Category Archives: State Fair

2025, education, Health, State Fair

Summer Learning

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Nobody said “don’t go to the fair”.  Nobody said “it will be very rough on your knee”.  Not the urgent care doctor, not the orthopedist, not the physical therapist.  To be fair, none of these people knew me.  None of them heard “will I be able to go to the fair” and translated that to “will I be able to go to the fair six times, 8-9 hours each time and go from one end to the other and back”. 

So technically you could say it’s my fault.  If I had been clear what “go to the fair” really meant, maybe they would have given me different advice.  But if they had, I wouldn’t be able to tell you how excellent the emergency service of the Minnesota State Fair truly are.

Thursday was fine – although I got blisters, probably from walking funny due to the big brace on one knee.  Saturday was ok; I wore sneakers to avoid the funny walking blisters.  I was slow but at a crowded fair, that’s not actually a handicap.  On Monday I did half a day and then went back for the grandstand show.  17,000 steps.  Sore city.  On Wednesday, I was really sore but it was Golden Retriever Day so I soldiered on.  On Friday, both knees were sore, so I wore the brace AND a compression sleeve on the other knee.  Then about noon, over near the Caribe Café, my “good knee” gave out suddenly.  No fall, no trip, no getting knocked around by the crowds; just suddenly there was absolutely no walking on that leg. 

First the police came, parked on the street near where I had managed to get to a bench.  He ran the lights so the EMTs would know where to find me.  EMTs came, took my blood pressure (yowzer…), asked me a ton of questions and then made me sign a form, telling me it was to verify that they weren’t kidnapping me (his exact words).  Then another set of guys got me into a “gator” and we headed, extremely slowly due to the crowds, to the Emergency Room.

It was kind of quiet when I was there – in addition to an intake area, they actually have a little hospital in the back.  YA mentioned that it looked like all the beds, table and chairs were donated by a bunch of different medical centers – nothing matched.  But it was clean and I was the only patient.  Oscar was my “attending” EMT.  More blood pressure (much lower), more questions.  Another form.  Then they found a very nice volunteer who drove us to the Park `n Ride so that YA could get me home. 

I’m much better now, although not exactly super mobile yet.  I believe the orthopedist is a little sorry he didn’t suggest I take it a little easier or maybe try a wheelchair a couple of the days, but he won’t admit that; he’s “glad I’m out living my life”.  And now I know all about how the emergency services at the fair works!

Have you learned anything new this summer?

2025, Food, Kids, State Fair

Fair Food Roundup – 2025

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I know that I always say that YA and I don’t go to the fair for the food but it would be a lie if we didn’t enjoy the food part of each day.  Here’s a lowdown on the 2025 fair foods for us:

  • Hot Siracha Funnel Cake Bites. This is not a new food but it is still the first thing that I get on the first day of the fair.  It doesn’t hurt that the owners of the stall know me and have the bite dough ready for me; normally they don’t make the bite dough so early because most folks want sweet in the morning.  Savory and just a bit hot with the siracha sauce.
  • Beignets.  This was a new stall this year and they knocked it out of the park.  The beignets were hot, fluffy, just the right amount of powdered sugar.  They also had a lot of tea and coffee selections, although the beverages were on the pricey side.
  • Sweet Squeakers. As always, The Blue Barn knows what we like.  This year’s new offering was cheese curds batter fried with lemon whipped cream and raspberry sauce.  A perfect way to start Day Two.  The pierogies and the French toast bites are still on the menu and we sampled them on Day Three and Four.  Still yummy.
  • Filled Churro and Chimney Cake. I’m putting these together because they were actually similar and disappointing in the same way.  Both were churro/doughnut dough caked and filled with stuff: the churro with Nutella and the chimney cake with ice cream and Nutella (although not much Nutella).  Both suffered by being stuffed which decreased the crunch factor.  Nutella and ice cream however were excellent.
  • Dessert Dog. This is the second year that the West End Creamery was disappointing.  This new food was advertised as ice cream sandwiched between pieces of coffee cake, drizzled with strawberry/rhubarb sauce and on a stick.  First off, the stick was a waste – you could NOT eat this off a stick – fork was required.  The coffee cake was more like cookie dough but not that good.  And the price was outrageous.  Probably no West End Creamery for me next year.
  • Green Apple Sucker Ice Cream. YA had this and informed me immediately that I wouldn’t like it because it tasted exactly like those green apple caramel suckers.  Which she adores and I do not.  Five stars from YA.
  • Jumbo Tater Tots. We finally had these on our final day – YA had been dragging her feet for some reason.  We got the cheese bomb version and they were exactly as expected – huge cheese filled tater tots.  We had sour cream and chives on the side and they were delicious.

