When I come across interesting articles and info, there are times that I’ll e-mail them to myself to reread and possibly write about. I came across one such article that I thought would make for a fun blog post a few days back.

I was reminded of this article  when I received a message from my friend Brian that writes the BoardingArea blog, The Gate.

So what could be so interesting that I e-mailed myself about and also received a message about???

Awesome events take place in states all over the country each year. When I think of top events- state fairs, music festivals, food festivals and other things of the sort come to mind.

Last year, one of the things I wanted to do in the US was attend a state fair or major festival.

After much research, we had many options for the dates we were looking into. One of our final options was the North Carolina State Fair but we decided to go with a visit to the big Oktoberfest event in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

As for the ever important article that I mentioned above, Thrillist put together an article about “The One Can’t-Miss Event In All 50 States This Year“.

Rather than list all 50 events, I’ll just mention the ones that I’d most like to check out some day.

Here are my top picks:

1- Alaska: The Iditarod (image above):  I’m not sure how much fun it is to view the Iditarod in person, but I loved a cable show about the race a few years back. Since I haven’t visited Alaska yet, it would also make for a great excuse to go. (One of these days I’d also love to try out dog sledding for myself.)

2- I like odd and weird things so the Delaware Punkin Chunkin would definitely fit this description. Best of all, it isn’t far from home at around a 3 hour drive from Brooklyn!

3- I’m not a fan of car racing but I’ve heard that the Indy 500 is an amazing event to experience in person. Being that I’ve never been to Indiana would make it even better.

4- I’ve been to New Orleans a couple of times and it’s probably one of my favorite cities in the country. I’d like to visit again and check out Mardi Gras at some point.

5- On a quick trip to Maine, Kim and I checked out Portland and Freeport where LL Bean offers fun and cheap one day courses in things like archery, canoeing and clay shooting. We also enjoyed trying lobster rolls at many shacks. I’ve heard good things from friends about Maine Lobster Festival and wouldn’t mind checking it out. (Check out a post by Rapid Travel Chai about it here.)

6- After seeing the Minnesota State Fair featured on an episode of Andrew Zimmern’s Bizarre Foods, I’ve always wanted to go.

A few more that I’d love to check out:

7- Missouri: American Royal World Series of BBQ
8-New Mexico: Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta
9- North Carolina: The Barbecue Festival
10- Wyoming: Cheyenne Frontier Days
11- One of the beer festivals mentioned

Have you been to any of the events mentioned above? If so, let us know how they were!

Check out Thrillist’s article on Can’t Miss Events in the 50 States here and let us know which events you’d most like to attend!