Category: To Occupy my Time

Minnesota State Fair Day Two: Fair Food

Yesterday, I chickened out of the line for the Mouth Trap’s deep fried cheese curds.  Today I stood in the line and was rewarded with these stomach-sitting delights.

I sat to eat them and discovered that in 1995 a nice planting area was dedicated to Minnesota Veterans.  And then some time after that, a wall was built up around the area, presumably so people could sit.  

Next, I tried Key Lime Pie on a stick.  This was my only “on a stick” experience.  At the end of the night I attempted to partake of Olive on a Stick, but that place was closed.

Key Lime Pie on a stick was very good.  I liked that when I bit into it, it wasn’t freezing cold like ice cream.

Some fair volunteers, taking a rest, sitting very close to where I was sitting when I took the above picture of the plaque.

Minnesota State Fair Day Two: Space Tower

After the parade, I got in line for the Space Tower.  I’m a fan of seeing things from up high.  This was my first of three views today from contraptions that put me in the air.  This picture has information about the Space Tower.  (Sadly, I have no picture of the space tower itself.  Just the view from it.  You can see it in this YouTube Video.)

I got to hear the University Marching Band while I was waiting in line.  (The line for this was rather short, which was nice.)  They played Smashmouth.  I felt old.

I hadn’t noticed yesterday, that these benches, which are all over the fairgrounds, are personalized.  For joining the fair foundation at the Silver Level ($2,500) you get a bench, among other things.

Here’s a collage of my journey up the Space Tower.  On the way back down I took and posted an Instagram video.

Minnesota State Fair Day Two: History Walking Tour

I had several goals for my fair visit today:  Seeing the parade; seeing the 4-H Arts-In; seeing the Amateur Talent Contest; riding various things that would take me up in the air; and also doing the Walking Tour.

There are 12 stops on the walking tour.  If you visit 8 of 12, you get a prize.  “PLUS the added bonus of walking approximately 2 miles!” says the brochure.

The walking tour took me all day as I wandered hither and yon.  But here are all the walking tour pictures, in the order they were encountered, in one post.  I visited 11 of 12 sites, only missing reading the informative sign at the Grandstand, though I did visit the grandstand itself, the shops under it and the ramp with the Yarn Bombs.

Sites 1 and 2 are easy.  They are right inside the main gate.

Though it was fun to come on the bus, what if the streetcar brought you right into the fair?  It used to “…until the ’50s when its usage declined with a new mode of public transport: the bus”  (Also because the car companies paid for the destruction of streetcar tracks, but I digress.)  This arch was reinstalled in 2014. The Skyride was installed in 1964 when the fair theme was “Pageant of Midwest Progress.”  Apparently, many amusement parks have removed their gondola-across-the-park rides.  This is terrible news.  In other news, there will be a Skyride post forthcoming! Hey look!  I’ve made my way back to Fairchild, who was also in yesterday’s post.  He’s been the State Fair mascot since 1966.  He’s named after Henry S. Fairchild, the guy who, in 1885, solved the Twin Cities conundrum as to who would permanently host the fair by persuading both cities to agree to a spot between them.  Fairchild is part of the daily parade, with his sidekick and nephew Fairborne, who appeared in 1983.

Speaking of, this is my only picture of the parade, but there are some princesses, and Fairchild/borne.  Other cool things in the parade:  the University of Minnesota Marching Band, really big fiberglass farm animals, plus some other bands. Food! It used to be, way back in the beginning, people would bring their food to the fair.  But now, there’s no need.  There are so many food options. 

Deep fried apple pie, anyone?   Many people said yes.  There was a line.  There was a line for everything. Even the milk booth.

Here’s a fellow fair-goer memorialized forever on this blog.  Hi, buddy!  Apparently, he’s partaken of Mr. Pillow. He’s blocking the sign for the Dairy Building, which you will recall I visited yesterday to see the butter princesses.  The brochure tells me those blocks of butter weigh 90 pounds!  Also that this butter sculpture thing isn’t new. In 1910 there was a full-sized Teddy Roosevelt.

Here we are at the sign for the CHS Miracle of Birth Center.  Though the brochure talks about genesis of this attraction, it does not tell me what CHS stands for.  While I find the name to be awkward, who can resist baby animals?  There’s a full post about this place.

Here’s a part of Fair History I only have a picture of from the outside.  (There was just too much to do–I didn’t see everything.)  This is where people go to watch things like the Supreme Six-Horse Hitch class.  (I don’t know what that is.)  Apparently, this building also once had an ice rink, but it closed in 2014.

Swine Barn!  We went here yesterday, but I have no pictures, due to low light conditions. Completed in 1936 by the WPA!  In WWII, all animal barns became a military aircraft propeller plant.  This is also where you can get your pig ear headbands.  I saw a lot of people wearing them.

Machinery Hill. I skipped this too.  Farm Machinery?  Not really my thing.

Walking tour sites visited, but neglected to take a picture of:  J.V. Baley House.  I’m sad I don’t have a picture of this one.  The greenhouse superintendents used to live in this house, right on the state fair property.  That’s something that has disappeared in this modern world: free housing as part of your salary.  Now this house is the home of the Minnesota State Fair Foundation.

4-H building!  I went there yesterday.  I returned today.  I neglected to get a picture of the walking tour sign. It’s another WPA building.  Apparently there are dormitories upstairs?  What?  4-H participants stay in the 4-H building during the fair?  Oh my gosh!

Having punched all but one of my circles, I headed to the Heritage Center.

