Before going to the Eastern States Exposition (The Big E), one must ask themselves a few questions: do I want to stick to my diet? what should I eat? how much money should I bring? Fear no more, because we have all the answers.

First, if you learn nothing from this column but one thing please let it be that you should most definitely break your diet. The Big E is no fun for lettuce lovers, and fried food haters. Let loose, wear stretchy pants, and enjoy all that New England has to offer.

After an hour and a half in Big E traffic, sticking to our budget of spending 10 dollars on parking
became a difficult task to accomplish. We pulled through though and made it to the Main gate
parking where we split 10 dollars among 4 people. Ideally, we would have wanted to go on a
weekday after 5 pm so admission would only be $6. However, we paid $15 which severely cut
into our food budget. We highly suggest going on a weeknight.
Julissa: $17.50
Siobhan: $17.50

Once we got in, we immediately saw a booth giving out free pizza. The Virtuoso Pizza stand
was giving out 2-3 slices of freshly baked pizza. The line was short for a Saturday and it
was actually not bad. We also got a coupon for their frozen pizza and they were taking photos
for free as long as we posted it on social media.
Julissa: $17.50
Siobhan: $17.50

In a moment of uncertainty of what we wanted to do first, Julissa brilliantly to decided to try fried
bacon mac and cheese balls from EB’s on the side of the food court.
Julissa: $26.25
Siobhan: $17.50

We then headed to the State buildings. A personal favorite of Julissa’s is always the Rhode
Island buildings Del’s frozen lemonade. The lemonade there is $3.75 compared to the  $4.00 price of lemonade everywhere else at the Big E. You could also buy a large for $5.00. Although it is a little
smaller, the lemonade there is sweeter and fresher than the other stands making it a better
deal. All state buildings also offer $1 bottled water compared to the $3 bottled water in the rest
of the fairground. So we decided to buy a water bottle then to save us a trip back later.
Julissa: $31.25
Siobhan: $22.25

Julissa’s most memorable thing at the Big E is the honey sticks from the Hampden County
Beekeeper’s Association located in the Massachusetts building. There you can get flavored
honey sticks for only 25 cents. We bought four each.
Julissa: $32.25
Siobhan: $23.25

In the Massachusetts building, we also found fresh raspberries. The local raspberries are picked
fresh every morning from Nourse Farm in Whately Mass. It was a small for a $1 and a large for
$3. They offered a choice of just red raspberries or mixed.
Julissa: $33.25
Siobhan: $24.25

We stumbled upon this strange pop-up dollar store. Though we didn’t personally buy anything
we recommend stopping by for all your lotion and Red Sox bandages needs.

On our way to the craft commons, we ended up getting sidetracked by the performance of Hilby
The Skinny German Juggling Boy. It was a free performance and was quite entertaining. He
was a comedian, rode a unicycle and juggled. It was a family performance with a lot of jokes
that adults would appreciate too.

While in the craft common we stood in an extremely long, but fast-moving line to split a dill pickle. We bought a “half-sour” pickle in fear of the “sour” pickle being too sour, but we recommend getting the “sour” instead.

Julissa: $34.50
Siobhan: $25.50

As we walked the grounds, we stumbled upon the Log Cabin food truck to see our
wonderful Herald advisor working. Due to his charitable nature, he wouldn’t allow us to leave without
giving us some nachos.

We then walked to “A Butcher Boys Vendor” near the state buildings. Siobhan got a steak
sandwich with lettuce and mayo for $10. There was a really long line but it was worth it.
Julissa: $34.50
Siobhan:$35.50

Sitting at a picnic table while Siobhan finished her dinner we heard the melodious beginning of
Smashmouth begin to play in the arena behind us. We made our way to the Xfinity Arena. We
enjoyed the concert from the tops of picnic tables behind a curly fries stand. FREE.
We decided a ride was necessary to get the whole Big E experience and each bought four
Midway tickets for five dollars and rode the Big Ferris Wheel. You may remember our iconic
live stream if you follow The Herald on twitter.
Julissa: $39.50
Siobhan: $40.50

At the end of the night, we stopped at Fresh Now, a mini donut shop. The
donuts were made right in front of you and you had the option of powdered sugar or cinnamon
and sugar. It was 8 dollars for 18 or 10 dollars for a big bucket. We got the bucket and it was
worth the price since the bucket was overflowing with mini donuts. The four of us couldn’t finish
it.
Julissa: $39.50
Siobhan: $50.50

While waiting for our compadres to meet back up with us Julissa became thirsty and hunted
down a place that sold snow cones. It was four dollars, huge, majorly satisfying, and blue.
Overall:
Julissa: $43.50
Siobhan: $50.50