the fair for the day, we had to stop for a dessert. We ended up finding a stand that had a Unicorn ice cream cone that they called the Unicone. It was soft serve vanilla ice cream dipped in chocolate and rainbow sprinkles then topped with unicorn ears and a gold leaf horn. They were super pricy and melted insanely fast, but they were adorable and tasted great! I had such a great time, especially with all the great themed areas, that I might just have to visit the fair every year now!

Did you visit the San Diego County Fair this year? What was your favorite part?