or share the same passion for it as I do.
Round one of the fair this year I got to experience with my mom. We went the first day the fair opened and got there by 10am. We always tour the barns and see the animals first before they get too crowded and before the heat makes them smell worse than what they already do. We saw little piggies being born this year in the miracle birth barn, a little calf, a cow that had grey rings around its black spots, some bunnies, chickens, sheep, goats, horses, an alpaca with very messed up teeth and wild hair, and the anticipated ginormous pig.
As we ate our way through the fair, we watched the parade and toured many of the buildings. That's one thing my mom and I have always enjoyed doing at the fair. We love looking especially in the creative arts building and the 4H building at all the arts and crafts people have created, made, and sewn. I also did the Marine challenge. Women had to hang from the pull-up bar as long as they could. A couple years ago I did it the full 90 seconds to win a T-shirt. This year I could only hang there for 47 seconds… Oh well! I still got a drawstring bag!
Round one of the fair this year I got to experience with my mom. We went the first day the fair opened and got there by 10am. We always tour the barns and see the animals first before they get too crowded and before the heat makes them smell worse than what they already do. We saw little piggies being born this year in the miracle birth barn, a little calf, a cow that had grey rings around its black spots, some bunnies, chickens, sheep, goats, horses, an alpaca with very messed up teeth and wild hair, and the anticipated ginormous pig.
My friend Bobby's family owns a tree farm and they had over 10 trees at the fair that had won prizes! Wolcyn Tree Farms located in Cambridge, MN. Check them out this Christmas season!
Of course one of the great things about the fair is eating a bunch of food. My one thing I make sure I get every single year (multiple times) is Dole Whip. I discovered it about five years ago and have been a loyal customer ever since. Dole Whip is a soft serve frozen dessert that is a puree reconstituted with water and then frozen before serving. It is SO GOOD! My favorite is the pineapple, raspberry, or the twist of the two (basically the only flavors besides vanilla). Here is everything I ate with my mom:
We started our day off by splitting a foot long hot dog
My fair favorite: Dole Whip this is the pineapple
A huge beef jerky stick… it was longer than that to begin with
The famous Mouse Trap cheese curds
A pina colada smoothie and a pork chop on a stick.
My mom and I spent a good eight hours at the fair that day. We were both tired, but I couldn't wait to get back for more! Thanks mom for taking a day off work to keep our tradition going of visiting the fair. I enjoyed our time together and am thankful that you like to look through the buildings so I have someone to do that with.
I got to spend my round two with my good friend Laura who is also a passionate fair goer (it was her round 3). We went around dinner time about six days after I had gone with my mom. We wanted to enjoy the fair in the evening and take in all the lights and night life. We basically ate and walked around the fair. I tried all new food this round of the fair and I loved all of it. My list definitely grew for next year! The first thing we ate was french fried ravioli. We had the meat stuffed and spinach and artichoke stuffed ones. They were so good!
Next we had a pretzel dog which is basically a foot-long hot dog on a stick with a pretzel wrapped around it and you dip it in a cheese sauce. I will definitely be having this one first thing next year!
Last, but not least, we had the deep fried cookie dough. I wanted to try this one last year when it was new, but the stand closed before I could get there so I tried it with Laura. It was phenomenal! I will definitely get this again next year, but I will be splitting it with more than just one other person. We couldn't eat anything else the rest of the night because the ooey gooey cookie dough on a stick left us feeling sick after eating the whole thing between the two of us.
Ooey, gooey cookie dough on a stick.
Once we couldn't eat any more we walked around the fair, people watched (the fair brings out some interesting individuals), and checkout out all the cool rides lit up at the midway.
This is a sculpture made out of all the garbage found in the different lakes in MN. It's one of my favorite things to look at each year because I can't believe how much garbage is found in the lakes (and some of the things found in the lakes) and it's cool to see the sculpture they put together with it.
The sun setting on the fair
Some of the cool rides lit up in the midway.
One of my favorite rides to see lit up at night. I have to walk through the midway every year just to see the ferris wheel.
Laura and I
Laura and I spent about four hours at the fair. Thanks for going with me my fellow fair lover! I had a blast with you trying all the new foods I'd never had before! After two rounds of the fair, I still hadn't had enough. I was patiently anticipating my round three. I still had a list of food to eat and some things to see. Most of all I was excited to spend time with my dad. We went the second to last day of the fair. It was extremely crowed! The fair is always crowed, but the streets were packed this day to the point where a short child would get lost very easily. There also wasn't any grass left where there should be grass. It was trampled down to the dirt so it was a very dusty day too.
We started off our day by having some lunch:
I had a corn dog (a fair classic that I hadn't done yet) and my dad had some BBQ boneless wings with fries.
Of course we had to pick up my fair favorite: Dole Whip
This time I had a twist cone and my dad tried Dole Whip for his first time!
Then we met up with my cousin Annie and some friends to share some cream puffs and fried pickles:
After all that eating we took a break in the International Bizarre and listened to a band while I got a henna tattoo.
Later in the day we meandered up to the North Woods area to get some snacks. We got hot apple dumplings and some kettle corn to share while we watched an amateur show on a random stage.
For dinner we had some corn on the cob from the corn stand. It's seriously some of the best corn I've ever had. A fun fact about the corn: It is grown in my hometown Monticello, MN especially for the fair every year. Of course I need to get the corn at least once while I'm there!
Another must on my list at least once a year is the deep fried snickers on a stick. I had this for the first time three years ago and I've gotten it every year since. Next year I might try the deep fried oreos. I heard those are pretty good too!
One thing that was new at the fair this year was raspberry wine ice cream. I heard it was a must-try, but I was so full from everything else that I just sampled it. It doesn't beat my Dole Whip, but it sure is good! I might have to split some with someone next year!
Raspberry wine ice cream sample and some caramel apples
Every year on the last Sunday of the fair there's the talent show finales. My in-laws introduced this to me a few years ago. I wasn't able to make it last year, but this year my dad and I decided to meet up with my in-laws and go. There was some really good talent. We saw two young brothers play a piano duet (they were so cute), a young girl sing a song in opera, a young boy dance to Michael Jackson (he was really good), a teenage boy do a cool yo-yo routine, and many other interesting acts. It was fun to watch and best of all: It was free!
A beautiful sunset from the grand stand while waiting for the talent show to start.
Watching the talent show. The stage looked cool all lit up.
My husband Andrew doesn't share the same passion about the fair as I do. He went with me last year and decided to take the year off this year. He's not a fan of the crowds, the slow meandering walk, and all the fried food. He had one request though: he really wanted me to bring him home some of the famous Sweet Martha's Cookies. My dad insisted I had to bring him home more than just a small cone of cookies, so my dad bought him a bucket of cookies… Let's just say they didn't even make it a week in our household.
After a long and hot third round at the fair, I was ready to head home and take a cool shower. We had spent about ten hours at the fair that day. Thanks so much dad for spending the day with me! I really enjoyed our time together and all the yummy food we shared!
Me and my dad at the end of the long, hot day
Met up with my cousin Annie and friends at the end of the day again for fireworks.
After experiencing the fair three different times, spending a total of twenty two hours at the fair, and eating everything and more on my list, I'd definitely say it was a successful year at the Minnesota State Fair. I can now say I'm ready for fall and to put my gym membership to good use after eating all that fried food! Here's until next year Minnesota State Fair!
man! i LOVE the state fair! so bummed that i wasn't able to go this year :( NEXT YEAR IT IS! my goal is to always go with parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles... you know, people who INSIST on paying for the whole day. i can't complain :)
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