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State Fair Time!

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The Minnesota State Fair begins today, so take some time to end your summer properly with a visit to the great get together. When I go I have my usual favorite things to do, and so does everyone else. My things and your things are not always the same things. The rules that govern time and space pretty much require that any one individual will have to pass up many, many Fair features in order to enjoy their special places, experiences and foods.

This year the Fair has worked that unavoidable fact into their promotion, inviting people to narrow down the field by selecting their “Fair Four”. The lists are then posted on the Fair’s website. Take a look. Last time I checked there were over 400 entries. I wonder how many there’ll be by Labor Day?

Everybody eats their favorite food at the Fair.

As usual, I intend to visit the Animal Barns, one of the French Fry stands, the Art Building and the Sky Glider. Somewhere along the way I’ll have a milk shake. Ah, that’s five Fair things. Next year’s promotion, I expect.

On my list of new things to do is to watch some high school wizards battle it out by proxy in the education building. There’s a robotics display, and today it’s Edina vs. North Branch at 10, noon and 2. May the best gizmo win!

For new food, I might have to go to the Fried Fruit stand for fruit salsa and tortilla chips, or to the Fudge Puppy stand for a Caramel Apple Puppy. These fruity mouth fresheners may pave the way for some other new offerings – camel on a stick, deep fried balogna and corndog pizza. Yum!

Going to the fair?
Discuss your strategy.

61 thoughts on “State Fair Time!”

  1. good morning, day, week Babooners
    busy times here but we’re gonna try to squeeze in a day when the dairy goats are shown – Sept. 3 thru 6 i think but i can’t get the State Fair daily schedules to work on our computer.
    here’s my list, just in case we get down there:
    1. Dairy Goats!! the animals, the sounds, the goats leaping out of their pens, the shows, the MILK – love it all
    2. About a Footlong Hotdog the stand across from the DFL building – always the first thing we go to in the early morning for breakfast – and then maybe one more on the way home….
    3. Beer Garden the one with the South American musicians – across from the bathrooms near the DNR building.
    4. Dairy Goats!! hee, hee – sorry – just gotta see them often. but stop for a turkey breast sandwich on the way. watch the Scotch Egg though. i had one some years back (very good) and i was too full to eat anything else the rest of the day!

    have fun

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  2. ill likely start by having coffe with the guys on the midway. i aleays like to discuss life and the challanges that face us with the carnie barkers that want you to reak the plates with the baseballs, then on to the aligator displayfrom bob duerr (remember him form casey jones he worked at the minnesota zoo) and the nascar display. then i ave to check back to see if they really have not figured out a way to make the expressos more quickly. thye could easily sell 14 times as many expressos if they could figure it out. the tractoes and lumberjack contest over by the arts and enviornmentally new green discoveries building are favorites on the way to the dog exhibits,
    we are in trouble this year . my wifes school started this week and so the weekends are the only real possibility to have my kids go with mom and we just figured out that my sons football debut where his team plays 4 or 5 other teams from early morning until mid afternoon, sundays are the girls fastpitch double header days and next weekend we are going to winnepeg to paly football in an exhibition weekend where the eden prairie will play two different winnepeg area teams for the big start to the season.
    which reminds me, i seem to remember seeing the group meeting agenda form the babooninski’s but i did not put it on my calander. do we have an official time and place to try to have me apologize for not being able to attend? dont forget to check out the quilitng and shop class entries in that building and the northen hydrolics tent full of all the cool stuff that no one else ever has the room to carry in their store. goats chickens cows horses pigs bunnies and sheep go without saying and how about all the stuff for slae under the grandstand?
    happy fair all. report back in as to the new discoveries. curds ho!!

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  3. howdy, gang–

    not sure if i’ll make it to the fair this year or not–unless there’s some babooner mtg-up that adds a little extra incentive. I enjoy the fair, but struggle with the crowds.

    my usual strategy is to go early in the morning, start with mini-donuts and coffee, and head for the animal barns, all while it is cool and relatively empty of fellow fair-goers.

    if i’m lucky enough to have a kid along (which i will this year; i have my foster-son back, who is nine), i like to get in a ride or two…

    lunch is pronto pups and roasted corn on the cob–classic.

    have a great day, all–

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  4. Like you, Tim, we are constrained on when we can go to the Fair this year. The full-time job, soccer practice and extra time at work because other folks are working the Fair has narrowed it down to exactly one day we can go.

