Tag: fun

I headed from one sky experience to the other one, with only a quick stop to collect my walking tour prize.

It was interesting to note that the USA representative for Von Roll Ltd. is located in Sun Valley, Idaho.

There was a long line for this, and as I got closer to the front there was a sign that said, “No single riders Friday, Saturday, Sunday.”  I didn’t want to ride with other people!  But I stayed the course and no one said anything as I stood by my lonesome waiting to get on.  It was fun watching the employees helping everyone get onto each gondola. These hold more people, than the chairlifts, so sometimes it would be parents, three little kids, and a stroller being packed in the car in the few seconds they had to load up.

Here I go:

There were not as many people here today as yesterday.  But not by much.  Yesterday the attendance was 254,431, today was 242,759, which was a new attendance record for this day at the fair.  Overall, nearly TWO MILLION people visited the fair this year, making a new record of 1,977,320

Sweet Martha’s cookies has three locations in the fair.  I only passed over this one from the air, but from walking by, I can guess that they all pretty much looked like this one. Shawn says the trick is to go in from the side.

Here’s the giant slide, yet another thing I didn’t get to.

A “backstage” look at some pretty intense cardboard recycling.

Where I ate my cheese curds and key lime pie on a stick

The agriculture building.

Did you want to go through a giant maze while at the fair? You are in luck!

Overall, I preferred the open air Sky Glider to the gondola-like Skyride, but the Skyride does hold more than two people, making it a better choice for families.

Having taken the Fairlift at the Oregon State Fair, I was ready for the Sky Glider at this Fair.

The line was long, so I had time to take pictures of Sky Glider riders.

This was also next to one of three Giant Sing Alongs, where you could group karaoke.

The line I waited in. 

RVs and Fifth Wheels for sale, plus the Space Tower and Great Big Wheel in the background.

Various tractors for kids.

We passed over a few roofs, and I was surprised to see a number of discarded bras.

The Great Big Wheel.  Yet another thing I couldn’t quite fit in.

The “feet” picture.

Me with the Great Big Wheel

Maybe you’re in the market for a new riding mower?

There was a rental space, where Molly & Bob had chosen to celebrate their 50th anniversary.  The other half of the rental space was a wedding!

Looking to buy some kids’ play equipment?  Lowest prices of the year.

So many people.

The Eco Building had all sorts of fun stuff, like this tall, talking Paul Bunyan  He demonstrated not just recycling, but why it’s important to think before you buy.

Air hockey?  Nope.  It’s time to defend your storm drain.

Here’s an illustration of the water table.

And a bar that serves water.  Speaking of, the Eco Building had water bottle refill stations and no line for the bathrooms.

If you wanted, you could pedal a bike and make this bigger bike go.

There was a display of a variety of different bikes used in Minnesota.

Outside the Eco Building, you could try your hand at log rolling.  It looked pretty difficult.

These two participants fell off quickly. Here are the rules.

Look at this glorious Art Deco building!  The Walking Tour brochure says: “Concrete in the building’s horizontal base and central tower conveys a sense of strength meant to boost morale during [the Great Depression.]”

I am here to see the production of “More Than a Wish.”  The State Arts-In is something I’ve never heard of before, so I’m guessing this is a unique-to-Minnesota 4-H experience, or only happens in states where 4-H is a Very Big Deal.  From the brochure:

Minnesota 4-H State Arts-In is a life-changing experience for youth 15-19 years old from across the state. While at State Arts-In, participants develop lifelong skills, and have the opportunity to work closely with professionals who serve as mentors. Each year, 4-H State Arts-In youth perform at least 35 full shows to more than 12,000 audience members.

According to what I’ve pieced together from what the performers told me during the performance and the State Arts-In Facebook page, Prep Week begins on August 10.  At that point, 35 performers, 9 band members, 18 technical crew and 5 costumers from “across the state” (though 34 of 67 come from Anoka county) arrive and create a unique, 30-minute musical which is written, choreographed and staged by the teenagers themselves. Synopsis: Everyone arrives at this beautiful mansion for a fancy party they’ve been invited to.  No one knows why they have been invited. As the songs and exposition unfold it turns out that a brother and sister live at the mansion.  A few people remember helping them out, like when one paid for their gas when they didn’t have any money.  Eventually the brother/sister team reveals that had some hard times in the past, but everyone in the room had helped the brother/sister team at some time.  So that’s why you should always be good people. The End.