All the rest of our favorites were still great:  roasted corn, Hawaiian shave ice, pickle pizza, cheese curds, potato cheddar crepe, blueberry pie and multiple applications of cookies.  Can’t forget to mention my favorite mocktails from Summer Lakes.  They have several varieties and I switch up but my favorite one is the Wedgehammer – orange juice, lemonade, lime juice, ginger and a slice of orange.

When I read through this, it sounds like all we do is eat, but remember all this is spread out over 5-6 days and for the most part we share everything.  There were several new foods we didn’t get to – if they’re still around next year maybe we’ll get to them.

Anything you’ve been craving this week (food or otherwise)?

2025, Kids, Music, State Fair

Happy Together

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While I love the State Fair, I’m not all that big on the grandstand shows.  Not sure why – just not my thing.  Every now and then I go to a show – last one before this year was Garrison Keillor, back in 2017.  

Back in the spring, the Happy Together tour was announced in an email from the State Fair folks.  Later that same day, my friend Lori, who loves the fair as much as I do, emailed me with the dates she and her husband were going to be on the fairgrounds (she lives in Chicago now).  For some reason, the grandstand show and Lori being in town seemed like a sign.  We texted back and forth a bit about going together and then I bought the tickets.

When I was leaving for the fairgrounds on Monday night, YA said “will you know any of the songs?”  Her opinion of my musical knowledge is that I don’t know anything written in the last thirty years.  She might be correct, but I assured her that the 60s and 70s are another thing entirely.

Here was the line-up:  the Cowsills, the Vogues, Gary Puckett, Little Anthony, Jay & the Americans and the Turtles.  Each group got four songs – they all did their most popular and on the fourth song, videos of each group back in the day was aired on the big screens. 

It was a fun show and I DID know all the words to all the songs – and sang them unashamedly (along with everyone else in the grandstand).  It was a little bittersweet though as the 60s is now too long ago for these performers to still be stumping around.  None of the bands had all their original members; only the Cowsills were all Cowsills, just fewer of them.  The Turtles were actually represented by Ron Dante, who was a member of the Archies, but was never a Turtle.  (This turned out to be fun because there was an extra song for that set – Sugar, Sugar, which is one of my favorites.)  And the single performers (Gary P, Little Anthony) were struggling.   And while I know all the words to the Gary Puckett songs (Young Girl, Woman, This Girl is a Woman Now and Lady Willpower), listening to the lyrics in 2025 is a bit…. squirmy. 

If another Happy Together tour comes around and it again features the 60s, I think I’ll take a pass.  Unless it’s for the 70s – then I might give that a go!

Any favorite tune from the 60s?

2025, home, Movies, pets, State Fair

Why Bother with a Pillow?

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When I went to bed the night before Opening Day (do I need to say, of State Fair?), I was ready! 

I had the alarm set for 5:40; I wanted to have enough time to do my leg exercises before we left for the fair.  We normally get home around dinner time and I didn’t figure I would do both sets of exercises at night. 

The turtle bag was packed – everything on the packing list crossed off – cash, coupon booklets, tickets, Tylenol, bandaids, wipes, container for cookies, fan, hat:

Packed and ready to go

I went to bed a smidge earlier than normal, but not too much.  I pet the cat and then snuggled down.  That’s when the trouble started.

Apparently several episodes of Death in Paradise was a bit much for evening viewing.  Woke up from a weird intense dream of bodies floating in the Caribbean.  Dozing off again did not come easily and I ended up turning on “To Catch a Thief”.  Then woke up to the dog whining at 1 a.m. – one of the smoke alarms was squeaking.  Took a few minutes to figure out if it was my room or the hallway and then we had to dig out batteries.  Dozing off again did not come easily.  Ended up reciting A is for antelope, B is for baboon, C is for capybara…. got all the way to the end of the alphabet – twice.    Woke up at 2:30 to make a trip to the bathroom.  This time I ended up turning on Murder on the Orient Express.  At 5:15 I rolled over and when I looked at the time, I just gave it up.  Plenty of time to do my exercises, pick up a bit, feed the critters, water the bales. 