    We are early morning fairgoers. Get the glass of milk and coffee for me, then a hot bag of donuts to start off. As soon as those are eaten, we hit the Miracle of Birth, because even in the lovely new and bigger building, it is impossible later in the day (although we did stay pretty late into the evening for us last year waiting for a calf to be born). I do feel a little like I am invading someone’s privacy, but can’t help myself.

    Then we check out all the livestock and hope we are there on a day with draft horses.

    More milk (the s&h alternates white and chocolate all day).

    Creative Activities and Horticulture (thank goodness for the great woodworking and giant pumpkins, or I wouldn’t be allowed in there-gone are the days when the s&h was asleep in the stroller by then and I could look at quilts and orchids as long as I like).

    Cheese curds and pronto pups-root beer to wash it all down.

    Eco-building and what is left of machinery hill.

    Ice cream sundaes at the Empire building, check out the butterheads and watch the parade.

    DNR building and the fish-we usually do the trash sculpture earlier. (more milk) Corn on the cob somewhere in there.

    We can’t do spinny rides, but I must get my backside soaked on the River Ride.

    Check back in with the pigs and probably get runover by a runaway (which I usually think is a rude toddler until I look), check back in with the babies and then collapse on the bus.

    Thanks for the tip about the robotics, Dale we will have to check it out.

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    2. So being lactose-intolerant (at least when it comes to multiple glasses of milk), I’ll never figure out this question without help: Do you pay $1 every time you go up for your bottomless glass of milk, if you go multiple times during the day?

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      1. only if you throw away your glass-otherwise, you just present your empty glass and smiling face and they fill you right up.

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  5. Good Morning Fair People,

    You are all fair people, even if you are not going to the fair. I don’t know if I will attend. I also seem to remember that a time and meeting place for Babooners going to the fair was mentioned. Is that right? I might be able to go and meet up with others who post on this blog if there is a plan for meeting.

    If I go to the fair I would check out the horticulture area, music, the eco experience area, and the animals. Of course, I would also try various kinds of fair food.

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  6. Fair Time Vignette of the Day: Riding over to the Sakatah State Trail. Approached an area where I had the full moon to my left hanging, still a touch yellow, in the western sky and to my right the rising sun blinking brightly through the corn tassels. At that point John Birge played an excellent chroal version of “Morning Has Broken.” And out of the corn popped three turleys who ran down the trail in front of me for 20-30 yards, who were then replaced by a rabbit for the next few yards. Came to the Sakatah and wanted to turn right and go visit Krista in Waterville. But did my duty and turned left and rode the beautiful gentle two-mile tree-arched decline from the bluffs down to the river.
    As close as I will get to the fair.

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    4. You get to live there all the time, we have to make do with just that one day at the fair (and any side trips to see goats we can finagle).

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  7. Oh, I am so envious that so many of you can go to the fair! If I was able to go I would hit the animal barns and hope that the draft horses were there. I also like the home canning displays. I was in 4-H as a kid and showed cactus gardens and terrariums at the State Fair for horticulture projects. I never did that well with them at the state level, but it was so much fun to miss school and ride the bus to St. Paul. The last time I was at the fair was on my honeymoon in 1983. I hoped we could get there this year, but schedules just wouldn’t allow.

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  9. I’ll be doing the Fair with my wife, her mom, and her aunt next Thursday. I have to say that I’m not a tremendous ‘Fair fanatic.’ It’s something we never did when I was young, so I don’t have loads of memories that lots of other folks seem to (great for you if you do…i’m not one to bash nostalgia). I started going to the Fair to watch (and sometimes even partake) in a certain live radio broadcast, which was -always- (without fail) worth getting up at 3:30am and finding a way in to get a good seat. But I would never hang around to ‘do the Fair’ after the show was done. People really couldn’t believe that I would get there by about 5:30am and be back in my car and gone by 9:15. I’ll gladly participate and spend the day with my wife and her clan but, honestly, without the MS/RH show, it’s just not something that I would do. (My wife’s grandmother was actually the person that named the mascot.)

