This weekend, I joined 8,000 of my closest friends at the Iowa State Fairgrounds for a truly Midwestern event: the 2013 Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival. The basic premise? Eat a lot of bacon and drink well before noon – that’s kind of it.

And while I did less of the latter, I think it’s safe to say that my arteries are going to be recovering for at least the next six months.

At this point, everything I ate on Saturday has become a greasy, swine-filled blur, but there were definitely a few stand-outs:

• Gusto Pizza Co.‘s slices of the day – the Elvis (peanut butter, banana, bacon pizza) & Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon (mozzarella, caramelized onions and, you guessed it, six types of bacon)
• BBQ Addicts’ the “Original Bacon Explosion” – Italian sausage that is not only wrapped in bacon but also stuffed with it too.

But the big winner (and, as some one who tasted every bacon ice cream/gelato present, I feel confident in saying this) was Exile Brewing Company’s bourbon, bacon, pecan ice cream. Truly the perfect combination of sweet and salty goodness – even after a nauseating amount of bacon.

Aside eating an obscene quantity of pork, we attended a really awesome lecture titled “Norse Gods & their Endless Supply of Bacon” and spotted Iowa Governor Terry Branstad sporting a Viking helmet.

Overall, a pretty fantastic day…that is, after the four hour nap I took when we got home. Until next year, Bacon Fest… Until next year.