I can’t recall the last time I had such a rough night.  Obviously opening day was clearly keeping me a little over-wired!  Luckily it didn’t keep me from enjoying my first day at the fair and I slept exceedingly well that night.  But I do wonder if I need an updated “go back to sleep” routine?

Why couldn’t Goldilocks sleep?

2025, Family, Food, State Fair

Too Soon

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You all know I’m a little obsessed with a certain event each August.  I like to be organized but normally don’t start getting going until a couple of weeks before (athough before retirement I used to request the days off several months in advance).

YA and the State Fair, on the other hand, are rarin’ to go now.  In the past couple of weeks there has been a barrage of emails.  Grandstand announcements and ticket offers. Highlighted fair beverages (of which there seem to be A LOT).  New vendors and new foods. 

YA has definitely inherited some of my love of lists; over the weekend she came into my room with a pad of paper and announced that it was time to make our food list.  She started doing this a few years ago so that we remember what we want to get while we are at the fair.  This list includes our favorites as well as items from the new foods email that look interesting to us.  It looks like a long list but it’s spread out over several days and we don’t always get to everything.  I did notice that nothing from last year’s new items have jumped to our “old favorites” list.

The floodgates are open now.  I printed off all our tickets as well as my fair packing list.  Can’t go off to the fair without all we need in the turtle bag.  We even started a little pool of cash for the big event.

Anything you’re preparing for (or obsessing over) this summer?

2024, Family, Food, State Fair

Fair Food Review `24

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Another great year at the Fair.  Five trips for me… six for YA (she did a Grandstand show on Tuesday).  As usual, we had a list of foods that we wanted to try; some of them are new offerings this year and some are our annual favorites.  When we started to work on the list, YA said “where is last year’s list” and was disappointed that I didn’t have it on the computer.  So…  now we have a spreadsheet.  Figures.  What follows is this year’s food review.

New Stuff

  • Cookie Butter Crunch Mini Donuts. Vanilla sugar mini donuts topped w/ cookie butter drizzle and Biscoff crumbles.  Not overwhelmed by the Biscoff taste.  They also dipped the edges of the bucket in the cookie crumbs which was cute but VERY messy.
  • Deep Fried Haloumi Cheese. Cheese wrapped in filo and fried, served with sweet chili sauce.  Cheese had an unusual texture – more like thick cottage cheese.  Very very salty.   Could have been much better.
  • Berries & Cream Nordic Waffle. Such a good idea but the problem with the Nordic Waffle is that to make them flexible enough to fold around different items, they have to be on the soft side of cooked.  Doesn’t take long before they’re a little limp and mushy.
  • Chili Mango Whip. YA tried this, as she’s liked the Whip options before.  This was their mango whip with a  “chamoy and tajin” topping.  She said it was “ok” but a little “fake” tasting.  She didn’t have a better explanation.
  • Patata Frita Focacciawich. Kettle chip flavored ice cream between focaccia bread topped w/ honey butter, kettle chips.  Sounded intriguing and smelled marvelous but the focaccia overpowered everything else and the ice cream on it’s own really didn’t have much kettle chip flavor.
  • Amish Donut. In a surprising turn reversal of roles, YA wanted to try to the Amish donut from Peachey’s – enough to stand in line for almost 45 minutes. (I didn’t not stand in line with her – no way I’m waiting that long for anything, even a donut.)  The donut had a great smell of vanilla and sugar but it was heavy and my three bites sat like lumps in my stomach.  We threw the last 1½ donuts away.  That’s right, VS threw donuts away.

 

Oldies but Goodies

So all the new foods we tried this year were a bust.  Luckily there are plenty of other favorites that don’t disappoint!