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  10. I will be at the fair with Darling Daughter, Husband and some friends on Sunday – hopefully arriving (and leaving) before it gets too crowded. That was our best window for attendance as Daughter starts school on Monday and is at art camp this week.

    With two six-year-olds in tow, what gets seen is anybody’s guess. Probably a lot of the “kidway” (midway for the smaller set). Daughter got to meet Princess Kay of the Milky Way this summer (the 2009-10 Kay), so I’m sure we will have to go view the butter heads…and drink some milk (Husband will skip that part, being lactose intolerant). I’d like to get to the art. We’ll see how long the smaller feet hold out, and how long everyone’s tolerance for mayhem, stickiness, and chaos lasts.

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  11. One year I will always remember I had a long, sweet talk with Lillian Colton, the Queen of Seed Art, as she explained her unique artistic way with her genre. What could be more amazingly Minnesotan than a Colton portrait of Jesse Ventura in soybeans, timothy seeds and corn?

    My first trip through Ye Olde Mill was with a date who was an enthusiastic kisser, the boats bumping with musical clunks in the dark, while we sloshed around past unbelievably tacky dioramas. I never wanted that ride to end.

    My birth was directly caused by a butter cow at the Iowa State Fair, so each year I am obliged to go to the Diary Barn to pay homage to the butter royal court. We are kin in some perverted way.

    One year I bought six Snow Cones, getting blinding headaches so fierce I walked into light posts without feeling a thing and then rushed off to buy another as soon as I could see again.

    Sometimes I would invent an interest in some object and have long, serious discussions with earnest sales folk for that product. “Tell me, sir, just what is the cutting edge technology in composting toilets?”

    Dropping into a picnic bench, weary and famished, to enjoy a turkey thigh or cardboard boat of tabouli while a fascinating sea of humanity flows by.

    And there is always a powerful Fair moment you can’t predict, like coming up to the pen with Minnesota’s Largest Boar (pig), stumbling away later in astonishment and blushing just a little.

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  12. I have to say my favorite part of the Fair is no more…The Morning Show at the Fair was the perfect way to start. Bright and Early with plenty of mini-donuts. Just yesterday a colleague said to me , “When is your special day at the Fair?”
    As a pale substitute I do have PHC tickets. It can be lovely to listen to the music as twilight comes over the Fair.
    My introduction to the Fair 30 years ago was the 1st month I lived here when my boss announced that his wife would be picking me up to go to the Fair to”learn about Minnesota.” I still use that strategy.
    I always stop at the Butterheads (and the malts) and the Crop Art (especially as it has become more political). They are also one of my mini-claims to fame. When Ann Reed wrote the 1st Fair song there was an option for folks to call in with suggestions. I called, spoke to Jim Ed on the phone and suggested Butter Heads and Crop Art. I love knowing that because of me Ann has to explain to audiences nationwide what a Butter Head is.

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    1. Absolutely Beth-Ann. Peter and I would arise very early and bike over to the Fairgrounds with lights flashing to get a primo seat for The Morning Show. It was the absolute highlight of the Fair for me.
      We too bought PHC tickets for Friday night and it is only a consolation prize in my mind.
      So, now the routine has lost its anchor. But we still do these in about this order:
      Horse/Swine/Dairy Barns
      Miracle of Birth Barn
      Horticulture Bldg.
      Food Bldg. (cheese curds – one serving for 2 of us)
      Fine Arts
      Pet Center
      Skee-Bowl at the Midway (limit $20)
      Some sort of music we wander upon
      Mini donuts and the milk truck

