We went to the Minnesota State Fair yesterday & had a good time. The weather wasn’t too hot & it wasn’t too terribly crowded.
The last time we went it was really hot and we spent a lot of time in the animal barns and looking at farm machinery. Mr. Pennies has no connection to farming, but he loves all this just the same. We looked at antique tractors this time & when he went to see the animals I went to the crafts buildling. Much less stinky. We watched the high school rodeo–lots of fun to see those kids have such energy & spirit. The English horse show was great to see the horses. Plus you get to sit during these horse shows/rodeos.
The very best thing I had at the fair was the cold, cold milk for a dollar with free unlimited refills. I could only drink 2 cups as it was when we were leaving. Next time we’ll be stopping by there earlier in the day.
The next best thing was a fresh salmon wrap with romaine, chopped onions, chopped green peppers, and some cream cheese. Yum. We also enjoyed the hot french fries with catsup. Corn dogs at $3 each were cheap, but not that great. We skipped the deep-fried twinkies, etc. but did enjoy an apple dumpling (just warm apple pie) with vanilla ice cream on top. Pretty good, but not as good as my grandmother used to make. She’d core an apple, stuff the hollow with raisins, sugar, & cinnamon, then wrap it all in pie crust. After baking she topped it with a whiskey sauce made with whole cream. Sigh.
Then it was off to have a Leinenkeugels Honey Weiss & watch the free concert at the Leinie Pavilian. If you get there early enough you can relax in the Adirondack chairs. Junior Brown’s concert was a combination of Western swing, blues guitar, a little Beach Boys car songs, and occasionaly some Jimi Hendrix guitar riffs. Quite a mix from a very talented guy.
We took the free bus to & from the fair, saving us the aggravation of battling the traffic. From the time we left to the time we got back was 11 hours. I told Mr. Pennies I could feel the tiredness oozing out of me as I sank into the seat of our truck. He said he felt just fine. Sadly, not everyone is as tough as Mr. Pennies.
All in all we had a great day & didn’t even get sunburned as we were indoors sometimes. Since we’d forgotten the sunscreen that was a good outcome.
We are tempted to go back for another day as there were plenty of things we didn’t get to see. Decisions, decisions.
Click the title of this post to see the wiki on Junior Brown. He has quite a pedigree.
Maggie@SquarePennies says
The chocolate-covered frozen Key Lime Pie stand was just to the right of the Leinie stage. My mouth is watering just remembering it!
Maggie@SquarePennies says
Our friend tipped us off that the chocolate-covered frozen Key Lime Pie was special. Lots of lime flavor and thick, good quality dark chocolate. Definitely worth it. I found a way to reduce the calories by a third: just wait until the last third drops on the ground. Boo! I needed a dish.
Maggie@SquarePennies says
Thanks Travis. I think just going one day is enough, but we wanted to help out a friend. It was too crowded on Sun. since it was the weekend. Friday was perfect.
Travis @Debtchronicles says
I’m glad you had a good time at the Great Minnesota Get Together. You couldn’t pay me to get within 10 miles of that place. Ok, well I actually was…I was in the Twin Cities this past weekend for my brother-in-law’s birthday. Almost too close for comfort. 🙂 I’m just not a “crowds” sort of person.
Maggie@SquarePennies says
Second day at the fair included crafts and art. There are so many talented people in this world!
Maggiie@SquarePennies says
Well, we’re going back tomorrow. A family member wants us to take him as he can’t go by himself very well. We saw on tv there is a place to refill our water bottles we bring from home. And I’ll be lining up for those free milk refills early in the day!