And here’s my prize! Postcards! (Big win for me.) A pennant, and a collapsible water bottle.  Very fun!

The Heritage Center has interesting exhibits that I would have loved to have taken more time with.

Minnesota State Fair Day Two: Getting the Fair to the Fair

It’s Day Two of the Fair!  On this day, Shawn & Sara have church things to do, so I am returning for a day of fair on my own.

Here’s a great view of the RVs of the people who stay at the fair.  I’m curious what they pay, but the website right now is cleared of all information until the 2018 rates become available. 

I was also impressed at how closely these trucks were parked together.  I personally don’t have a good handle on where the edges of the car I’m driving are, so I can’t imagine pulling a semi so close to another semi.

Minnesota State Fair Day One: Winding Down

We visited the shopping area under the grandstand.  There were many ways to part with your money, including some ice cream, spread thin, and then rolled up.  Sara and I opted for this photo. You can see Shawn and Sara also took pictures here when they visited the fair a few days before I arrived.  

At this point, I was very thirsty, and Shawn and Sara decided to partake of some roasted corn. We first visited this ticket booth (right next to the gator on a stick) to get tickets that would allow us a “pop” (me) and sweet corn (Shawn & Sara)

Then, it was a matter of getting to the front of the large conglomeration of people all headed in the same direction.  There was no “line.”  I used my skills–moving through crowds is one of my secret talents–but got stuck for a long time in front of a woman who had a technique going.

All of those kids in the picture below new their jobs. One or two people pulled corn out of the oven into bins, bunches of people pulled back the husks (leaving them on–they served as holders.) Then other people would grab an ear of corn in each hand and walk up to the counter.  People would hold up their ticket, and exchange it for an ear of corn, usually stopping to pour salt or a cinnamon sugar blend (?) on their ear, or wrap it in foil.  Every once in a while, someone would squeegee off the counter.

The woman in front of me was getting perhaps 10 ears of corn. But she would look at each ear going by and only hold up her ticket if it was a particularly big ear.  So it took forever for her to clear out and for me to step up to the counter.  Once I got my drink, I just had wiggle back out of the crowd.

Corn eaten, pop drunk, we headed for the shuttle buses.  There was a long line (as with everything at the fair) but it gave me a chance to get some photos of the changing lights on the Ferris Wheel.

When it was time for our shuttle we were ferried home in “choir bus” luxury.

Day One at the Fair was a grand success!  I was so glad to attend with seasoned fair-goers.  I would have been overwhelmed without them there to show me the ropes.

Minnesota State Fair Day One: Yarn Bomb

Walking up to the Grandstand shops, we were afforded this nice view:

And also the great Minnesota Yarn Bomb.  Much yarn bomb knitting on display!

Also, these women, getting their photo taken, plus another woman who was either incredibly aloof, or just not with them.

Yarn bomb horse! (With corn dog) Minnesota nice, and the works of Crochet Twin Cities

Another horse

A view of the crowd.

Sara was enlisted to take a photo of some fair-goers, so I took the opportunity to take a photo of her taking a photo.

A knit Elvis

And more ways to illustrate the crowds.

Fun, food-inspired yarn bombs, with model, complete with foot kick.

Some memorializing of Prince

Minnesota State Fair Day One: Let’s visit the animals

These bunnies have a black stripe down their back.

We watched this goat contest long enough to see the winners.

The announcer said a lot of words into his microphone, but they weren’t very articulated words, so I caught pieces here and there.  (Acoustics might also have contributed to the problem.)

We were sitting in the bleachers, but many people stopped wandering and watched the contest.

Some post-contest chatting.

Grooming stations.

Cows! I was starting to lose the light and animals tend to be too twitchy for low-light situations.  Thank goodness these two were sleeping.

Past winners.

Minnesota State Fair Day One: Agricultural Building & Crop Art

We headed to the Agricultural Building.  It’s a great Art Deco monolith.  You’ll see it from above later.

Pike Schemes never misses a head-in-the-hole opportunity.  Sara and I partook.  Shawn captured us nicely, I think.  (Until I set up this post, I had no idea what the front of this display looked like.)

There were other agriculture props for us.

Corn.  And some winning corn.

We stood in line to see the Crop Art.  I didn’t even know it was a thing, but boy, is it a thing.  There are rules (only seeds that can produce a crop in Minnesota) and anyone who enters will have their work displayed.  There is even a category for out-of-state people. I noticed Portland author Cathy Camper’s had a piece entered.  I had no idea she did crop art.

There were a lot of political themes.  You can see how the artists had to also display a key of what made up their seed art.

I thought this one had the best use of  a hashtag.

These shoes seemed to be an example of seed art gone wrong. (Sorry Susan.)

Some of them looked more like paintings, like that one of Buster Keaton.  And it’s always nice to see RBG in the house.

This intricate entry caused a lot of cheery commentary.

Sweet Martha’s Cookies are only available at the fair. (And apparently, three other events.)  The lines are long. They come in a bucket, lovingly rendered here, in seed art form. More amazing crop art.

My favorite was this map of Minnesota authors.

Here was another well-done political seed art.

Aside from a variety of scarecrows, there were also vintage feed sacks to look at.

Also, the bathrooms in the Agriculture building were great. There was a woman working the door, who would monitor stall usage and tell the first person in line which stall to go to.  This meant no looking under the stalls or wandering about.  Very efficient!

In the Minnesota Fruit section was my one of my favorite fair items.

Frozen cider!  Inexpensive and so delicious!  I bought one the next day, too.