      No way to name a “Fair Four” for us, just isn’t possible

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  13. 43-42 years ago I used to work at the dairy barn on the farm campus. (What a shame that lovely building is gone). So like everyone there I also sort of worked at the fair. Hectic right before the fair; everyone has a problem, but mostly quite fun.
    But biggest memory of that far back are my mother- and father-in-law. During that time I convinced her to divorce him. She was confined to a wheelchair most of the time–severe, severe debilitating arthritis–and he was a sweet and very talented man when sober and vicious when drunk. They were much better friends when living apart, although only by two blocks. She would get to the fair about four times every year, getting various people to push her, including him once or twice even after the divorce. We would always take her once a year. This was before handicapped stickers and parking, when people in a wheelchair were a public nuisance. So it was an exhausting and mentally-draining day, working through crowds. But she was so resonsive to everything, like a nine-year-old, and we went everywhere. Her August was so good a time for her, Camp Courage and then the Fair.

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      1. A butter story for you: I emailed a North Shore friend to come back to the Sleepy Eye Buttered Corn Days, where he has gone with us twice before. DelMonte will give you all the free cooked and dipped-in-butter corn you want. He said he couldn’t come, but he would just sit in the hot sun and drink a cup of melted butter to get the most of the same effect, which is about ture.

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  14. I have a volunteer shift today for the Minnesota Humane Society, so the day is a kind of warm-up for the full state fair experience. I’ll get there, eat, see the bunnies in the poultry barn, wander in and out of buildings for awhile, and make mental notes about what I want to try/see next week when I’m there for a full day without any obligations.

    Stop by the booth in the pet center and buy a T-shirt if you’re so inclined.

    Last year I was volunteering on a very warm day that devolved into thunderstorms and cold as it got dark. People in shorts and tank tops kept coming in to buy sweatshirts. Didn’t care so much about the design, they just wanted something warm to wear and liked the idea of buying from a nonprofit. We set a record for daily sales.

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  15. A Second Good Morning Fair People,

    Does any one know if there is a time and place for Babooners to meet at the fair?

    I think a remember that some thing like this was set up.

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  16. Although it’s been mentioned, we’ve never set a time for a Fair Babooner gathering, and from what I’m reading it sounds like people have limited time slots this year. I’ll probably get there next Wed. or Thursday, depending on when some out of town friends attend — anyone interested in meeting up when I get that nailed down?

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    1. Thanks for the information. I’m another one with limited time and might not make it to the fair, but would try to come at a time when other Babooners are there if I do go.

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  17. Way off topic, sort of, but I found this fact of the Turkish language interesting and his idea profound. I read this a couple weeks ago and then was reminded of it while being nostalgic about events from 44 years ago that seem to have just happened and yet have never happened, like a suddenly remembered memory of an old dream.
    It is an excellent book, by the way:
    “In Turkish we have a special tense that allows us to distinguish hearsay from what we’ve seen with our eyes; when relating dreams, fairy tales, or past events we could not have witnessed, we use this tense . . . I’d have liked to write me entire story this way–as if my life were something that happened to someone else, as if it were a dream in which I felt my voice fading and my will succumbing to enchantment.” Istanbul Orhan Pamuk, Winner of 2006 Nobel Prize for Literature

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      1. Istanbul: Memories of a City‎
        or just Istanbul
        (the italics got lost in my cut and paste)
        I actually found it at B & N kere in Mankato.

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  18. Summer of 1998 my long lost step-son showed up. Looonnngg story, but he was the result of a pre-Barbara relationship Husband had, and although Husband had Mario with him for a couple of months as a baby, we had lost track of where he was. Well, part of Mario’s mission when he was 21 was to find his dad, and he showed up here in May. We were all instant friends, my son (then 17) was ecstatic to find a brother, and we imported Mario again at the end of the summer. One thing he’d never done was attend a State Fair, so we 4 joyously headed on over to the Great Minnesota Get-together and had a rollicking day… lots of fine memories.

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  19. My wife and I always go on the first Monday to catch the stock dog trials at the Coliseum in the morning, and always have a good time admiring the determination of the dogs, the stubbornness of the sheep, and the patience of the herders. Then we usually stroll over to have lunch at the Hamline Church Dining Hall before heading over to the art and craft exhibits and then down to the agricultural building before winding up the day at the International Bazaar.