  • Cheesy Sriracha Funnel Bites. Hot, cheesy fried bites with green onions and sriracha mayo.  They love me here so I get ranch on the side as well for no extra cost!
  • Roasted Corn. Why does it taste better at the fair?
  • Australian Battered Potatoes. We had them with ranch and cheese this year.
  • Sweet Martha’s Cookies. Most dropped food item at the fair… I always bring a Tupperware but still only get the small serving.  They’re really best the first day.
  • Potato Cheese Crepe. YA’s favorite savory breakfast.
  • Pickle Pizza. I could live without this but YA loves it!
  • Brim’s `Sota Jammy Sammy. Almond butter and Minnesota blueberry jam on grilled cinnamon bread.  Yum-O.
  • Cheese Curds. One day we had the garlic ones, yesterday we had the ranch ones.  We always get the smallest dish.  Too many cheese curds can do us both in.
  • Potato Pierogis. Also another savory breakfast with a tangy horseradish sauce.
  • Hawaiian Shave Ice. What can I say?  Gotta have it every trip!

Guess the spreadsheet will be updated for next year by removing the new foods only!

What’s on the menu for your Labor Day?

2024, animals, Food, Kids, State Fair, Weather

Mother Nature – 1. VS & YA – 0.

40 Comments

I’ve been to the Fair in all kinds of weather.  Granted, no snow but light rain, heavy rain, serious winds, tornado watches and heat.  Lots of heat.  In fact, last year there were five days that were 90 degrees and higher.  I was there for two of those days.  The other three days were no slouches either, temperature wise. 

So on Monday bringing in a forecast of 90, we weren’t too worried.  We took our fans and headed out, getting on the first bus and arriving at the fair at 7:45 a.m.  Got a cold bottle of water right away (along with a crepe and cookies….) before heading to the animal barns.  We thought it would be a good strategy to get the barns done before the day got too crazy.  This was a good strategy but after an hour or so petting cows, lambs, goats and horses in non-air conditioned barns, we were squirming.  At that point it was only 80 degrees but the humidity was 85% and you could feel every percent of that.  We were both dripping.

Walked up to the Pet Pavilion to find that the German Shorthair Pointers were not doing any of their demonstrations.  We did pet the dogs that were there and wandered about looking at a few displays but it was brutal.  I would have been willing to sit in the sun (with my fan and my baseball cap) to watch the dog dock diving, as it didn’t require any movement on my part, but YA didn’t want to.  It was nasty enough that neither of us was too interested in food and we’d filled up the water bottle three times.  YA didn’t even last through one level of the Grandstand, which she normally loves – if there was air in there, you couldn’t tell. 

I wasn’t too happy either and I didn’t want to do anything in particular enough to try to coax YA into it.  So for the first time EVER, we headed back to the bus at noon.  Didn’t even pretend that we might come back so skipped getting our hands stamped on the way back.  When the bus arrived, the folks getting off said “it’s freezing on the bus”.  I said “great”. 

When we got home we lounged in the backyard in the shade, filled up Guinevere’s little pool, soaked our feet and tried not to feel completely defeated.

What do you do when it’s hot hot hot?

2023, Family, Food, State Fair

Fair Food – A Review

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This is not only not a comprehensive look at the 2023 State Fair Food Offerings, it is also not objective or even fair.  Just reflections from YA and me.

Don’t Bother

Cheese Curd Dill Pickle Taco.  Sounds good on paper but dill pickle ends up taking away from the cheese curd taste.  It also made the fried taco shell really soggy really fast.

Sweet Corn Ba-Sant.  Marketed as a cross between a bagel and a croissant with a creamy corn custard, this didn’t live up to its hype.  Not a lot of custard and if there was corn in there, I couldn’t tell.  A little dry.

At Least Once Every Year

Sweet Martha Cookies.  Get these early (so you don’t have to wait in a long line) but only get what you think you (and any companions) can eat before the day is up.  Wonderful when warm but “meh” if you still have some around the next day.

Pickle Pizza.  So much better than you expect.  White sauce, garlic, dill and then the sliced pickles.  Not an every day taste, but fun at least once.

Hot Honey Cheese Sticks.  Strips of fried Haloumi cheese slathered with a hot honey sauce (and for some silliness, a sprinkle of honeycomb cereal).  Hot sauce on cheese might not be everybody’s cup of tea, but it didn’t keep YA and I from having it for breakfast more than once.

Yes Yes Yes

Roasted Corn.  Fabulous as always.  Perfectly roasted, dipped in melted butter, salt and pepper.  What more is there to say?