There was the guys showcase.

Early on, the girls all shed their long skirts for shorter party dresses, and the guys took off their tuxes.

The Girls had a showcase song/medly too.

Overall, this was a great bit of fun at the fair.  I could have watched it several times.

I had to hurry down Judson Ave to hit up a few more walking tour spots.  Then I had to hurry back to other way to get to the 4-H building.  Here’s what I saw along the way.

Judson Ave at this particular time had fewer people on it.  That made for some fast walking.  Here come some horses and riders. 

Local blue cheese?  Don’t mind if I do.  (At this point a pie chart of my fair food consumption will show that cheese was a major part of my fair sustenance.)

Outside of the swine barn I saw some cattle coming from the AgStar Arena and headed to the Cattle Barn.

Tag!  Swine barn hole punch.  Now it’s back toward the 4-H building.

On the way I followed this guy, who I assume worked in the Haunted House. (Yes! Your Haunted House needs can also be met at the Minnesota State Fair!) He had knife/finger things on his other hand and got a lot of looks.

I couldn’t figure out why I kept seeing so many of these cups.  It turned out these were the souvenir cups.  If you bought one, refills were cheaper. 

I opted for a plain old root beer in a normal cup.

What else can you get on a stick at the fair?  The Libertarians have Freedom available on a stick. 

Let’s look at the baby animals!  The informational sign says that they choose animals that are comfortable giving birth around humans.  Good thing, too, because there were a lot of humans in the Miracle of Birth Center.

Goats! Ducklings?  Goslings? Cygnets? I do not know.  I failed on the learning point, but aren’t they cute?

Sheep!

Piglets!  (There were a couple of ones on the end who weren’t very good at finding the right thing to suckle.)

Calf!  Born this very day at 8AM! Unlike the show barns where the animals are super shiny and clean, there was still afterbirth hanging from the mama cow.

More piglets!

Hens doing their egg thing.

The Miracle of Birth Center was fun!

I missed another butter princess being sculpted.  Today there seemed to be butter shavings left on the ground. I don’t remember those from yesterday.

This group held up boxes of Wild Rice and called out that they were one dollar.  I bought one.

Maybe you want to look at some sun porches or play houses?  This is your place.  The guy in this picture commented after I took it that he hadn’t seen a “real camera” in a very long time.  This kind of comment always annoys me because 1) It’s not like I just took a time machine from decades ago and used some item that no one has even seen for fifty years. It’s a friggin’ digital camera and takes better pictures (and faster) than the phone.  Also, 2) I saw multitudes of people with cameras after he said that.  Sheesh.

Do you have go-cart needs at the fair?  Those needs can be met.  Do  you need to float on a tube through a man-made water/river situation?  The Minnesota State Fair is your place.

Hey look! I found the history museum at the fair.  It was crammed full of pioneer stuff, and signs.

Like this sign that was made back before the computers would do the writing for you.

And what did I find at the museum?  A post office.  With super cool envelopes and a special fun stamp saying it was mailed from the Pioneer Log Cabin.  And what did I do?  I sat on a chair in the breezeway between the two cabins and wrote two letters, one to myself and one to Sara.  It was fun to sit for a while, though the dumpster was right behind the log cabin and the breeze wasn’t running in my favor.  But there was another plus…. (pause so you can take in all the colors of thread on display) And the tools, like that tatting shuttle.

And this crazy quilt.  When we looked at the quilts yesterday, there wasn’t a crazy quilt among them.  They are not in fashion right now.

Here’s the other thing that was fun.  This nice lady played the piano as I wrote. She played a lot of standards and Vaudville-era songs, plus some hymns.  She would pause briefly at the end of the song to turn the page, and when she did, the other man in the room, a gentleman with a straw boater, would clap for her.  It was a pleasant respite. And here’s the gentleman in the straw boater.  I didn’t realize as I was writing my letter that he was making cut-paper animals.  He gave them away to children when they passed by.

Outside the Ramberg Center, was this statue of a pioneer woman.

The Ramberg Center had rocking chairs, a four-piece a capella group singing songs from the 1950s and 60s and virtually no line for the bathroom.  Win!

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.

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.