    Then we spend another weekday evening at the fair having fun on the Midway and around the Grandstand, and sharing an order of garlic french fries.

    It’ll be a little bittersweet visiting the MPR booth this year though.

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  20. I don’t have a lot of Fair experience. The only times I’ve been there in the last 10 – 12 years were for work assignments in the DNR building. I’m comfortable in the DNR building. I don’t like crowds or rides, though – get a bit of crowd claustrophobia. My favorite places are the art building, the green exhibits, 4H, animals of all kinds, music and food. My favorite fair foods are french fries, cheese curds and chocolate chip cookies.

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  23. It’s that time of year already? But I haven’t even calculated driving times!

    I went to the Fair for the first time in 2007 (after having spent preceding Minnesotan summers at the Renaissance Festival and Taste of Minnesota). Oh. My. God. If any time in the previous year you told me I would be a raving loony about a state fair for the rest of my life, I would never have believed you.

    I don’t remember exactly what I did — the birthing center (of course), river ride, walking around with a bucket of cookies and finding the MPR booth — but it was all summed up in the Michael Birawer commemorative poster that I hugged to my chest as I walked out of the Grandstand at the end of the day.

    I dragged Mr. MN in Sudbury along with me in 2008 (despite being from the Duluth/Superior area, he’d only been to their county fair previously). He’s a convert now. We went twice that year, and had sparkling cider-cinnamon ice cream floats both times (conveniently opposite the Morning Show). I also like the birch beer, and cider ice pops (latter in the Agriculture building I think).

    We’re still hatching plans for this year. As David W. says, without the LGMS/RH it will be bittersweet…

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    1. its nice to hear a person who happens upon it appreciate what we have here. my wife was a chicago girl and never went to the fair so when i told her i went 5 or 6 times it was a mystery to her. i think it still is kind of. the days are never duplicates or boring. we go about 7 am and leave about 10pm and time the fireworks on the way to the car. my kids think if we only go two or three thimes that they are getting the short end of the stick.
      iam glad to hear mr mn in sudbury was impressed too. fun to hear. i am very impressed that you are coming back for it. a true convert for sure eh?

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  24. Four Fair Fav’s for me include the horse and poultry barns, Sweet Martha’s and the sky glider. Also like to enjoy one serving of French Fries, a corn dog, a rodeo or horse show and take in a few of the free concerts. The year we took our granddaughter to see the rodeo, the lights went out, and it was cancelled! That was a memory in itself; all of us sitting in the dark waiting for what came next. 🙂 I love to see the sights, and even worked at Sweet Martha’s one summer! What madcap mayhem! The funnest job I’ve ever had! Like Lucy in the candy factory.

    Will miss the Morning Show there tomorrow and the “Where’s Eric” challenge. I never did make it there early enough to attend in person, but listened avidly on the radio. PHC at the grandstand on a beautiful evening is a rich cultural experience. The sunset, group sing-alongs, the Star-spangled Banner followed by fireworks and all hosted by Garrison and the PHC regulars – precious!

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    1. I will miss listening to the Where’s Eric game. It was fun to try and puzzle out, from clues and questionable visual memory, where he was. I never made it to a live MS at the fair – though I remember there being a non-broadcast MS that started later than 6 am that I did manage to get to. Good stuff.

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  25. Really Really Late Today:

    Our fair schedule has been
    6:15 a.m. Morning Show
    9:15a.m. Wander off on my own through 4-H Building and Fine Arts
    12:00 Salem Lutheran Food booth for Swedish Meatballs and Pie
    Wander around until about 4:00 p.m. looking at butterflies, arts and crafts, spinning and knitting, animal barns, watch a show

    Get on the bus, go home, take a nap.

    Not going this year.

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      1. Just can’t get interested without the morning show. It was a big deal in our family/friends. One year we invited friends and everyone had to bring breakfast on a stick. Very fun.

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    3. Jacque, my going to the fair routine was similar to yours. Not a lot of enthusiasm for going this year. Haven’t even picked a day to go. We will go at some point but it won’t be the same.

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