Cheesy Siracha Bites.  Little ball of dough, deep fried and then covered with cheese, green onions and chives.  Served with a siracha sauce that is the perfect hot/not too hot blend.

Hawaiian Shave Ice.  Still the best way to cool down on a hot summer day.  Biggest shave ice on the fairgrounds.  I always do cherry and orange.

Sota Sammie.  Grilled sandwich with peanut butter, almond butter and fresh blueberry jam.  Sounds good and tastes even better.

Deep Fried Blueberry Pie.  Really, how can you go wrong with this.  Freshly fried blueberry hand pie with a scoop of cold vanilla ice cream.  This vendor added a cookie dough version of the pie this year but both YA and I say “why mess with perfection”?

Wedge-Hammer.  Refreshing combo of orange juice, lemonade, ginger and a splash of lime.  Not too sweet so just right for sipping in the sun.

Birthday Cake Mini Donuts.  The big surprise of the year, this new concoction turned out to be great!  The donuts themselves were a little fluffier than the usual mini donuts, doused with a cinnamon sugar mix and then drizzled with icing and sprinkles.  It was the consistency of the donuts that really made this a winner.

There were plenty of other foods and beverages over the visits we made, but we decided these were the highlights.

Can you stomach carnival/fair food?  Any favorites? Any really NOT favorites?

2023, Food, Kids, Mysteries, State Fair

Waiting

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One of the new vendors at the fair this year is a bakery; they have three items on their menu – an Amish donut, a peanut butter chocolate donut and sweet tea.  No coupon.  We stopped by a few time over the last week and the lines were unbelievable.  The photo above was taken at 11 a.m. on Friday and doesn’t even begin to do the line justice.  It was the longest line I’ve ever seen at the fair – even longer than Pickle Pizza last year and Nordic Waffle their first year.  Based on how fast people were being served, I’m guessing people were waiting 45 minutes or so for their donut.  Pickle Pizza and Nordic Waffle at least move faster than that!

I once slept out overnight outside of Dayton’s to get Bon Jovi tickets.  I got to the Fitzgerald at 5 a.m. for the last Morning Show and several baboons waited with me for quite a while for Jim Ed Poole’s service.  And I will admit to sitting outside Aldi’s once a year for 2+ hours to get the wine and cheese advent calendars, but at least I’m one of the first few in line and the wait is spent sitting in my stadium chair.  But I’m generally not good about lines; I tend to start weighing the benefit of what’s at the end of the line versus the time I’m spending standing in it. 

So I’ll be passing on the Amish donut.  If they return next year, maybe it won’t be such a crush.

What are some times you’ve stood on line for a long time?  Was it worth it?

2023, Family, Food, Kids, Mysteries, State Fair

Wagons Ho!

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YA was three when I took her to the fair for the first time.  We took her umbrella stroller although she didn’t use it too much that day (YA never liked any kind of enclosure – no exersaucer, no playpen, no doorway jumper).  The following year we didn’t bother with the stroller at all – she kept up with no issues or complaints.

Since this is our experience, we are both a little surprised at the stroller revolution.  Strollers have gotten bigger and bigger as the years have gone by.  Now there are side-by-side doubles, front to back doubles, not to mention all the additional pockets, cupholders and clip-on fans.  They seem like a lot of trouble to me but they are clearly popular with parents of toddlers.

I shouldn’t be surprised that strollers have taken the next step – wagons.  The fair was full of them – large wagons, almost all with canopies.  They remind me of the old Conestoga covered wagons that took settlers west. Most of them also have a lot of extra storage area and, of course, cup holders.  Most of them have seating and trays (think tv tray) inside.  And have I mentioned storage?  Cookies, stuffed animals, shirts, bubble blowers, straw hats…. If you can find it at the fair, YA and I have probably seen it in one these wagons over the last week.  I saw a handful filled with so much stuff that there wasn’t room for the kids.  On Wednesday, a family with their full wagon held up the bus back to the park `n ride as they figured out what to do with all their stuff before they could fold it up to go in the bus luggage compartment. 

Who know what the next step in stroller evolution will be but for now I’m absolutely sure that if I looked closely enough, I’d find that one of these covered wagons was named “Intimida”!

What would you have wanted in your Conestoga if you were heading west?