The Minnesota State Get-Together!

Today I attended the Minnesota State Fair with a friend of mine from school back home, her twin sister, and their mom (and later, dad). I arrived at the fairgrounds at 8:30am (the grounds opened at 6) after finding my way to a free shuttle so I wouldn't have to park at the fair. An hour later I met up with my friends, and our adventure began!

I started my fair experience culinarily, of course! I had a fried egg and bacon sandwich; deliciously simple. After breakfast we went to a llama judging, where youngsters showed their llamas. It was interesting...and Minnesotan! After the llamas we wandered over to the swine barn, where we saw the pigs and sheep that were being shown, as well as the state's largest boar: four years old and 1,310lbs! From there we followed the line of barns and saw the cows; bummer, we just missed the milking! As we were walking out of the cow barn, a HUGE cow was walked past us. I tried to snap a photo, but couldn't quite get it. But trust me, it was HUGE!

Next was the Mircale Birth Center, where, if you you're lucky, you can witness a farm animal giving birth! Right there! Veternarians were on stand-by. But again, nothing was being birthed while we were there. Darn...? Next up was the Diary Barn! I had been ordered (note: not just encouraged or recommended, but strictly ordered) to get ice cream while were there; I did. My host treated me to a caramel apple malt, with real apple chunks and caramel on top of the ice cream. It was good, but a little too sticky when I dripped some caramel and ice cream over the edge of the cup. Also in the dairy barn was the butter sculptures. I'm not even kidding. The winners of a kind of beauty contest among young ladies from dairy families had their likenesses carved into butter. They sat in a chilled room (around 40 degrees) for 6-8 (with breaks). They start with a 90# block of butter. Seriously. No joke. A 90 pound block of butter. Then, after the fair is over, the winners take their butter heads home to do with what they please (Imagine Sunday morning over pancakes, "Dad, can you please pass the butter? I'd like the nose please. Or the left ear. That'd be about right."). I heard that most donate their butter selves to local clubs or churches who do pancake or lefsa feeds after the fair. Crazy, but Minnesotan!

Next up was the poultry barn where we were able to listen in to the rooster crowing context. They counted how many times each rooster in the round crowed in 5 minutes (or something like that). It was strange. But kind of fun to see all sorts of different roosters, turkeys, chickens, ducks, geese, and ganders. And right next door were the goats. So we walked around looking at them too.

Next we did some window shopping, ending up at the Horticulture center where they had the largest produce of Minnesota on display. My favorite was the zucchini club. Next was the Crop Art, where all the pictures we created out of seeds exclusively from MN. The Obama picture made me laugh, as did the Frank Sinatra and Sherlock Holmes likenesses. Also a part of that exhibit was the scarecrow competition. There were some clever entries, like the shark and the space man.

Another staple of the fair were a smorgesboard of "As Seen on TV" type infomertials, including the Sham-Wow and a nice set of knives. Next were the quilts, including a huge Candy Land game board. Clever and funny. We just walked around for a while after that, seeing the tractors lined up, the Spam store, a Swedish Lutheran Church booth serving breakfast (including egg coffee), and some touristy photo spots.

I was excited for the next stop: lunch! The food bulding, a mecca of the culinary Minnesotan masterpieces, such as: S'mores on a stick, Spaghetti and Meatball dinner on a stick (which I had; messy and awkward, but I've now had spaghetti and meatballs dipped in batter and deep fried), deep fried cheese curds, and Swedish Meatballs on a stick. Crazy fun.

Next was the Barrel Races. It was as close to a rodeo as I've ever been. Those horses can move! They've got a lot of weight to throw around. It was impressive. Also impressive were the performers in the daily parade, including my host's high school marching band. That sure brought back memories. Good times.

Oh. My. Goodness. After the parade we shared something incredible and amazing: a deep fried Snickers bar. No joke. Topped with powdered sugar. The chocolate, caramel, and peanuts were all melty and mixed in the middle, but held in place by the fried batter. Strange but too delicious for my own good. I'm glad I only had a few bites (though I certainly wanted more)!

More walking around and window shopping brought up to Sweet Martha's Cookie Jar, where we purchased a bucket of chocolate chip cookies to share. I still have a third of it left. And you know how much I love cookies. Baked fresh and plopped in buckets. We carried our buckets to the Got Milk? kiosk where we could buy a cup of milk (12oz), either chocolate or plain, for $1. The best part of it, though, is that it's all you can drink, as long as you bring back your cup. Delicious.

More walking and more sight seeing brought us back to the rodeo stadium where we watched a boring show of horses while munching on delicious cookies. After battling the urge to nap, we decided to refill our milk glasses and wander more. After much wandering we made it to the beer gardens, where we enjoyed a chef's salad, fried cheese curds, and Summit Brewery's Pale Ale (a local product, brewed in St Paul). After chatting with the locals and resting in the shade, it was time to find my host's father who was joining us late. He treated me to a corn dog sheathed in mustard, which I enjoyed as we toured another tractor exhibit. My host's dad was feeling overly generous, as he treated me again, along with his daughter, to an ice cream cone. Delicious. Some of the best plain vanilla ice cream I've ever had.

Shortly after, we wandered back to the grandstands, where my hosts had tickets to see Garrison Keeler record his radio program. They were super excited. So as they went to the show, I left and went back to the bus to take me 'home'. Overall, I spent a full 11 hours at the Minnesota State Fair. My research there was delicious and resulted in my stomach being stretched beyond my imagination. But here I am, still munching on a few cookies, debating if I want to go back tomorrow. Below please find a few select photos from my day.