2009 MN State Fair, trip 1

Blog Reader Kristen and I kicked off the State Fair festivities yesterday. We took the bus and got there around 5pm. It was the first day of the fair and the weather was perfect. Nick was upset that he wasn’t able to go with us, but he had a prior engagement of softball to attend.

We started out with one corn dog each (corn dogs, not pronto pups) at the Poncho Dog stand and they were delicious. After wondering around aimlessly for a bit (no Nick to make decisions and lead the way) we decided to go look at animals. BRK wanted to check out the biggest pig in the world or something of that nature. On the way to the barns we passed a booth that served sweet potato fries and decided to give them a try. I thought they were good, a little sweeter than I expected (tasted like some sort of brown sugar coating) and a little soggier than was really appetizing. It made them hard to dip in the sour cream and we had to stop at the next booth and set them on the ledge to eat so we could get a better grip on the slippery little things. Then we realized we were at a delicious looking smoothie stand, so we split a pina colada smoothie.

Next we visited the horse barn. I was glad I had reasonable tennis shoes on because the chick in front of me stepped in a pile of road apples and got a foot full of poop. After that we looked at the cows, sheep and pigs, finally finding Minnesota’s Biggest Boar, some 1300 lbs of pure pig. I like horses, sheep when they’re entirely shaved (the ones with black faces are cool) and baby anythings. I don’t particularly care for the way any of them smell and it kind of grossed me out watching all the people eating their dinners in the barns.

Once we got some fresh air our appetites returned. We headed toward the Empire Commons to get twist cones, but not before BRK snarfed down another corn dog (same stand). We enjoyed our cones which we agreed seemed much smaller than last year.

We paused at the Leinie’s stage to watch part of the amateur talent contest, but that was short lived. We also stopped to watch a group of Cloggers for a bit. For the record Tap is way cooler, and as I was explaining this to BRK we stumbled across the end of the Lumberjack show, and since the show is right next to Henry’s Kettle Korn I decided to get a bag. I was pleasantly pleased to find out they were offering a half filled small bag for $3 this year. It’s still too much for two people to eat at once, but not so much that it won’t be gone by the next time I visit the fair (oh yeah, I take it home with me). We watched the end of the Lumberjack show, Kristen secretly swooned over the guy from The Real World and then we continued walking on.

I was parched from holding off on any beverages until I found a place that sold souvenir cups, and at the end of Machinery Hill I saw one. I paid $5 and got a Diet Coke. Kristen could have scored a discounted lemonade, but since hind sight is 20/20 she paid full price instead.

Next we wondered through the Pet Center. They had some awesome cat stands in there. I also found a possible replacement for Boo’s favorite stick toy that’s falling apart, but I wasn’t sure if I should get her a new once since she likes her old one so much. They also had some mice there that are similar to the ones she likes now, so I might have to pick some up on the next trip. They had some cute dogs, my favorites are always the retired racing Greyhounds.

After the Pet Center we found the stands that have some new foods. The steak dinner on a stick sounds good, but it was $7.50. They didn’t have any made up that I could look at so I didn’t get one. If it was small I didn’t want to pay the high price, but I wasn’t hungry enough to eat a large food item. Catch 22. Kristen just thought it would be easier to eat a third corn dog so she did, this time trying a different brand.

It was starting to get dark and a bit chilly. We split a homemade Nut Roll then stopped for fried flour tacos at El Sol. Kristen dripped grease all over her pantaloons. Gotta use the tin foil to your advantage BRK. We passed a pretzel stand and I couldn’t pass it by. It was a nice respectable stand that didn’t charge extra for cheese and only charged $4 for a souvenir cup.

I was glad to have consumed the pretzel before we ran into butt crack chick. Kristen spotted her, she must have been blinded by the 6” of exposed crack. It was just one of the many interesting things we saw that night (chicklet, Esprit bag, multiple fanny packs, guy with rolled up jorts…).

We took a stroll through Heritage Square, but it was about the time everything was closing down. The turkey leg booth was having a BOGO sale, so I think next time I’m going to save some room in my belly and hope it’s a nightly occurrence. We were full, but we couldn’t leave without Sweet Martha’s Cookies. Well I probably could have, but not knowing whether or not BRK would be making another visit this year I talked her into getting a cone of cookies. I wish they would do a half filled cone like the half filled kettle korn, or maybe just a cone filled to the top instead of stacked 10 cookies high.

Kristen washed down the cookies with a lemonade Vitamin Water. I thought about refilling my souvenir cup, but it was packed away nicely in my satchel. We swung by the Tiny Tim Mini Donut booth before leaving so we could say hello to Jordon. We ended up getting a bag of minis, only because he wouldn’t just give BRK one (one mini, not one bag). We ate a couple and I brought the rest home for Nick.

I was updating my BlackBerry periodically through the night so I could remember everything we ate. Of course after we were all done I had the brilliant idea of taking a photo of everything we got. It would be easier and more visually interesting for my loyal readers. Next time I’ll have to bring a camera.