Sprint Food Alley — once Junk Food Alley — and I had met before.

As a native of Fort Wayne, I try to make it over to Superior Street at least once each summer during the Fort Wayne Newspapers Three Rivers Festival. The smells of fried vegetables and meats on a stick always serve as a pleasant reminder of everything I love about summer festivals.

So naturally, when I was assigned the task of writing a Food Alley review, I jumped at the chance for a lunch break out with the food with which I share the same name — Junk.

After all, it is the American way to fry away the nutritional content of foods that once were good for you, or at least partially so (read: tomatoes, potatoes and cheese). Any excuse to indulge on corn dogs and elephant ears, and I'm in.

But if you go, bring along some extra dough of the spendable variety — one elephant ear stand has a sign posted stating its prices have gone up 25 percent due to increased fuel costs for production and transportation.

I skipped breakfast Monday and walked from the office toward a deep-fried brunch, deciding that hoofing it would be in my best interest to work off all those extra calories and carbs I'd be consuming as “research” later on.

When I reached Superior Street, I was greeted by the summer smells I so pleasantly recalled from my childhood. Despite warnings from co-workers about pacing myself on such a hot day, I remained undaunted as I passed booth upon booth, each with its own vat of sizzling oil, sugar-coated batter or saltwater taffy.

Eager to begin my assignment, I decided to blend in with the food-carrying crowd and bee-lined to the Coco Bongo stand, drawn in by the display of monkey- and pirate-faced coconuts. After I found out they were $12, I opted for the vendor's smaller, $5 take-home cup of a Bahama Mama smoothie instead.

Owner Sarah Collard of Fort Wayne even chips in a medallion for a free smoothie for each customer, good for the remainder of the festival. One sip of the Bahama Mama and I knew I would be returning to redeem my free drink — the smoothie was strawberry-flavored, refreshing and delicious.

Tropical drink in hand, I perused this year's offerings in search of something to complement it. Almost as if he read my mind, volunteer Bill Berghoff - on behalf of Boy Scout Troop 19 - enticed me into the Nelson's Port-a-Pit Chicken booth to sample some Pit Potatoes, oven-roasted and seasoned spuds baked at a rate of 400 servings a day.

The Nelson's booth is one of two booths new to Food Alley, and is certainly not short on tender chicken, ribs and pulled pork, all of which I've sampled at various fundraisers around town on previous occasions.

Also new this year is a Bandido's Mexican Restaurant booth with its authentic offerings of nachos grande, steak quesadillas and steak “queso”-dillas. A favorite highlight is the famous Big Juan To-Go for $8: ground beef, cheese, lettuce and tomatoes rolled in a big flour tortilla, topped with the restaurant's signature queso and salsa.

I sat down on a shaded bench across from the Whistle Stop stand to enjoy the findings from my first trip around Sprint Food Alley and make note of what else I wanted to try.

After watching several customers walk by with a basket of the famous Hobo Potatoes, I knew what my next dish had to be.

Whistle Stop owners Bill and JoAn Johnson of Fort Wayne named their homemade creation after a friend suggested it a few years ago to go with the booth's train theme. A smashed mixture of potatoes, steak, Day-Glo orange cheese, grilled onions, green peppers, tomatoes and ranch dressing, the hobo dish fared well as a pre-elephant ear, corn dog appetizer.

But just when I thought I was done fitting in all the staples, a co-worker insisted upon a fried green tomato. It was surprisingly sweet inside its batter-covered exterior, and I was glad I spent the extra $6, even if I took only a few bites.

After I'd eaten nothing but sugar-coated and fried delectables, my stomach was telling me it was time to quit.

Although it's not something I'd want to do every day — eating over-the-top sweets and deep-fried anything in such large quantities in such a short span of time should be reserved only for the professionals — festival food at Sprint Food Alley again found a special place in my heart - even if only to clog my arteries.